Kënga Magjike (; ) is an annual

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. Exampl ...

organised by the

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 The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the ...

n television broadcaster

Televizioni Klan Televizioni Klan, also known as TV Klan, is an Albanian private television channel with national coverage, based in Tirana, Albania. History and profile TV Klan launched as a Franco-Albanian joint-venture, with its first broadcast airing on ...

. The music competition has been broadcasting annually since its inauguration in 1999 with the exception of 2020. The first edition of the contest was broadcast live by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar while all the editions from 2003 by Televizioni Klan.

Ardit Gjebrea Ardit Gjebrea (born 7 June 1963) is an Albanian singer, songwriter, producer and television presenter. Life and career Gjebrea began singing at the age of five in Albanian children festivals, and is known for songs like ''"I ëmbël zëri i ...

has been the main presenter of the contest since the first edition and in other occasions he has hosted with other co-presenters amongst them Brigitte Nielsen,

Natalia Estrada Natalia Estrada (born Gijón, Asturias, Spain, September 3, 1972) is an actress, model and television presenter on Spanish television. Biography When she was 15 she moved to Madrid where she did music and acting classes and became a flamen ...

Songül Öden Songül Öden (born 17 February 1979) is a Turkish actress of Zaza descent. Her most successful roles were in the series '' Gümüş'', ''Umutsuz Ev Kadınları'', "Şeref Bey" and ''Uysallar''. Life and career Songül Öden was born in Diyarba ...

and Elia Zogu.

History

1999–2005

Throughout its history, different broadcasters have been credited with the production and airing of this event, including RTSH,

Klan TV Televizioni Klan, also known as TV Klan, is an Albanian private television channel with national coverage, based in Tirana, Albania. History and profile TV Klan launched as a Franco-Albanian joint-venture, with its first broadcast airing on 25 ...

, TVA,

RTV NRG RTV may refer to: Broadcasting * RTV (Bangladeshi TV channel), a satellite television channel * RTV (Indonesian TV network), an Indonesian television network * RTV-7, a Dutch television network with programming from the Dutch Caribbean * RTV N ...

(Albania) and

RTV21 RTV21 (an acronym for Radiotelevizioni 21; English: Radiotelevision 21) is a broadcaster and media company based in Pristina, Kosovo, which includes a radio (est. May 11, 1998), a television station (est. September 22, 2000), and six sister stati ...

, RTK (

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 Eur ...

), as well as many radio stations. It is currently produced and aired by

. Kënga Magjike was created by singer, composer, host and organizer

and began airing in 1999. It usually airs each November, with a few exceptions. It was originally aired as a three or four night event similar to

Festivali i Këngës Festivali i Këngës (; ), also referred to as simply FiK, is an annual music competition in Albania organised by the national broadcaster Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH). Broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1962, it has also deter ...

; however, in 2005 a new format of presenting the songs was introduced. Each song was broadcast one month prior to the semi-finals and the final in a special edition called "Duke Pritur Kënga Magjike..." (''Awaiting Kënga Magjike...''), giving the viewers a chance to vote for the songs that would pass on to the semi-finals through phone, text or online in the festival's official website. A jury was also used when determining which songs made it to the next stage.

2006–present

This format was later replaced by the current system, where groups of songs are presented weekly in the ''

E Diela Shqiptare E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); pl ...

'' (''The Albanian Sunday'') show on Klan TV hosted by Ardit Gjebrea. Established singers automatically pass to the semi-finals stage, while newcomers must rely on the verdict of a professional jury. Once the semi-finalists are determined and their acts are performed in the semis, it is the singers themselves who must vote for each other in a 1-through-30 (skipping 23, 25, 27, 28 and 29) point system to determine both the songs that will reach the finals and their final ranking. The professional jury, the organizers of the festival and the TV station are tasked with determining the titles of the prizes that each finalist will be awarded. Following criticism for the use of playback in the delivery of songs, the organizers decided to limit the use of playback to just the weekly presentation stage in 2015. Established singers are allowed to use playback in this phase, while newcomers must sing live in order to receive a verdict by the jury. Nonetheless, the semi-finals and the final must all be delivered live by both established and debuting singers. The festival has been praised for the diversity of music it has brought to the public, providing a great mixture of singers and bands from Albania with those from neighboring countries, a large portion coming from Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and other areas. Kënga Magjike has also been the stage for many comebacks of famous Albanian singers that reside in other countries, as well as artists which have contributed to the Albanian music industry in the past. Songs from this contest have resulted in numerous memorable hits for Albanians throughout the world. Compared to its main competitors, Kënga Magjike features more bubble-gum and commercialized music, contrasting with the predominantly alternative and rock genres featured in Top Awards on

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, ...

, while not being as exclusively prohibitive as Festivali i Këngës, which typically admits only professional vocalists. Presenter

announced that during 2020, ''Kënga Magjike'' will not be done and will return in 2021.

Winners

As the second longest-running

, twenty songs have won the Kënga Magjike which has been broadcast every year since its debut in 1999. The festival's winner has been determined using numerous voting techniques throughout its history while centre to these have been the awarding of points to the participants by juries, televoters or the participants themselves.

References

External links