Top Fest was an Albanian music competition organised by Top Channel. It began airing in 2004 with its last edition being in 2015. The event was annually held in Tirana, Albania.[1] The songs were usually performed in Albanian with artists from Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia and other Albanian-speaking territories. From its 7th edition (2010), the participants performed their entries 100% live.[2]
Since 2010, the show has been split into three phases. The first phase airs all accepted entries, performing their entries in playback. The second phase is the Semi-Finals, usually split in three shows, where the winners from phase one perform. The qualifiers from the semi-finals perform in the final, usually 10 to 13 acts. The winner is chosen in the Finale-night, usually held in late-May or early-June.
The contest has been always held in the Congress Palace of Tirana and the personnel, has varied through the years. Since the first edition of the contes to 2009, the festival was directed by the Rock performer Bojken Lako, also known for his participation in other festivals. From 2010 to the final contest in 2015, the festival was directed by Ergys Lubonja.
The festival has been presented by many prominent personalities. The first presenters were Evis Mula, Arbana Osmani and Alban Dudushi. Since 2006, Ledion Liço presented or co-presented the contest until the last edition.
The contest has produced many artists, like Alban Skënderaj, Elhaida Dani, and many others, who were established and rose fame after their participation in Top Fest.[3][4]
Although the contest was, at first very popular and generated many positive opinions from music experts, because the opportunity for new Albanian talented artists, the organisers of the event, for unspecified reasons, declared that the 12th edition of the festival would be the very last one. The reasons behind the discontinuation of the event remain unknown, however, the falling audiences of the last editions might have determined the end of the festival.[5]