The tree is up, you’re on your fourth mince pie, and there are presents hidden away at the bottom of every cupboard and drawer. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Yet, for many Eurovision fans, there’s one more tradition to be upheld.
Festivali i Kenges—the longstanding Albanian Song Contest that has been used to pick broadcaster RTSH’s entry to the Eurovision Song Contest entry since they joined in 2004—has always been held over the festive season. Without it, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas. Obviously, it’s late December scheduling is the main thing that makes it a Christmas treat, but I think there’s more to it than that.
Let’s ask the question… what else makes FiK feel like FiKmas?
Three Special Reasons
There is something about the look and feel of Festivali i Kenges that gets us in the mood. With a full orchestra and smart dress code for the audience, it works hard to feel high class. Here in Europe, the nights have drawn in and there’s nothing better to have on our TV screens than the bright lights and dark ballads of Tirana. The programme often begins with big sweeping shots of the capital city all lit up for Christmas and New Year. Then we get transported to the twinkling lights inside The Palace of Congresses, done up in all its finery.
Not Designed For An Audience
Festivali I Kenges just wouldn’t feel as Christmassy if it was in a converted sports arena, music hall, or TV studio. The Palace of Congresses was built in the 1980s as a home for meetings of the country’s communist rulers. It’s an impressive modernist structure, but it wasn’t made for live performance. The audience doesn’t sit in closely arranged darkness the way they would in a theatre. Instead they stretch far and wide, on a gentle incline. The place is beautiful, but putting a big shiny stage in this context can at times give the slight feel of a giant, over-elaborate panto being staged in the place where you normally hold assemblies. However, it has character and history and you wouldn’t want it staged anywhere else.
I Know This!
There’s a reassuring familiarity about FiK. We know there’s always going to be one female host in a ridiculous dress; that the competition format is going to be slightly different each year in a way that no one’s quite sure of until midway through the show; and Gridi Kraja and Bojken Lako are going to show up somewhere.
These are all cherished elements that we hope will come back every year. While many of us hope for modernisation of the festival this year under the artistic direction of Elhaida Dani, if she messes with the theme tune the community will turn against her in a flash. It’s as good as any song in competition.
It Belongs To Albania, But We Love That It Is Shared
The Albanian viewer even more keenly feels the sense of beloved tradition. This will be the 63rd running of the festival and the programme never fails to hark back to contests of yesteryear. For 2024, Saturday night is designated as a night of nostalgia, with all the acts performing songs from the Contest’s history, probably alongside a famous past participant.
This sense of history, tradition and community adds to the Christmas feel. It’s almost certain that sometime during the festival there will be a tribute to the late Vaçe Zela. Her eleven wins all came long before Eurovision fans started watching, but she’s now as familiar a face to FiK watchers as Kalle Anka to the Swedes and Morecambe and Wise are to Brits at Christmas.
What about this year?
Many fans will be crossing their fingers that RTSH display the winner’s face on the national football stadium once again, in the ultimate Christmas light show. Could it be the face of last year’s festival winner MAL? The musclebound showman will be belting out another big anthem this year in the form of “Antihero”, but he has competition in the rock stakes in the form of veteran metallers Djemtë e Detit who are competing for the first time since 1999.
Among those who have competed more recently, fans may recognise Orgesa Zaimi. The sunglasses and bob haircut of the 2010s have gone, but the punchy pop remains. She’s tended to be a bigger hit with Eurovision fans than festival juries, but maybe “I Parë” could be a competitive breakthrough. Then we have Elvana Gjata, runner up in 2020. One expects her “Karnaval” to come alive on stage. A win for her may be all Eurovision fans want for FiKmas.
Do You Wish It Could Be FikMas Every Day?
Festivali I Kenges is special for Eurovision fans because it tends to be the first big National Final of the year. It’s a chance for us to reconvene around our favourite social media platform (come and join ESC Insight on Bluesky) and catch up after a long break. We come together and make the same jokes that we make every year. We can share that meme of the unimpressed older woman, reminisce about adverts that were Simply The Best, or chuckle to ourselves when some newbie asks what time we get results. All the while, we’re waiting for the orchestra to stop due to a problem.
Enjoying Festivali i Kenges is about shared ritual and there’s nothing more Christmassy than that.
Merry FiKmas everyone.