| Year: | 2023 |
| Contest: | Junior |
| Country: | Albania |
| Preselection: | Junior Fest 2023 |
| Preselection Date: | 22 September 2023 |
| Entrant: | Viola Gjyzeli |
| Song: | Bota ime |
| Final Result: | 8th, 115 points |
Albania competed in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Nice, France. Albanian broadcaster RTSH is responsible for the country's participation, and selected Viola Gjyzeli to represent the country with her song "Bota ime" through the national selection competition Junior Fest 2023.[1] [2]
See main article: Albania in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
Prior to the 2023 contest, Albania had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest eight times since its first entry in 2012, only opting not to participate at the 2013, 2014 and 2020 contests. Albania has never won the contest, with their best result being in 2015, with the song "Albanian: [[Dambaje]]|i=unset" by Mishela Rapo achieving fifth place with a score of 93 points.[3] In, Kejtlin Gjata represented Albania in Yerevan, Armenia with the song "Pakëz diell". The country ended in 12th place out of 16 countries, achieving 94 points.[4]
The Albanian broadcaster Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) revealed in July 2023 that the Albanian representative would be chosen via the national selection competition Junior Fest 2023.[5] [6] Bojken Lako was named as the creative director for the competition, which was to undergo changes as compared to previous years.[7] Interested artists from Albania and Kosovo were able to send in their applications, starting from 20 July 2023 until 25 August 2023.[8] The competing acts were revealed on 30 August.[9] The final, originally scheduled to take place on 20 September,[10] was broadcast live on 22 September at 20:30 CET in front of the Pyramid of Tirana,[11] [12] marking the first live broadcast of Junior Fest since 2017. The winner was selected solely by a jury panel. In addition to the competition performances, Arsi Bako, Erma Mici, Niki Zaimi, Luna Çausholli, Melodajn Mancaku and Sardi Strugaj performed all throughout the show as interval acts.
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amra Madani | "Rock Star" | Reinald Foçi | |
| 2 | Françeska Kasa | "Perfekte Jam" | Ana Kodra | |
| 3 | Elisa Skarra | "Një përqafim" | Enis Mullaj, Eriona Rushiti | |
| 4 | Tea Metohu | "Smile" | Dorian Metohu | |
| 5 | Rei Bardhollari | "Hasta Mañana" | Adrian Hila | |
| 6 | Fiona Resuli | "Lodroj me yjet" | Klodian Rexhepaj, Fran Ukcama | |
| 7 | Viola Gjyzeli | "Bota ime" | Enis Mullaj, Eriona Rushiti | |
| 8 | Irsa Haxhillari | "Melodinë e saj" | Melodajn Mancaku | |
| 9 | Era Hasanaj | "Bisedë me një yll" | Alfred Kaçinari, Ana Kaçinari | |
| 10 | Ea Zoga | "Lule n’zemrën tuaj" | Florent Boshnjaku, Ramazan Ceka | |
| 11 | Nikol Çabeli | "Vetëm unë" | Melodajn Mancaku, Wendi Mancaku | |
| 12 | Anja Canaj | "E dua erën" | Kristi Bello, Mimoza Bici Dhima | |
| 13 | Marianxhela Rodakaj | "Afrika" | Enis Mullaj, Eriona Rushiti | |
| 14 | Kejt Hitaj | "Eja" | Enis Mullaj, Eriona Rushiti | |
| 15 | Ajshel Zykollari | "Pas ëndrrës time eja" | Miron Kotani, Mimoza Bici Dhima |
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023 took place at Palais Nikaïa in Nice, France on 26 November 2023.
At the end of the show, Albania received 70 points from juries and 45 points from online voting, placing 8th. This marked Albania's second-best result in the contest, following fifth place in 2015.[13]
The following members comprised the Albanian jury:[14]
| + | |||||||||
| Draw | Country | Juror A | Juror B | Juror C | Juror D | Juror E | Average Rank | Points Awarded | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 02 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 03 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 04 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 15 | 9 | 14 | |||
| 05 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 12 | ||
| 06 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 1 | ||
| 07 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 11 | |||
| 08 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 09 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 3 | ||
| 10 | 15 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 15 | |||
| 11 | 12 | 15 | 13 | 7 | 12 | 13 | |||
| 12 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 7 | ||
| 13 | |||||||||
| 14 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 12 | |||
| 15 | 13 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 2 | ||
| 16 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 14 | 6 | 5 |