"Me tana"
An image depicting a female and the song's title
Single by Elvana Gjata
LanguageAlbanian
Released10 December 2019 (2019-12-10)
GenreDance-pop
Length3:40
LabelEast Music Matters (EMM)
Songwriter(s)Elvana Gjata
Producer(s)UNIK
Elvana Gjata singles chronology
"A m'don"
(2019) 		"Me tana"
(2019) 		"Thirr"
(2021)
Music video
"Me tana" on YouTube

"Me tana" (Albanian: [mɛ tana]; transl. With all or With everything) is a song by Albanian singer and songwriter Elvana Gjata released as a single on 10 December 2019 by East Music Matters (EMM). The song was written and composed by Gjata herself and produced by German-Greek producer UNIK. Musically, "Me tana" was described as an Albanian-language ethnic dance-pop song, which lyrically explores the theme of unconditional and hopeless love. Music critics and reviewers applauded the song upon its release, with praise concentrated on the song's composition, lyrics and Gjata's vocal delivery.

In December 2019, Gjata participated in the 58th edition of Festivali i Këngës to represent Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She finished in the second place despite being the favourite to win the competition. During her red and black-themed show of the song, she was accompanied by six backing dancers, while the background LED screens displayed different folklore-inspired images. An accompanying black and white lyric video was premiered to the official YouTube channel of Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) on the same date and trended in numerous countries throughout Europe.

Background and composition

"Me tana"
A 19-second sample of "Me tana", an Albanian-language ethnic dance-pop song. It lyrically focuses on the theme of unconditional and hopeless love.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Me tana" was released on digital platforms and to streaming services as a single on 10 December 2019 through East Music Matters (EMM).[1] The Albanian-language song, which runs three minutes and forty seconds, was produced by German-Greek producer UNIK and composed and written by Elvana Gjata herself, approximately a year prior to her participation at Festivali i Këngës.[2][3] Musically, "Me tana" draws influence from the musical genres of dance-pop intertwined with ethnic elements.[4] It lyrically focuses on Gjata's unconditional and hopeless love in which, according to a music reviewer, the singer "burst with emotions letting them out through the song".[5] The song's title translated into English, "With all" or "With everything", is an expression for giving up everything of yourself, and giving it to the other person you love.[5]

Reception

"Me tana" received universal acclaim from music critics upon its release and was further considered a favourite to win Festivali i Këngës in December 2019.[6] Robyn Gallagher of Wiwibloggs commended the song an "examination of deep feelings of love" and praised the song's lyrics which, according to her, reflect on "emotions" and "sensual delights".[5] An editor of SoundsEuropean! was generally positive towards the song's nature calling it a "fresh blend of pop" with "ethnic touches".[7] German Eurovision.de writer Irving Wolther compared the song with "Fuego" (2018) by Eleni Foureira.[8] Several prominent figures, such as Aurela Gaçe,[9] Besa Kokëdhima,[10] Capital T,[11] Ledri Vula[12] and Eleni Foureira,[13] came out in support of the song through their social media accounts.[14] Premiered by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH), the official lyric video of "Me tana" appeared on the YouTube trending charts in several countries, including in Albania, Germany, Greece, North Macedonia, Switzerland and Turkey, resulting as the most-viewed entry in Festivali i Këngës.[15]

Festivali i Këngës

See also: Festivali i Këngës 58

The national broadcaster of Albania, Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH), organised the 58th edition of Festivali i Këngës in order to select the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.[16] The competition consisted of two semi-finals and the final held in December 2019 as well as 20 songs out of which the winner was determined by the votes from a jury panel. It opened a submission period for artists and composers between 28 May and 15 September 2019, while out of all received submissions, a jury panel internally selected 20 songs to participate in the competition's semi-finals.[17][18] After being selected to compete, Elvana Gjata performed the song in the first semi-final on 19 December and qualified for the grand final on 21 December 2019.[19][20][21] Despite being the favourite to win, the song eventually reached the second place in a field of 12 participants in the grand final.[22][23] The three members of the international jury, consisting of Christer Björkman, Dimitris Kontopoulos and Felix Bergsson, ranked the song first, whereas the two Albanian jury members ranked it lower.[24][25]

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[2]

