News - All invited to Albania at press conference | Eurovision Song Contest News - Germany 2011 

The second press conference was held this afternoon for the Albanian singer Anjeza Shahini, who performs The image of you. Promoting Albania and its music to the rest of Europe seemed to be the main motivation for their particpation in this years Eurovision Song Contest.

The delegation started by thanking the press and everybody for their attention and support for their artist and song, and for taking the interest in the artistic life of Albania, and they hope that they will be successful with the support of the public and audience. They were also enjoying the new relationship with the other television countries in Europe. The first question was the familiar topic about language, unfortunately the journalist was thanking the Albanians for making a change singing in English and bringing their language to the contest, seemingly forgetting that the song is in fact sung in English! However later on Anjeza Shaini did treat the audience to a chorus of the song sung in her native langauge, to the applause of those assembled. The logic behind choosing English, was, that as this is their first time in participating in the contest, they wanted be nearer and closer to the other countries, and reach a larger audience, and that this could be a trigger to a larger interest in other Albanian songs and music in the future. The delegation were asked about what their expectations had been of the contest before arriving in Istanbul? They were most impressed by the hospitality they had received from their Turkish hosts, and by the great organisation of the event, surprised by all the rules, and that this could benefit them in future years as they realised it's not so easy to organise. Could Albania then host the contest if they won? They stated that "We are not just here to particpate, we are here to win! which also drew great applause from the audience. They would stage the event if they won as they wanted everyone to come to Albania, and added that "We still want you to come to Albania...even if we come second!" Albania participates in the qualifying round on 12th May. :: Click here to watch a few pictures of Anjeza!