2025 Eurovision Song Contest – “Zjerm” by Albania’s Shkodra Elektronike

 2025 Eurovision Song Contest – “Zjerm” by Albania’s Shkodra Elektronike

When most viewers watch the Eurovision Song Contest, they tend to pay close attention to the voice of the artist, the glimmer of the performance and how catchy the song can be. While those elements certainly are important, the meaning behind the song is most important and also can be the reason to why these artists make music. Representing your country on the biggest European stage has also influenced these performers to acknowledge the national identity of where they come from and whom they represent. Albania’s 2025 entry “Zjerm”, show many examples of this process, and Shkodra Elektronike prove that the competition is more than just a performance to entertain but an opportunity to express the feelings of your country, touch hearts, speak out for what you believe in and share your cultures identity in a different way the stereotypes might portray.

Sound, Structure & Lyrics

Zjerm is musically a mixture of electronic production and melodic tinges featuring the çifteli which is a two-stringed, plucked instrument from Northern Albanian tradition. Even the name of the duo is hybrid: Shkodra is the name of an ancient city in northern Albania, and Elektronike means the modernity of technology. The couple embodies their artistic ethos heritage mixed with the future. This mixing approach does not offer folklore as a museum object but the traces of culture are hidden in the modern electronic textures. The outcome is neither so traditional nor so globalized. It’s either here or there, it’s a very Albanian addition to the transnational pop culture. This strategy may be familiar to American listeners, who have been exposed to other musicians who have blended hip-hop, electronic, and indie genres with local influences. In the 2025 Eurovision performance, cultural particularity does not necessarily imply the sacrifice of modernity. Albania has not come to look like the past of Europe; it has come to be a part of the developing present.

In the first verse of the song “In this minute, in this moment, no paranoia (Ah), After the rain, the world seems like a rainbow (Wow), On the road, no ambulance, no one speaks with arrogance, Even today they told us that time is not wasted, I ended up under water, my mouth was never dry (No)” Beatrice is imagining a world that would be free of war, pollution, fear, and arrogance and a world characterized by peace, freedom, and hope. This shows that the fire in the song is not purely destruction but it is also passion in change and transformation. What’s even more interesting is that she’s not just singing about Albania, but creating a more perfect world over the globe, imagining peace and the healing of the environment and human dignity. Kole Laca’s verse kind of slows down the beat and melody of the performance. Although it seems like more of a message coming across then actual singing, the lyrics are very significant as he says “My heart falls on our tribal dances , That exercise like an avalanche when it falls on the mountains , My heart, nameless people and pure people , They break and fall like seven knives that stick in my soul, My heart , here the sea sleeps, the wound and the hana , And we do not see the stars because the stars are trampled by our feet When we walk in the darkness, O heart , let us be like flame and light, And seek you in this darkness that does not receive your light”. What he’s saying is, our culture is strong, we all have been hurt, the world can be dark, but we must be the light in the darkness.

One of the most significant factors in “Zjerm” is the linguistic choice which is Albanian. In many of the Eurovision performances you tend to hear the artists sing in English, which frequently dominates but this decision shows intentional culture rootedness by singing in their foreign language. While Shkodra Elektronike perform in Albanian, the decision to do so strengthens the countries backstory. The impact isn’t really a big one but it’s important. Instead of switching to the global standards, the duo asks the audience to tune in on its conditions. The language itself is included in the sonic texture, sharp consonants, rhythmical phrasing, emotional cadence.

The Symbolism of Fire

The title “Zjerm”  in the Albanian language translates to “fire”. In the performance it’s shown that fire is very symbolic and has layered meanings to the metaphor. In the Eurovision performance you can see the flames of fire shoot up along with the red and amber lighting being an example of this metaphor. As the song goes on the lyrics express the resilience, purification, passion and renewal but also the danger and destruction.

The power of the performance lies in the meaning of fire. It doesn’t refer to one political event or historical episode. It rather creates a feeling of patience and change. The modern history of Albania encompasses the Ottoman rule, the occupation by Fascists during World War II, decades of strict communistic isolation under Enver Hoxha and an unsteady post-socialist democratic transition. Although these events are not mentioned in connection with “Zjerm”, the image of fire represents Albania as a whole and can be grouped with many different events in history of their survival and endurance. The metaphor is on an emotional and aesthetic plane. The manifestation of identity is based on abstraction and not proclamation.

