Back in December 2024, one of Albania‘s biggest stars, Elvana Gjata, was the main contender to represent the country at Eurovision. However, not only did relative underdogs Shkodra Elektronike beat her to the crown but they have now given Albania some of the best odds to win the Eurovision Song Contest that the country has seen in a while!
Read on to learn more about Shkodra Elektronike, their song ‘Zjerm’ and how they could be on course to give Albania their best result in over a decade.
Who are Shkodra Elektronike?
Shkodra Elektronike are a musical duo consisting of Kolë Laca and Beatriçe Gjergji. Both musicians are Albanian immigrants who hail from Shkodër in northern Albania but grew up in Italy. Forming in 2019, the pair aimed to combine the traditional music of their hometown with modern electronic influences, proclaiming their music to be ‘post-immigrant pop’.
In January 2020, Shkodra Elektronike released their debut single ‘Ku e Gjeta Vedin’ which immediately established their distinctive sound and gained them recognition on the international music scene. The song won special prize at the Albanian Lule Borë Festival and the duo started to play festivals across the world, including in Kosovo, Bulgaria and Serbia.
A year later, the pair also turned their hand at composing songs for other Albanian musicians, writing the song ‘E jemja nuse’ for singer Rezarta Smaja who would go on to place third with the song at Albanian music festival Festivali i Këngës (FiK). In 2022, Shkodra Elektronike released their debut EP ‘Live @ Uzina’ which featured the single ‘Turtulleshë’ which you can listen to below:
FiK Victory and ‘Zjerm’
Shkodra Elektronike were announced as one of the participants in the 63rd edition of FiK and, while fans of the Albanian music scene predicted them to do well, many felt that when it came to victory the writing was on the wall. Elvana Gjata was also in the lineup and not only had she narrowly missed out on FiK victory five years previously with her song ‘Me tana’, she also enjoys superstar status in Albania, often being referred to as the “Diva of Albanian music”. Therefore, many fans assumed that her entry ‘Karnaval’ would naturally take her all the way to Basel.
However, Shkodra Elektronike, who had just over 2000 Instagram followers at the time of their FiK participation, captivated the juries and domestic Albanian public alike with their song ‘Zjerm’, with only the diaspora televote voting in favour of an Elvana win. They were off to Switzerland!
When looking at the lyrics to ‘Zjerm’ alongside Shkodra Elektronike’s performance, it is perhaps no surprise that it won the hearts of Albanians. Translating to ‘Fire’ in English, ‘Zjerm’ deals with the idea of trying to find hope and light out of the ashes of a dark world. The single’s cover art depicts the outline of Shkodër’s Psychiatric Rehabilitation Centre, a hospital where historically people who criticised Albania’s communist regime would be sent. This historical context is, according to YouTuber ESC Gottem, central to understanding the meaning of ‘Zjerm’. When viewed through this lens, lyrics such as “People with no names, delirious people” could refer to opponents of the regime who were subjected to unnecessary psychiatric treatments and “Diesel smelling like lilac” could reflect the idea of something sweet and beautiful being borne from chaos and destruction. Additionally, the song is written and performed in the Gheg dialect, which the communist regime of Albania tried to suppress in favour of a standardised form of Albanian based on the Tosk dialect, cementing the themes of the song further.
Eurovision 2025
Shkodra Elektronike will perform in the first semi-final on Tuesday 13th May. They are 12th in the running order, placed between San Marino and the Netherlands. With their distinctive sound and the potential help of a strong diaspora vote, many are predicting that ‘Zjerm’ will not struggle to reach the final in a televote-only semi. In fact, Albania are 9th in the odds to win Eurovision at the time of writing, a monumental achievement for a country whose best result was 5th place in 2012 with the song ‘Suus’ which was 22nd in the odds to win at the time of the final.
Despite normally being a country famous for revamping their entries, Shkodra Elektronike are bucking this trend, confirming in a recent interview with Albanian broadcaster RTSH that no major changes will be made to the song, costumes or staging concept that viewers saw at FiK. However, RTSH have recently confirmed that a budget of €150,000 has been set for Albania’s participation in Eurovision, the highest budget set by the country to date. Does this imply that the broadcaster has faith that Shkodra Elektronike can not only make it to the Eurovision grand final but possibly win the whole contest?
While we won’t know anything until the contest in May, we certainly wish Shkodra Elektronike the best of luck and look forward to seeing them in Basel!
You can follow Shkodra Elektronike on social media!
Instagram – @shkodraelektronike
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