Over the last past two weeks, you have been submitting your predictions for the first round of Eurovision Prediction 2020. For this round, your task was to predict the winner of
Here at ESCXTRA, we always want to give you…XTRA! So this year, Eurovision Prediction will be bringing the receipts, neatly organised and presented ahead of each national final. So let’s take a trip down memory lane (from the past two weeks, really) and look at what has shaped our predictions…
During this first round of Eurovision Prediction 2020, 225 of you have predicted who you think will take victory in Albania. Without further ado, here are the entries that YOU have predicted to win in order of frequency, from most to least:
| Rank | Artist | Song | Number of predictions | Percentage |
| 1 | Elvana Gjata | “Me tana” | 169 | 75.11% |
| 2 | Arilena Ara | “Shaj” | 37 | 16.44% |
| 3 | Valon Shehu | “Kutia e Pandorës” | 5 | 2.22% |
| 4 | Era Rusi | “Eja mere” | 4 | 1.78% |
| 5 | Kamela Islamaj | “Më ngjyros” | 2 | 0.89% |
| 5 | Kanita Suma | “Ankth” | 2 | 0.89% |
| 7 | Aldo Bardhi | “Melodi” | 1 | 0.44% |
| 7 | Genc Tukiçi and Nadia Tukiçi | “Ju flet Tirana” | 1 | 0.44% |
| 7 | Albërie Hadërgjonaj | “Ku ta gjej dikë ta dua” | 1 | 0.44% |
| 7 | Olta Boka | “Botë për dy” | 1 | 0.44% |
| 7 | Gena | “Shqiponja e lirë” | 1 | 0.44% |
| 7 | Sara Bajraktari | “Ajër” | 1 | 0.44% |
YouTube dominance
From the moment the names of the finalists were announced, Elvana Gjata was instantly the favourite to win Festivali i Këngës 58. This was further confirmed the moment the 20 entries dropped when Elvana rocketed ahead instantly. She even broke the record for the most-viewed video on RTSH’s YouTube channel, dethroning the iconic New Year’s baklava tutorial and Eneda Tarifa’s music video for “Fairytale” from 2016.
Here are the 20 finalists, ranked by YouTube, with the non-qualifiers crossed out:
- Elvana Gjata – Me tana – 3,200,000
- Arilena Ara – Shaj – 583,000
- Albërie Hadërgjonaj – Ku ta gjej dikë ta dua – 517,000
Eli Fara & Stresi – Bohem – 335,000Kanita Suma – Ankth – 257,000- Era Rusi – Eja mera – 210,000
- Robert Berisha – Ajo nuk është unë – 151,000
- Gena – Shqiponja e Lirë – 108,000
Kastro Zizo – Asaj – 104,000- Tiri Gjoci – Me gotën bosh – 87,000
Devis Xherahu – Bisedoj me serenatën – 74,000- Sara Bajraktari – Ajër – 73,000
Wendi Mancaku – 64,000- Olta Boka – Botë për dy – 59,000
- Valon Sheku – Kutia e Pandorës – 54,000
- Kamela Islamaj – Më ngjyros – 52,000
Aldo Bardhi – Melodi–48,000Nadia and Genc Tukiçi – Ju flet Tirana – 45,000Renis Gjoka – Loja – 33,000- Bojken Lako – Malaseen – 31,000
Although only a handful of the songs are available on Spotify, it should also be noted that Me Tana had accumulated over 200,000 streams before the live performance took place.
Note: Without the televote, there is no way of gauging how well song engagement will be reflected in the results. But the loss of Eli Fara & Stresi and Kanita proves that anything can happen.
Importance of big names and pre-show hype in FiK
As we discussed on our prediction video, in Festivali i Këngës, big names tend to dominate the scoreboard. Of course, young up-and-comers like Kejsi Tola and Olta Boka have won the festival, and the likes of Lidia Lufi and Inis Niziri have scored highly, but the winners circle mostly comprises of big stars. Looking at recent winners, Elhaida, Eneda, Lindita, Eugent and Jonida were all both stars in Albania prior to the festival and were the favourites to win their respective editions.
From this, it is understandable why so many people think this national final is a done-deal (see below). However, the unexplored component is the international jury, who make up the majority of the deciding jury in this edition. With this in mind, they might come out with a shock win. It is important to note that Arilena is a very strong and passionate performer and one that has the technical prowess that often appeals to Eurovision juries. In addition, Gena and Valon are both bringing very experience, prestige and high-impact performances that could well appeal to a jury as much as Me Tana’s slick staging.
We will publish the official round one results shortly the conclusion of the national final. Stay tuned to see how you fare against the rest of the competition!
So, are you in the majority that expects Elvana Gjata to take victory tonight? Last year, our Eurovision Prediction 2019 players collectively predicted 16 out of 29 national final winners correctly. In 2018, your record was 19 out of 30. How will you, our Eurovision Prediction 2020 players, fare this year?
ABOUT EUROVISION PREDICTION 2020
HISTORY OF EUROVISION PREDICTION
