In an interview with Vizion Plus, Arilena Ara has revealed that the final version of her Eurovision entry, which represents Albania in Rotterdam, will be in English. After recording a new version of her song in Los Angeles, the revamp is now ready to be revealed.
The revamp will be out soon
Arilena won Festivali i Këngës 58 in December with her song “Shaj” (Curse). Following her win, she travelled to Los Angeles to work on her first album in English.
Speaking to Vizion Plus on her return to Albania, Arilena revealed:
The song will be released soon, but I mean since the song was originally built in the English version, with a demo and minimalist English text, it has a very different, much nicer spirit than Shaj.
– Arilena Ara, speaking to Vizion Plus (translated from Albanian)
Albanian Eurovision entrants often translate their entries into English following their Festivali i Këngës win. Between 2014 and 2017, all Albanian entries were in English. In 2018 and 2019, both Eugent Bushpepa and Jonida Maliqi left their entries in Albanian – they finished in 11th and 17th place respectively at the contest.
Flying high for her performance?
When asked if she could reveal anything about her performance, Arilena replied, saying that:
I don’t want to talk too much but I’ll just say one thing, I’ll be in the air and on the ground!”
– Arilena Ara, speaking to Vizion Plus (translated from Albanian)
Before the contest, Arilena will be heading out onto the pre-party circuit to promote her entry. She will first head to London to perform at the London Eurovision Party on Sunday 29th March. After that, Arilena will head off to Amsterdam on Saturday 4th April to perform at Eurovision in Concert. Finally, on Saturday 11th April, she will perform at the Eurovision Pre-Party in Madrid.
Are you excited to hear the new version of Arilena’s song? Do you wish Albania chose to keep the song in Albanian? Let us know in the comments below and on our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube profiles.