Albania Opens the Gates of Festivali i Këngës 64 – Just Keep the AI at Home, Please
Albania has rung the bell and rolled out the digital red carpet. Festivali i Këngës 64 — the grand dame of Albanian musical contests — has officially opened its song submission window, and it’s ready for your bangers (or your heartbreak ballads, no one’s judging).
From 1 to 30 September, aspiring hopefuls can submit their musical offerings to festivali64@rtsh.al. But as ever, there’s a list of rules that would make your old music teacher proud — and your AI bot very, very sad.
The Do’s and Definitely-Don’ts:
- Songs must be completely new (yes, even that hit you soft-launched on TikTok doesn’t count).
- Keep it under 4 minutes — Albania loves music, but not that much.
- Artists must be at least 16 years old — if your little cousin is a prodigy, maybe wait till next year.
- Submissions must include the full song, an orchestral version, backing vocals, lyrics, and bios. Bonus points if your email doesn’t crash their inbox.
- Absolutely no AI compositions. If ChatGPT wrote your melody, it’s already disqualified. Sorry, I don’t make the rules .
- First-timers must send a photo. Just to prove you’re real, and preferably not a catfish.
A selection committee will sift through the entries and choose which ones get the glittery honour of competing on the December stage. No exact dates have been revealed yet — RTSH likes to keep a little mystery alive.
Ever since Albania joined the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004, Festivali i Këngës has been the country’s official launchpad to the big stage. And yes, it’s dramatic, stylish, and frequently a little chaotic — in other words, perfect for Eurovision.
Will FiK64 be the one to finally catapult Albania into Eurovision glory? Only time (and a few dozen orchestras) will tell.
Source: RTSH
