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Klesta Qehaja
Klesta Qehaja
Background information
Birth name	Klesta Qehaja
Born	18 August 2006 (age 18); Pristina, United Nations Administered Kosovo (present-day Kosovo)
Occupation	Singer
Instrument	Vocals

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Country	Albania
National selection
Selection process	Festivali 53 i Këngës për Fëmijë
Selection date(s)	1 June 2016
Selected artist(s)	Klesta Qehaja
Selected song	"Besoj"
Selected songwriter(s)	Adrian Hila; Pandi Laço
Finals performance
Final result	13th, 38 points
Albania in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

Albania participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Besoj" written by Adrian Hila and Pandi Laço. The song was performed by Klesta Quehaja. The Albanian entry for the 2016 contest in Valletta, Malta was selected through a national final organised by the Albanian broadcaster Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH). The national final consisted of fourteen competing acts participating in a televised production where the winner was determined by 100% votes of jury members made up of music professionals. Klesta Qehaja won the Festivali 53 i Këngës për Fëmijë with the song "Besoj", on 1 June 2016.

Background

Prior to the 2016 Contest, Albania had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest two times since its first entry in 2012, only opting not to participate at the 2013 and 2014 contests. Albania has never won the contest, with their best result being in 2015, with the song "Dambaje" performed by Mishela Rapo, achieving fifth place with a score of 93 points.^[1]

Before Junior Eurovision

National final

The national final, Festivali 53 i Këngës për Fëmijë, took place on 1 June 2016. The national final consisted of fourteen competing acts participating in a televised production where the winner was determined by 100% votes of jury members made up of music professionals.^[2]

Draw^[2]	Artist^[2]	Song^[2]	Language	English translation	Place^[2]
1	Zhaklina Veizaj	"Botë mirësie kërkoj"	Albanian	The World Kindly Asks
2	Dario Zela	"We Need Love"	Albanian, English	—
3	Rajan Kukaleshi	"Vetëm nuk je"	Albanian	You're Not Alone
4	Jasmina Hako	"Si fluturim"	Albanian	Like Flying	2
5	Michelle Prodani	"Prindër"	Albanian	Parents
6	Xhesika Pengili	"Largoje trishtimin"	Albanian	Remove the Sorrow
7	Marko Strazimiri	"Music Makes My Day"	Albanian, English	—	3
8	Vivian Biaxhorni & Xhamerino Bollati	"Në mes yjesh"	Albanian	Between the Stars
9	Endi Muça	"Dua të jem"	Albanian	I Want To Be
10	Klesta Qehaja	"Besoj"	Albanian	I Believe	1
11	Klea Mema	"Dua të jem e lirë"	Albanian	I Want To Be Free
12	Eda Muça	"Lulja që më dhurove"	Albanian	The Flower You Gave
13	Dea Çobo	"Mirë se erdhe flutur"	Albanian	Welcome Butterfly
14	Vivian Kokeri	"Portat e gëzimit"	Albanian	Gates of joy

Jury members

The jury members were as follows (in alphabetical order):^[2]

Adelina Mamaqi
Aleksandër Lalo
Era Rusi
Gordon Bonello
Irma Libohova
Martin Leka
Olga Salamakha

Preparation

The video and new version of the "Besoj" were premiered on 7 November 2016.^[3]

Artist and song information

Klesta Qehaja

Klesta Qehaja (born 18 August 2006) is a Kosovo-Albanian singer. She represented Albania with the song "Besoj", at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Valletta, Malta on 20 November 2016.^[2]

Prior to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, Qehaja had participated in multiple contests such as Gjeniu i Vogël in Albania, Shining Star in Turkey, Bled Golden Microphone in Serbia, and most notably winning first prize in the Pristina Kids Fest.^[4]

Besoj

"Besoj" (English translation: "I Believe") is a song performed by Albanian child singer Klesta Qehaja. It represented Albania during the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016. It is composed and written by Adrian Hila and Pandi Laço who also composed and wrote the previous Albanian entry "Dambaje".

At Junior Eurovision

During the opening ceremony and the running order draw which took place on 14 November 2016, Albania was drawn to perform third on 20 November 2016, following Armenia and preceding Russia.^[5]

The final will be broadcast in Albania on TVSH, RTSH Muzikë and Radio Tirana with commentary by Andri Xhahu.

Final

Klesta was wearing a white dress with a satin belt, bow in the back and lace on the edge of the dress. She stood in the middle of the stage with a microphone in her right hand and with her left hand she was making discrete movements. The backdrop shifted in black, white and red, without any other props on stage.

Voting

During the press conference for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016, held in Stockholm, the Reference Group announced several changes to the voting format for the 2016 contest. Previously, points had been awarded based on a combination of 50% National juries and 50% televoting, with one more set of points also given out by a 'Kids' Jury'. However, this year, points will be awarded based on a 50/50 combination of each country's Adult and Kids' Jury, to be announced by a spokesperson. For the first time since the inauguration of the contest the voting procedure will not include a public televote.^[6] Following these results, three expert jurors will also announce their points from 1–8, 10, and 12. These professional jurors are: Christer Björkman, Mads Grimstad, and Jedward.^[7]

Points awarded to Albania^[8]^[9]^[10]
Score	Adult and expert juries	Kids juries
12 points
12 points
12 points
7 points	Serbia
6 points
5 points	Italy
4 points	Malta	Armenia Poland
3 points
2 points	Belarus Christer Björkman Cyprus Russia	Australia
1 point	Australia	Macedonia Netherlands Ukraine

Points awarded by Albania^[8]^[9]^[10]
Score	Adult jury	Kids jury
12 points	Georgia	Malta
10 points	Australia	Italy
8 points	Italy	Ireland
7 points	Malta	Macedonia
6 points	Bulgaria	Armenia
5 points	Netherlands	Bulgaria
4 points	Russia	Georgia
3 points	Israel	Israel
2 points	Macedonia	Australia
1 point	Ireland	Poland

References

^ Malaj, Eris (1 June 2016). "JESC 2016: Klesta Qehaja to represent Albania with Besoj". eurovisionary.com. EuroVisionary. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Granger, Anthony (June 2016). "Klesta Qehaja will represent Albania at Junior Eurovision 2016". eurovoix.com. Albania. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
^ García, Belén (7 November 2016). "Junior Eurovision: Listen to the final version of Albanian song "Besoj"". esc-plus.com. Esc-plus. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
^ "About Klesta Qehaja". junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
^ Bayliss, Emil Calleja (15 November 2016). "JESC 2016: The Final Running Order Made Public". escflashmalta.com. EXOR Group. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
^ Jordan, Paul (13 May 2016). "Format changes for the Junior Eurovision 2016". junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
^ Jordan, Paul (13 May 2016). "Jedward to appear at Junior Eurovision 2016!". junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Results of the Final of Valletta 2016". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 31 May 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 – Complete scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Whizz-kids, let's dive into the results!". www.junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 20 November 2016. Archived from the original on 21 November 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2017.