Albania

Having made a Top 10 Eurovision debut in Istanbul in 2004, Albania's record in the contest in recent years has been less impressive, having failed to qualify from the last two semi-finals.

For the fifth year in a row, Albania was first country to stage its national final. This year's selection was staged over three nights from 14th to 16th December and on the final evening a panel of experts selected "Zemren E Lame Peng " (We Put Our Hearts At Stake) performed by teenage newcomer Olta Boka as the winner of the 46th annual "Festivali I Kenges". The selection was somewhat controversial, with some rather unusual voting patterns. Many observors felt that the best entry in the selection was overlooked as the performers were from Kosovo, the now independent former Serbian province, and that Albanian televcision did not want to offend its hosts in Belgrade.

The ensuing controversy cast a slight shadow over this year's entry and singer Olta Boka, who at only 16 years of age, is the youngest performer in this year's Eurovision Song Contest and the youngest Albanian singer to ever make it to the Eurovision stage. Olta began her singing career at the tender age of nine, with the formation of Choir of Angels led by National Opera Music Master Suzana Turku.

In the period between 2002 and 2005 Olta took part and received many prizes in a number of children's festivals, organized in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and Kosovo. Olta's career made a huge leap forward following her participation at the Albanian Radio Television Song Festival in December 2007, where she captured the spotlight by winning the first prize and securing her participation at the Eurovision Song Contest. With a limited number of international performances and no recording career to date, Olta is one of the least experienced performers in this year's contest. However the team of songwriters behind her song are already Eurovision veterans.

For composer Adrian Hila and lyricist Pandi Laço, this is the third time going to the Eurovision Song Contest. The songwriters previously combined for "Tomorrow I Go" sung by Ledina Çelo which finished 16th in Kyiv in 2005. Last year the duo also teamed up to write the Albanian Eurovision entry "Hear My Plea" sung by Frederik Ndoci, which failed to qualify from the semi-final in Helsinki.

When "Zemren E Lame Peng" was chosen as the Albanian entry in December, it was widely believed that the song would at least be partially translated into English for Eurovision, however unlike the songwriters' two previous entries, it now seems certain that the song will remain in Albanian in Belgrade. The song has however gone through a major re-arrangement and singer Olta Boka has undergone a significant makeover.

The song has considered to be in with a reasonable chance of qualifying for the final, if bookmakers odds and fan polls on the internet are to be believed, however it is not considerd to be one of the favourites to win the contest on May 24th.