Albania 2021- Anxhela Peristeri with “Karma”
The first song to compete at Eurovision 2021 has been selected following Festival i Kenges 59, with ‘Karma’ being crowned the winner.
Albania’s fondness of a revamp leaves a little uncertainty over whether this is the song’s final form and, for once, a revamp may not be the worst thing in the world. We start off nicely enough, a familiar Balkan ballad that sounds as though it has been lifted from 2008/2009. There’s something very reminiscent about the melody of this, or at least there is until just before the half way mark. The change of pace is not a pleasant one and the affair becomes a bit of a mess. The visuals do not help here either. The entrance of what at first viewing appears to be 4 gimps crawling onto stage is surely already one of the most bizarre moments we will see this year, whilst this is a song that really shouldn’t have dance moves. I’m sure this will be re-thought or at least refined for Rotterdam but the song itself remains a concern. Trying to find a middle ground between this and and the unplugged version may be the best option here.
I’m not really a follower of Fik but from my understanding Anxhela was one of if not the biggest names to take part, perhaps explaining a favourable running order spot and the jury support. Especially given the fact this was pre-recorded, this was very much a case of “here’s you winner”, and Albania sure has a template for sending this sort of overly dramatic ballad on the regular. Vocally, this is fine, though nothing exceptional and Albania have sent stronger singers.
At Eurovision, this is the sort of entry that western jurors and viewers will have in last place, or close to, whilst more than one or two points from anywhere might be a hard ask. The diaspora in Greece and Switzerland will be vital if this wants to have any chance of qualifying from semi 2 but even then and not knowing the competition this looks fairly hopeless right now.
Personal Rating: 4/10 Competitive Rating: 1/10 Early Prediction: NQ, 15th/16th in semi 2
What are your thought’s on ‘Karma’ and Anxhela Peristeri? Feel free to leave a comment below