The Cali Garmo

We start off our journey with the 1st Semi-Final! For the first semi-final we'll go in alphabetic order, so that starts us off at Albania!

This year Albania will be represented by Hersi Matmuja who, at 24, has already attempted to represent Albania 4 other times in the Eurovision Song Contest. Her previous 4 predecessors have so far had mixed results. Last year Albania didn't even qualify for the Grand Final getting only 15th in the Semi-Finals. In 2012 though they did marvellously by getting 5th place overall, which was their best ever showing! Will Hersi be able to beat the odds and get the elusive 12 points from the most number of countries, let's break it down.

Her song "One Night's Anger" definitely fits into the Eurovision Song Contest. It matches a lot of songs we have heard in the past. Oddly enough, her voice sounds just like Inga's and Anush's from Armenia's Eurovision entry back in 2009 which garnered 10th place. Hersi's song though doesn't produce the same vibe as 'Jan Jan' did. The song doesn't really have ups or downs which would be expected with a song about anger. Every time you want the song to push you a little further it doesn't take you there. It's a pleasant song to listen to, but still left me wanting more. I don't think Albania will be winning many people's hearts this year and since it took Hersi 5 years to win the hearts of Albanians, I suspect Albania isn't expecting her to go far either.

Click here to view Hersi's participant page on Eurovision.tv