Staging , Visuals & Performance

National identity has always been something that’s constantly shown on the stage of these performances in the Eurovision Contest. With it being continuously performed and reaffirmed with cultural sounds, traditional clothing, the language and story behind the lyrics. Shkodra Elektronike gave an amazing performance while also introducing the identity of Albania to everyone watching. While blending traditions and modernity, the music combines electronic production with melodic influences, similar to music you’ll hear a lot in Northern Albania. The title of the song “Zjerm” also symbolizes the resilience and survival of the country. What didn’t go unnoticed was the absence of the usual stereotypes like tourist cliches. You rarely saw any folk costume or exaggerated Balkan imagery. The performance represented Albania with artistic events on screen, LED lights flashing and even on stage with a pattern of the traditional color red and black, also including, white. Leading singer, Beatriçe Gjergji, was seen with red eyes as the camera gets a close up, wearing a beautiful long red dress to match her diamond red nails whereas, Köle Laca is seen wearing a long dark coat which is a key part of his stage look. When Köle begins to sing his verse, you can see the stage divide in black, white and red. This part of the performance is significant because it visually matches what Köle is singing about in his verse, as he mentions walking in darkness, wounds, struggle and seeking light like a flame.

 Albania’s Beatriçe did fairly well at keeping the audience entertained between courses with the melody and beat playing in the background. Unlike many artists in the Eurovision contest with long dresses or similar pieces of clothing, she was mobile and entertaining to watch with her improv dancing along with the music. The singing of Beatriçe was memorable as it was very intense and expressive . Her voice was very emotional and this made the message of the song powerful even to those who did not understand what was being said. The show was not flashy in terms of choreography and grand props. Rather it centered on lighting, atmosphere and symbolism. The performance was minimal, controlled and showed self confidence through the lyrics but it also challenges Western stereotypes of southeastern Europe as chaotic and overly emotional where this performance wasn’t an example of that.

Identity & Albania

Even the performance by Shkodra Elektronike at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 called Zjerm, is a example of Albania that does not fit the usual folkloric or tourist picture. The performance isn’t centered on there incredible beach life, traditional costumes or notational holidays but on emotional intensity, the depth of their culture and reflection. The performance countlessly shows resilience, cultural memory, and finding the light in the darkness through the use of the Albanian language, strong symbolism such as fire and the use of staging through the atmosphere. This is an element of the Albanian national identity including the strong cultural traditions, the attachment to the past, and the resilience in the face of struggles in the course of historical periods. Meanwhile, the performance makes national identity more complicated by introducing Albania as modern instead of being traditional. It’s important as Eurovision performances are normally an opportunity for artist to speak out against world situations or even just their acknowledge there countries problems whereas “Zerjm”  introduces Albania as a strong, and culturally self-aware.

Before watching Shkodra Elektronike’s performance of “Zerjm”, I thought Albania’ s national identity would focus more on the traditional folklore side with obvious cultural symbols. I thought the performance would include more stereotypical imagery instead of what they produced. With red standing out as expected, black and white confused me before understanding the meaning behind the color choice which made more sense and changed my perspective on how many different ways a country can portray their identity.

Conclusion

Within three minutes, this duo achieved something big .  “Zerjm” by Shkodra Elektronike show lingo pride, historical resonance and modernity. They acknowledge and represent Albania in ways most wouldn’t think of and give viewers a different view of Albania’s national identity. Meanwhile, they avoid the stereotypical views on what’s supposed to be “the national identity of Albania”, showing that there’s more to not just a Eurovision performance but the country in itself. They show gratitude, unity and touch many hearts as they connect there lyrics with a world issue problem instead of just focusing on Albania. For Albania, fire represents continuity with the past and sheds light on a direction towards cosmopolitan cultural confidence.

 

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References

Albanian Night. (2025). Four beautiful cultural elements in Albania’s Eurovision song Zjerm. https://albaniannight.com/four-beautiful-cultural-elements-in-albanias-eurovision-song-zjerm/

 

Eurovision.de. (2025). Albanien – Shkodra Elektronike – Zjerm – ESC Finale 2025 [Video]. https://www.eurovision.de/videos/2025/Albanien-Shkodra-Elektronike-Zjerm-ESC-Finale-2025,albanien950.html

 

Genius. (2025). Zjerm Lyrics by Shkodra Elektronike. https://genius.com/Shkodra-elektronike-zjerm-lyrics

 

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Albanian language. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albanian_language