Anjeza Shahini (born 4 May 1987) is an Albanian singer. She represented Albania at the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “The Image of You” in the country’s debut year in the ESC.
| Born | 4 May 1987 (age 23) |
|---|---|
| Origin | Tirana, Albania |
| Genres | Pop, Rock, R&B |
| Occupations | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 2003–present |
Eurovision 2004
In 2003 then 16-year old Anjeza Shahini won the first edition of Friday Night Fever, the Albanian version of Pop Idol. In December of the same year, along with 29 other singers, she competed at the three-day RTSH song festival (Festivali i Këngës 42) at the Tirana Palace of Congress with the song “Imazhi yt”, a synthesized pop tune. After two preliminary rounds, Shahini reached the final on 20 December at the end of which hosts Adi Krasta and Ledina Çelo presented her as the winner of the combined jury and televote. That meant she would represent Albania in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul, Turkey in Albania’s debut year in the competition.For the ESC finals, a three minute English version of the song entitled “The Image of You” was created. (The original song was four and a half minutes in length.) Anjeza sang in the semi-final of ESC on 12 May 2004, using as backing vocalists singers who had lost out at the Albanian selection procedure, and finished fourth out of twenty-two. This top-ten finish secured for Anjeza a place in the final where on 15 May she competed with contestants from twenty-four other countries and finished seventh with a total of 106 points.
After Eurovision
In 2004, Anjeza recorded a song (“Në mes nesh”) with the Kosovo band Marigona. In 2005 she signed a contract with an artist management based in Vienna for an international career and announced her intention to once again participate in the National Song Festival (Festivali i Këngës), the Albanian selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest, which in 2006 was to be held in Athens, Greece.
With the song “Pse Ndal”, Anjeza Shahini made it through the two semi-finals to the last twenty at the National Final and was one of the favorites to win. However, at the final, which aired on 18 December 2005, the winner was announced as the song “Zjarr e ftohtë“, sung by Luiz Ejlli.
On 3 June 2006, Anjeza Shahini was a special guest performer at the Euro Video Grand Prix contest,which was held in Albania. She opened the contest with the song “Welcome to Europe,” which was also released as a single.
After taking a break from the music industry to continue her studies in pop music in Austria, in 2007 Anjeza returned to the Albanian stage with two important projects. She was one of the protagonist singers in Këngët e Shekullit 2, a successful series on TV Klan consisting of remakes of the best Albanian songs from the past century. She was also a participant in Kënga Magjike 2007 with the song “Nxënësja më e mirë” (“The best student”) which landed her in 4th place selected by the vote of the other singers in contest,but the critic gave her their prime (Cmimi i Kritikes).
In August 2008, Anjeza Shahini released her first album, Erdhi momenti, containing only new songs, all in Albanian. Some of the songs were composed by Adrian Hila and some of the lyrics were written by Anjeza’s sister, Bela.
Discography
