Like previous years, ESC COVERS will again share a blog post from Morten Thomassen of OGAE NORWAY with his views on the positions reached by all 35 2026 entries. ESC Covers google translated it from Norwegian to English.
Like so many other artists, our Albanian friend Alis has participated in musical competitions, in his case the Albanian X-factor and not least he participated in the Albanian final the year before he won, when he came in third place, so he was probably very happy that the song “Nan” gave him first place and a trip into the ESC world.
Alis Kallacej, which is the artist’s full name, did something several ESC artists have done before him, he composed a song about his mother and then you are immediately on a topic that many people can relate to, even an actor on stage who was supposed to portray his mother and probably everyone’s mothers, he made it quite clear how important a mother is in everyone’s life and how much gratitude we largely owe this woman.
As usual, the vocals rarely fail in an Albanian artist and here Alis did not disappoint in any way, he has full control over this and you simply feel the feelings he has towards mothers and the role they play.
I’m a little disappointed when the song uses so much choir and they’re not allowed on stage, because I think the artist sometimes struggles to fill the stage and that all the people showing on the screens behind can’t quite fill the stage floor. Things do pick up when “the mother” comes on stage, but I didn’t quite understand why she gave him a pocket watch with a chain.
The entire stage performance was also dark at times and probably seemed a bit boring and our Albanian friends have a bit too strong a tradition of sending just such songs, anyway it was enough to beat the Norwegian entry by 11 points and it was in the televoting that we lost that match.
Next year, perhaps whoever wins the Albanian final, which takes place just before Christmas this year, may be something unusual musically from that perspective. I think that’s what’s needed if you’re going to beat your best result, which is 5th place. That should be an obvious goal for this country.
Featured image – ESC Covers