"Fall from the Sky" is a song by Albanian singer

Arilena Ara Arilena Ara (; born 17 July 1998) is an Albanian singer. Ara rose to national recognition in Albania, upon her victory at X Factor Albania in 2013. After her participation in the 18th edition of the music contest , her song "" found significant ...

, independently released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

on 9 March 2020. The song was composed by

Darko Dimitrov Darko Dimitrov ( ; born 21 January 1973) is a Macedonian songwriter, record producer, arranger and record executive. Highly acclaimed for revitalising the Yugoslav mainstream pop music scene, which also influenced the surrounding Balkan countries ...

and Lazar Cvetkoski, and written by

Michael Blue Michael Blue (born 1977/1978) is an American billionaire businessman, the managing partner and one of the co-founders of Privateer Holdings, along with Brendan Kennedy and Christian Groh. Blue earned a bachelor's degree in finance from Hardi ...

, Robert Stevenson and Sam Schummer. Musically, it is a

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

with the instrumentation incorporating

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

s and a

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

. The

English-language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

song makes lyrically reference to Arilena's hopeless desire to overcome deep and perplexing

emotion Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...

s. "Fall from the Sky" was scheduled to represent Albania in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2020 The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was planned to be the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It would have taken place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the with the song " Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. This w ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, the Netherlands, before the contest's cancellation due to the

pandemic A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

and its spread throughout

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Arilena had been previously selected as the country's representative, after winning the pre-selection competition,

Festivali i Këngës (; ), commonly known as and also referred to as simply FiK or Fest, is an annual music competition in Albania organised by the national broadcaster (RTSH). Broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1962, the festival has determined th ...

, with the song's

Albanian-language Albanian (Endonym and exonym, endonym: , , or ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid, Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan group. It ...

version "Shaj". Both versions were met with favourable response from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

, receiving praise for their compositions and Arilena's vocal delivery. An accompanying

lyric video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to promote the sale of m ...

for the song was officially premiered to the

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel of the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

on 10 March with the

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

being ultimately released on 11 May 2020. Footage of Arilena performing the song at the Mother Teresa Square in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, 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 ov ...

, Albania, was broadcast among others during the Eurovision Home Concerts series on 8 May 2020.

Background and composition

In 2019, Arilena was announced as one of the twenty contestants selected to compete in the 58th edition of

, a competition for determining Albania's participant for the

. As part of the competition's rules, the lyrics of the participating entries had to be in the

Albanian language Albanian (Endonym and exonym, endonym: , , or ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid, Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan group. It ...

. Arilena participated with the song "Shaj" written by

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

singer and songwriter

Lindon Berisha Lindon Berisha (; born 7 June 1989), also known mononymously as Lindon, is a Macedonian-Albanian pop singer. Life and career 1990–2015 Lindon Berisha was born on 7 June 1989 into an Albanian family in the city of Skopje, then part of the ...

, and composed by

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Macedonia * Mac ...

producers

and Lazar Cvetkoski. After winning Festivali i Këngës, Arilena revealed that "Shaj" initially came to her in the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

, and she had envisioned the possibility of remastering the song for her participation in the

. However, in February 2020, following several months spent in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, she eventually confirmed the aforementioned. "Fall from the Sky" was then revealed as the title of the song after three weeks on 8 March 2020 through a

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

post. Lasting three minutes and eight seconds, "Fall from the Sky" was written by

, Robert Stevenson and Sam Schummer, and composed by

and Lazar Cvetkoski. Musically, the song is a

with an instrumentation consisting of traditional

and

sounds. Lyrically, it expresses Arilena's hopeless desire to overcome deep and perplexing emotions that she could not forget.

Critical reception

Following its release and victory at

, "Shaj" received favourable response from

. Eurovision.de writer, Irving Wolther, referred to the song as a "melancholic power

". Mark Savage from

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

opined that "she belts out the high notes with all the subtlety of a klaxon in an elevator shaft" and went on into praising the composition and Arilena's vocal delivery. Following the premiere of the remastered version, entitled "Fall from the Sky",

Wiwibloggs Wiwibloggs is a fansite and YouTube channel focusing on the Eurovision Song Contest, launched in 2009 by journalist William Lee Adams. History In April 2015, Wiwibloggs won the Arts & Culture category at the UK Blog Awards. Adams has judged ...

writer Luis Fuster elaborated, saying that "the song does keep the essence of 'Shaj'; in fact, it feels more like a good revamp year for Albania". Another editor gave the song three stars out of five, writing "the song is an elegant

Bond theme The "James Bond Theme" is the main signature theme music of the List of James Bond films, James Bond films and has been used in every Bond film, starting with ''Dr. No (film), Dr. No'' in 1962. Composed in E minor by Monty Norman, the piece has ...

packed with dramatic theatrics" while simultaneously praising the song's instrumentation.