Track listing

  1. "Me tana" – 3:40

Release history

Release dates and formats for "Me tana"
Region Date Format Label Ref.
Various
 10 December 2019
  • Digital download
  • streaming
 EMM [1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Citations regarding the digital release of "Me tana" by Elvana Gjata in various selected countries:
    • "Me tana – Single by Elvana Gjata on Apple Music Germany" (in German). Apple Music. 10 December 2019. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
    • "Me tana – Single by Elvana Gjata on Apple Music France" (in French). Apple Music. 10 December 2019. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
    • "Me tana – Single by Elvana Gjata on Apple Music Italy" (in Italian). Apple Music. 10 December 2019. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
    • "Me tana – Single by Elvana Gjata on Apple Music Kosovo". Apple Music. 10 December 2019. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
    • "Me tana – Single by Elvana Gjata on Apple Music United States". Apple Music. 10 December 2019. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Me Tana / Elvana Gjata Tidal". Tidal. 10 December 2019. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019. Note: Open description for credits.
  3. ^ "'E këndoja dhe qaja', Elvana Gjata zbulon si lindi kënga 'Me tana'" (in Albanian). Insajderi. December 2019. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  4. ^ Quinn, Angus (20 March 2020). "Team Wiwi's Top NF Songs of ESC 2020 (10-1)". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Gallagher, Robyn (14 December 2019). "Albania: Elvana Gjata expresses her loved-up emotions in "Me tana" lyrics". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  6. ^ Gallagher, Robyn (14 December 2019). "Albania: Do YouTube views predict a win for Elvana Gjata at Festivali i Këngës 58?". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 3 January 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Albania: Elvana Gjata – 'Me tana'". SoundsEuropean!. 7 January 2020. Archived from the original on 11 February 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  8. ^ Wolther, Irving (23 December 2019). "Arilena Ara singt 2020 für Albanien" (in German). ARD. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2019. Elvana Gjata mit dem 'Fuego'-Gedächtnis-Song 'Me tana'
  9. ^ "Aurela pëlqen këngën e Elvanës për 'Eurovision', kështu ia kthen ajo" (in Albanian). Gazeta Blic. 18 December 2019. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  10. ^ "Besa pëlqen këngën e Elvanës" (in Albanian). Radio Televizioni 21 (RTV21). 9 December 2019. Archived from the original on 10 December 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  11. ^ "Capital T për Elvana Gjatën: Fituesja e vërtetë" (in Albanian). Lajmi. 24 December 2019. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  12. ^ "Ledri Vula mbështet Elvana Gjatën për në Eurovision" (in Albanian). Lajmi. 11 December 2019. Archived from the original on 14 April 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  13. ^ "Eleni Foureira favorizon këtë këngë për 'Eurovision'" (in Albanian). Lajmi. 19 December 2019. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  14. ^ "Vendi i parë vs Vendi i dytë: Si reaguan VIP-at shqiptarë për 'Festivalin e Këngës'" (in Albanian). Anabel Magazine. 23 December 2019. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  15. ^ Kourouvanis, Fotis (11 December 2019). "Albania: Elvana Gjata and 'Me tana' sweeps on YouTube trends in Europe". Eurovisionfun. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  16. ^ Herbert, Emily (22 July 2019). "Albania: Eurovision 2020 Participation Confirmed". Eurovoix. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  17. ^ "Festivali i 58-të i Këngës në RTSH, juria përzgjedh 20 këngëtarët pjesëmarrës" (in Albanian). Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH). 24 October 2019. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  18. ^ "Kjo është kënga e Elvana Gjatës që po pretendohet se do të zgjedhet fituese të "Festivalin e Këngës"" (in Albanian). Gazeta Express. 10 December 2019. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  19. ^ "Elvana Gjata me një performancë tipike shqiptare në Festivalin e Këngës" (in Albanian). Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH). 15 December 2019. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  20. ^ Rahn, Florian (9 December 2019). "Listen: Albania's RTSH reveals all 20 competing songs of Festivali i Këngës 58". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  21. ^ Gallagher, Robyn (16 December 2019). "Albania: Semi-final allocations and running order confirmed for Festivali i Këngës 58". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  22. ^ "It's Arilena Ara for Albania!". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 23 December 2019. Archived from the original on 13 May 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  23. ^ "Festivali i 58-të i Këngës, Arilena Ara do të përfaqësojë Shqipërinë në Eurovizion" (in Albanian). Euronews Albania. 23 December 2019. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  24. ^ Smith, David (23 December 2019). "Festivali i Këngës 58 results: International jury vote for Elvana Gjata ... but Albanian jurors mark her down". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  25. ^ Mazoyer, Vincent (23 December 2019). "FiK 58 full results out: Shaj won with a three-point margin". ESCXtra. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
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