Top Fest was an Albanian

music competition A music competition is a public event designed to identify and award outstanding musical ensembles, soloists, composers, conductors and musicologists. Pop music competitions are music competitions which are held to find pop starlets. Examples ...

organised by

Top Channel Top Channel is a national commercial television network based in Tirana, Albania, founded by Dritan Hoxha in 2001. In January 2008, Top Channel was awarded national frequency coverage by making it the third such channel in Albania. In 2009, i ...

. It began airing in 2004 with its last edition being in 2015. The event was annually held in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. The songs were usually performed in Albanian with artists from Albania,

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

and other Albanian-speaking territories. From its 7th edition (2010), the participants performed their entries 100% live.

Format

Since 2010, the show has been split into three phases. The first phase airs all accepted entries, performing their entries in playback. The second phase is the ''Semi-Finals'', usually split in three shows, where the winners from phase one perform. The qualifiers from the semi-finals perform in the final, usually 10 to 13 acts. The winner is chosen in the Finale-night, usually held in late-May or early-June.

Presenters and directors

The contest has been always held in the Congress Palace of

and the personnel, has varied through the years. Since the first edition of the contes to 2009, the festival was directed by the Rock performer Bojken Lako, also known for his participation in other festivals. From 2010 to the final contest in 2015, the festival was directed by Ergys Lubonja. The festival has been presented by many prominent personalities. The first presenters were Evis Mula, Arbana Osmani and Alban Dudushi. Since 2006, Ledion Liço presented or co-presented the contest until the last edition.

Winners

The contest has produced many artists, like

Alban Skënderaj Alban Skënderaj (; born 20 April 1982) is an Albanian singer, songwriter, composer, actor, producer and television personality. Born in Lushnjë and raised in Vlorë, Skënderaj has established himself as a viable artist in Albania and the Alba ...

Elhaida Dani Elhaida Dani (; born 17 February 1993) is an Albanian singer, songwriter, composer and actress. Born and raised in Shkodër, Dani performed in diverse singing competitions and started to play piano as a child. She rose to national recognition i ...

, and many others, who were established and rose fame after their participation in Top Fest.

Trivia

* The only performer who won Top Fest more than once, was Alban Skënderaj, with two victories in a row in 2005 accompanied by the Kosovan Kthejllu, and in 2006 as a solo artist. * Flori Mumajesi is the most successful composer in the history of the contest, with three of his compositions winning the event in 2009, 2010 and 2011. * Kledi Bahiti, is the second most successful composer, with two winning songs in a row, 2012 and 2013. * From the technical point of view, Top fest in 2008 was the very first Albanian song festival to use LED screens in the stage of the Tirana Congress Palace.

Cancellation

Although the contest was, at first very popular and generated many positive opinions from music experts, because the opportunity for new Albanian talented artists, the organisers of the event, for unspecified reasons, declared that the 12th edition of the festival would be the very last one. The reasons behind the discontinuation of the event remain unknown, however, the falling audiences of the last editions might have determined the end of the festival.

References

{{reflist Pop music festivals Music festivals established in 2004 Contemporary music festivals in Albania Events in Tirana