Release and promotion

"Fall from the Sky" was independently released on digital platforms and

streaming services A streaming media service (also simply called a streaming service) is an online platform that allows users to watch or listen to content, such as film, movies, Television show, TV shows, music, or podcasts, over the internet. Instead of downloadi ...

as a

on 9 March 2020. On the following day, an accompanying

for the song was officially premiered to the

channel of the

. The official

was ultimately released to YouTube on the aforementioned channel on 11 May 2020. The dramatic-characterised video depicts Arilena all alone against a white backdrop with slightly blue lights in three different settings, most notably signing next to a

, a white-coloured tree, and a white human-size bird cage. For promotional and supporting purposes, Arilena was scheduled to embark on a small tour with performances in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. However, the tour was canceled alongside the cancellation of the contest, due to the

of the

coronavirus disease 2019 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include f ...

(COVID-19). Footage of the singer performing the song for the first time was broadcast during her ''Sounds of Silence'' concert at the Mother Teresa Square in

on 2 May as well as during the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

's (EBU) Eurovision Home Concerts series on 8 May 2020.

At Eurovision

Festivali i Këngës

The national broadcaster of Albania,

Radio Televizioni Shqiptar Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (; ; formerly TVSH , now mostly referred to as RTSH ) is the national public broadcasting company of Albania. Founded in 1938, it operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as we ...

(RTSH), organised the 58th edition of

to determine the

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

's representative for the

, the Netherlands. It opened a submission period where artists, bands and composers were able to submit their songs to the broadcaster between 28 May and 15 September 2019, while a jury panel internally selected 20 songs to participate in the competition's semi-finals. During the grand final, Arilena and her

song "Shaj" was chosen to represent Albania at the contest after receiving 67 total points. After her victory at the competition, mixed reactions followed with multiple individuals criticising the competition itself and attributing the singer's victory to arranged voting.

Rotterdam

The 65th edition of the

was scheduled to take place in

, the Netherlands, consisting of two semi-finals on 12 May and 14 May 2020, and the grand final on 16 May 2020. According to the Eurovision rules, each participating country, except the host country and the " Big Five" including , , , and the , were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals to compete for the grand final. On 28 January 2020, it was announced that "Fall from the Sky" would be performed in the second half of the second semi-final of the contest on 14 May 2020. However, on 18 March 2020, the

(EBU) announced the contest's cancellation due to the

of the

(COVID-19) and its spread throughout Europe. Soon after, the EBU confirmed that intended 2020 entries were not eligible to compete in the following edition of the

contest CONTEST is the United Kingdom's counter-terrorism strategy, first developed by Sir David Omand and the Home Office in early 2003 as the immediate response to 9/11, and a revised version was made public in 2006. Further revisions were publish ...

in 2021.

Alternative contests

Broadcasters who were scheduled to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 have organised alternative music competitions. Austrian broadcaster,

Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF ; , ) is the national public broadcaster of Austria. Funded from a combination of television licence fee revenue and limited on-air advertising, ORF is the dominant player in the Austrian broadcast media. Austria was the last country in ...

(ORF), who organised

Der kleine Song Contest ('The Little Song Contest') was a one-off music competition in the Eurovision Song Contest format, organised and broadcast by the Austrian broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF). It served as a local alternative for the Eurovision Song ...

in April 2020, saw every entry being assigned to one of three semi-finals. A jury, consisting of ten members that had represented at the contest before, was hired to rank each song, however, the highest-placed in each semi-final advanced to the final. In the third semi-final on 18 April, "Fall from the Sky" placed fourth in a field of thirteen participants, achieving a total of 62 points. On 9 May 2020, the song unsuccessfully took part on the Swedish Sveriges 12:a organised by the country's national broadcaster

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...

(SVT).

Personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. ''Note: Open "Credits" for credits.'' *Arilena Araproducing, songwriting, vocals *Darko Dimitrovcomposing, producing *Lazar Cvetkoskicomposing, producing *Michael Blueproducing, songwriting *Robert Stevensonproducing, songwriting *Sam Schummerproducing, songwriting

Track listing

*Digital download #"Shaj"2:57 #"Fall from the Sky"3:08 #"Fall from the Sky" (Karaoke Version)3:08

Release history

References

{{authority control 2020 songs 2020 singles Arilena Ara songs Eurovision songs of 2020 Eurovision songs of Albania 2020s ballads Pop ballads English-language Albanian songs Song recordings produced by Darko Dimitrov Songs written by Mikal Blue Songs written by Darko Dimitrov