Festivali i Këngës 61

Festivali i Këngës 2022 was the 61st edition of the annual Albanian music competition Festivali i Këngës. The contest was organised by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) at the Palace of Congresses in Tirana, Albania. It encompassed two semi-finals held on 19 and 20 December, succeeded by a nostalgia night on 21 December and culminated in the final on 22 December 2022. The four live shows were hosted by Arbana Osmani. Elsa Lila resulted as the winner of the contest with the song "Evita". The Albanian representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was selected by the public, with "Duje" performed by Albina and Familja Kelmendi emerging as the representative.

Format
The 61st edition of Festivali i Këngës was organised by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) and consisted of three semi-finals on the respective dates of 19, 20 and 21 December and the final on 22 December 2022. The four live shows were hosted by Albanian presenter Arbana Osmani and held at the Palace of Congresses in Tirana, Albania. Osmani directed the contest along with Bojken Lako, Eduart Grishaj, Eraldo Rexho and Shpëtim Saraçi.

Voting structure
The selection process for the winner of the 61st edition of Festivali i Këngës and Albanian representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 underwent a significant change. Prior to this, the winner was determined by a jury vote, which faced controversy due to allegations of nepotism and corruption. In response, the organisers of RTSH introduced a new system combining public and jury voting. While the top three and two prizes would continue to be chosen by the jury, the winner would no longer receive an invitation to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. Instead, the Albanian representative for the contest would be selected through a separate televoting process.

Contestants
RTSH initiated an application period for artists and composers interested in participating in the 61st edition of Festivali i Këngës from 3 June to 30 October 2022. Following the application process, a provisional list of 26 participants was published by the broadcaster on 27 October, three days prior to the end of the application period.

Semi-finals
The semi-finals of Festivali i Këngës took place on 19 December and 20 December 2022 and were broadcast live at 21:00 (CET) on the respective dates. Albanian actress Margarita Xhepa was the special guest of the first semi-final, performing a monologue to raise awareness about domestic violence against women and share her own experiences. Following the conclusion of the second semi-final, five out of ten contestants from the New artists were selected by a jury to advance to the final, while all 16 contestants from the Big artists automatically qualified for the final.

Nostalgia Night
The nostalgia night of Festivali i Këngës took place on 21 December 2022 at 21:00 (CET). During the show, prominent Albanian singers accompanied the Big artists in performing renditions of historic songs from previous editions of Festivali i Këngës.

Final
The final of Festivali i Këngës took place on 22 December 2022 at 21:00 (CET). Albanian-Belgian singer Gala Dragot and Ukrainian group Kalush, who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, were the interval acts of the final. The jury, consisting of Alma Bektashi, Elton Deda, Genc Salihu, Jeani Ciko and Rita Petro, determined Elsa Lila as the winner of the contest with the song "Evita". The Albanian representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was selected by televoting, with Albina and Familja Kelmendi with the song "Duje" being named as the country's chosen representatives. Erma Mici received the award for the Best New Artist, while Rovena Dilo was awarded the Career Award.

Key: Winner Second place Third place

Broadcasts
The four live shows of Festivali i Këngës were broadcast live from 19 December to 22 December 2022 on RTSH in Albania and Radio Televizioni i Kosovës (RTK) in Kosovo. RTSH further provided international live streaming of the shows through their official website, without any accompanying commentary.