Albania was one of the first countries to pick their entry and one of the last ones to submit the final rearranged version of it. Business as usual in other words.
The seasoned Eurovision follower knows that the Festivali i Këngës winner selected around Christmas time at best can be considered to be a draft of what we’ll end up with in May. Usually what the Albanians think is a pretty swell tune goes through a metamorphosis to adjust to the European taste buds, whatever that is. We wish they could consider keeping the original version for once; it would have been fun to see whether it could actually do better. The one time no compromises were made with the delightfully wacko screamathon Suus it scored Albania’s best result to date. Just a friendly advice there, if anyone in Tirana happen to read this (we assume our website is widely popular down there).
The song Përrallë back when it was selected came across as aloof and too complicated to gather much support beyond a few friendly Balkan neighbors. The morphed version Fairytale do sound quite different truth be said, but it has kept its aloofness and we think the average Eurovision viewer will feel estranged rather than enticed by it. On a positive note it does not have the usual 80s heavy guitar solo the Albanians seem to appreciate beyond comprehension. And we have to say a few words about the new title, is it too early for another Fairytale song? Heck yes, indeed it is.
Eneda Tarifa seems to posess an impressive set of pipes, and we’re sure she will competently growl her way through her not so much of a fairytale of a song. However we fear that no fairytale ending waits at the end of the journey she’s about to embark on. Let’s at least hope she has the sense to enjoy the ride while it lasts.
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