Slideback Saturday; Happy FIKmas!!

Upon finding out I had been granted the honor of writing our Throwback article for FIKmas, I was utterly delighted! Choosing a favorite entry from Albania is not difficult for me. Not because there are so many great Albanian entries, rather because they have Rona Nishliu and “Suus”.

Rona Nishliu

When Rona was selected to represent Albania at the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, it was quite a big deal. This was due to the fact that she was the first singer from Kosovo to represent Albani at Eurovision. This was not her first attempt at winning the Eurovision ticket however. Seven years earlier, in 2005, she performed the song “Flakareshë” with two other girls. There are no words that can describe how unbelievably happy I am that they did not win…
And her voice…I believe there is nothing her voice can’t do.

Suus

When I first heard “Suus” I was convinced I must be dreaming. There is just no way a human voice can do that. I’m still not entirely convinced that Rona is 100% human; she really has to be part angel. The first minute of the song is fairly calm and quiet, and then it just explodes with the first “qaj” (or chai, as I like to say; I love tea 😛 ). How it’s even possible to “scream in tune” the way she does, I’ll never understand. I just have to accept it, and remain in awe of this wonderful voice and song.
And the video. It just makes me so emotional, I can’t really watch it too often.

What the others had to say…

Riccardo

Miki

I never understood what people saw in “Suus” until I saw the live performance in Baku. The emotion, the vocals and the entire evil queen scorned concept truly did deliver the ultimate Eurovision moment and grabbed everyone’s attention. You can like it or you can hate it, but Rona will certainly not leave you indifferent

Hlynur