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  • Writer's pictureaussievision
    • Dec 6, 2021
    • 3 min read

Junior Eurovision 2021: Albania


The Aussievision team have listened and ranked all Junior Eurovision songs and we have our final rankings. Albania have finished in tenth place. Details, individual rankings and comments below.


The entry

Anna Gjebrea - 'Stand By You'


Albania is being represented by Anna Gjebrea this year, who’s 12 years old.


She plays the piano and loves being near the water. She is also the daughter of a television host in Albania, and watches lots of international television shows to learn about other countries and their people.


Anna won the Albanian National Final ‘Junior Fest 2021’ to win her ticket to Paris.


Albania’s song is called ‘Stand By You’ and is an upbeat pop about friendship and standing up for people when things get tough and they’re the target of bullies.


The Aussievision team rankings

  • 3rd - Hugo

  • 4th - Cooper

  • 6th - Estelle

  • 6th - Josh

  • 7th - Kyriakos

  • 9th - Hayley

  • 9th - Tim

  • 11th - Dale

  • 12th - Ford

  • 12th - Steve

  • 14th - Emma

  • 14th - Laura

  • 14th - Mike

  • 18th - Craig


The comments


The music video starts off a bit sombre and is overall a bit cheesy, but fits the junior vibe, but this is such a catchy track. The pre-chorus builds well and then that instrumental break sticks in your mind. The only issue will be that English rap verse; it sounded a bit rushed on the recording. I can see some funky staging with dancers, and a perfectly junior song with a nice message. ~ Hugo


Going out on a limb but this song sounds exactly like Kendall from 'Dance Moms' song 'Wear 'Em Out', crossed with 'Passenger' by Britney Spears. It takes the best elements of both and while sounding derivative, it delivers in keeping a listeners attention. ~ Josh


Albania's 'Stand By You' falls sort of in the middle of the pack for me for a few reasons, but the main reason is the production of the song. And I feel like the most disappointing thing about that is just how good Anna is as a singer. She does an amazing job and manages to lift what I would call an otherwise poor entry. With a better entry, I could easily imagine Anna being right up there at the top of the leader board, not just in the Aussievision rankings, but also on the Junior Eurovision scoreboard later this month. With a less qualified singer, then this entry would probably be right at the bottom. ~ Ford


'Stand By You' is a contemporary-sounding pop track that manages to remain age appropriate, which I applaud. I think Anna comes across as very likeable in this song, and has the right cool-girl energy to pull it off. With that said, I think the production here sounds a little bit cheap - the drop strips everything back to just horns and percussion, and the result feels uncomfortably bare soundscape-wise. For me, the whole thing feels a little bit too much like a pop song written by an AI program or something. ~ Craig



Albania at Junior Eurovision


This year will mark Albania's seventh participation in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.


Following their debut back in 2012, the country came in last place, leading to the broadcaster taking a two year break before returning in 2015 with Mishela Rapo's 'Dambaje', which featured an imaginary language and earned them a top five finish.


The country has gone on to compete each year since, with the exception of the 2020 Contest due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions.


"The entry" written by Ally, and "Albania at Junior Eurovision" written by Ford



Aussievision team's Junior Eurovision 2021 rankings



Aussievision Podcast - Junior Eurovision 2021 Preview


Our bonus preview episode of Junior Eurovision 2021 is out. We run through the Contest, the top 3 songs from the Aussievision team and make predictions.


Listen to it on Apple Podcasts here:


And on Spotify here:

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