organised the 50th edition of Festivali i Këngës to determine their participant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The event consisted of two semi-finals on 26 and 27 December, and the grand final on 29 December 2011. The shows were hosted by Enkeleida Zeko, Hygerta Sako & Nik Xhelilaj. The guest of honor in Semi-Final 1 was Eddy Wata who sang "Señorita" and "I Love My People". On 22 October 2011, RTSH revealed the participants of Festivali i Këngës 50 and on 17 December 2011, RTSH announced all song titles, lyric composers and music composers.
Competing entries
Shows
Semi-finals
Final
The grand final took place on 29 December 2011 and was broadcast live at 20:30. The winner was determined by the combination of the votes from a seven-member jury, consisting of Aldo Shllaku, Edi Xhani, Ndriçim Xhepa, Redon Makashi, Robert R, Zana Shuteriqi and Zhani Ciko. Each member of the jury voted by assigning scores from 1–8, 10 and 12 points to their preferred songs. Rona Nishliu emerged as the winner and was simultaneously announced as the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest. The results of the grand finals were:
At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 took place at the Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Azerbaijan, and consisted of two semi-finals held on 22 and 24 May, and the grand final on 26 May 2012. According to the rules, each participating country, apart from the host country and the "Big 5", consisting of,,,, and the, were required to qualify from one of the two semi-finals to compete for the final. However, the top ten countries from the respective semi-final automatically progress to the final of the contest. During an allocation draw held on 25 January 2012, it was announced that Albania would be performing in the first half of the first semi-final of the contest. On 20 March 2012, the country was set to perform in fifth position, following and preceding. Soon after the first semi-final, it was announced that Albania would be performing third, following and preceding the.
Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Albania in the contest's semi-final and final, as well as by the country on both occasions. In the semi-final, the country finished in second place with a total of 146 points, including 12 from,,, and. In the final, Albania finished in fifth position, being awarded a total of 146 points, including 12 awarded by Italy,, and Switzerland. Albania awarded its 12 points to Montenegro in the semi-final, and in the final of the contest to Greece.
