It’s a thing these days that most songs are in English, or at least partly in English. Some fans are old enough to remember when there was no free language rule. So it’s nice when a country uses its own tongue to sing.
Our friends in Albania have only used their own language 50% of the time. And that includes two occasions when they did the old switcheroony between Albanian and English. In 2006, today’s birthday boy Luiz Ejlli was the first from his country to sing in his language. It was a bold move, as English had seen old Shqipëria see two Grand Finals. But this nod to patriotism was at the expense of making three finals in a row. While Luiz did get a 12 and a 10, they weren’t quite enough to get through to the final in Athens. Luiz has done time as a cultural attaché, but we should thank him for introducing his language to an audience of millions.
Luiz is 35 today.
Gëzuar ditëlindjen, Luiz!
Wrong! They were in Final in 2005 due to their Top Ten result in 2004 only! So they could have sung in Albanian or English in 2005, they would have been in Final anyway!
as English had seen old Shqipëria see two Grand Finals. – Is that wrong? – I suspect it isnt!