Elhaida Dani: “When “Diell” withdrew I thought that the possibility for me to sing on the Eurovision stage was over” (Albania 2015 – Exclusive Interview)

ESC+Plus has had an exclusive talk with the Albanian representative for Eurovision 2015 Elhaida Dani. Check what she has told us below!

Hello Elhaida! First of all thank you so much for giving us this interview as Albanian representative at Eurovision 2015 and congratulations on having won the 53rd edition of “Festivali i Këngës”!

ESC+Plus: How did you feel when you were named the winner of the “Festivali i Këngës” getting the right to represent your country in Vienna?

Participating and being the winner of Festivali i Kenges has been one of the most beautiful experiences for me, then knowing that I will be the representative of my country at Eurovision has been a very beautiful moment but also a scary one 🙂

E+: What does representing Albania at Eurovision mean for you?

Being part of one of the biggest music show in the world like Eurovision is something that makes me feel very anxious. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity so I want to give my best and represent my country in the best way I can.

E+: You were the winner of the Voice of Italy 2013. How did you experience the contest? Would you like to represent Italy at Eurovision in the future?

Italy is my second home, The Voice has been the turning point on my career, being part of the Italian stage, has been a dream come true, my first album came out after winning The Voice, my coach Ricardo Cociante wrote my first English song and I had the opportunity to tour around Italy for concerts since then. But I think that Eurovision is something that you have to experience only once, and I could not be happier that I get to represent my country Albania.

E+: Your previous song “Diell” withdrew Eurovision a few weeks ago due to a personal decision taken by the composer. How did you face this situation?

It was a very difficult moment, I was getting ready to prepare my performance in ESC with the song Diell when this decision of the composer was taken. For some days I thought that the possibility for me to sing on the Eurovision stage was over, but then I had a call from the director of the Festivali i Kenges who let me know that they decided that they wanted me to represent Albania in this contest, but now I had only less than a month left to prepare the new song.

E+: Can you tell us about your song “I’m Alive” and the story behind the lyrics? How was the composition procedure?

I’m Alive talks about strong women. Strong women that fall in love, that get hurt and suffer but still they never give up in love and in their dreams. I love this message of the song, also the video was created in this point of view , strong woman who never cries. 🙂

E+: How are you going to prepare your Eurovision performance? Have you thought about the staging you would like to show us in Vienna?

That fact that the song I’m Alive was created just some weeks ago we didn’t have too much time to start working on the performance so we are in the beginning of the work for the staging. One thing that I know is that I’d like to keep it simple but strong.

E+: You released an official preview video to premiere your new Eurovision song “I’m Alive”. How was the shooting of the clip?

I met with the director of Provideo, the team that worked for my video, just two days before shooting and in that day we decided everything about the storyboard. Then we shot 4 days , everyday from the early morning until the late nights, and in the end of the week the video was ready to release. The fact that me and my team had to work in such short limit of time made it even more exciting, and at the end we were even more happy to see the results of a month work.

E+: Tell us what can Eurovision contribute to your musical career? What are your expectations?

I have already started to see the fruits of being part of this contest. I can see the number of international fans that hear my music and write me every single day to compliment, and only this is something very important.

My expectation for Eurovision is enjoying it.

E+: Do you have any plans to travel abroad and promote your song in other participating countries as the Amsterdam’s Eurovision in Concert?

Albania was the first country to announce the participation in the AEC, ‘m so exited that I’ll get to promote I’m Alive and to meet all the Eurovision fans in these promoting tour.

E+: Can you tell us about your musical career? What are the most important achievements you have reached until the date?

It started everything in the first singing competition when I was 16 ‘Star Academy’, which I won. Then I participated in one of the most important modern music competition in Albania ‘Top Fest’ , I was the winner of this edition. After this I won several festivals in Balkan, then I decided to go to Italy participate at the Voice of italy which was the turning point in my career. Now I’m the winner of Festivali Kenges and I’m preparing to represent Albania in Eurovision 2015.

E+: What do you do in your free time? Do you have any favourite hobby?

I love reading during my free time, also kick-boxing lately is becoming one of my favourite hobbies.

E+: Do you usually watch Eurovision? What are your favourite songs in the history of the competition?

I’ve been watching Eurovision since a very few years now, Of course I compliment my countries entries until now, then one of my favorite song and artists ever is definitely Loreen with Euphoria, also the Spanish entries , I can mention Pastora Solar with ‘Quedate conmigo’.

E+: Can you send a message for our readers?

Thank you all for the support and can’t wait to hear your opinions after my performance in the ESC stage.

LOVE 🙂

Thank you very much, good luck and see you in Vienna!

Watch the exclusive video message Elhaida has sent for our readers:

 

 

Elhaida Dani will perform the song “I’m Alive” at the first semi-final of Eurovision 2015 set on May 19.