The Image of You


"The Image of You" is a song by Albanian singer Anjeza Shahini. The song was released as a CD single in 2004 by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar. It was composed by Edmond Zhulali and written by Agim Doçi. A rhythmic English-language electropop ballad, the song lyrically explores a woman's emotions in what appears to be a whirlwind romance.
"The Image of You" represented Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 in Istanbul, Turkey, after Shahini won the pre-selection competition, Festivali i Këngës, with the song's Albanian-language version "Dua të jem imazhi yt". The country attempted its debut in the contest and reached the 7th place in a field of 24, receiving a total of 106 points. This remained its highest placement until their participation in 2012. During her minimalistic show of the song, Shahini was accompanied on stage by four backing vocalists.

Background and composition

In 2003, Anjeza Shahini was announced as one of the contestants selected to compete in the 42nd edition of Festivali i Këngës, a competition to determine Albania's entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2004. For following the competition's rules, the lyrics of the participating entries had to be in the Albanian language. Shahini took part with the song "Dua të jem imazhi yt", composed by Edmond Zhulali and written by Agim Doçi. For the purpose of the singer's Eurovision Song Contest participation, "Dua të jem imazhi yt" was remastered and translated to "The Image of You". Musically, the latter is a moderately-paced rhythm English-language electropop ballad. It lyrically explores the singer's emotions in what seems to be a whirlwind romance.

At Eurovision

Festivali i Këngës

The national broadcaster of Albania, Radio Televizioni Shqiptar, organised the 42nd edition of Festivali i Këngës to determine the country's participant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2004. The former consisted of two semi-finals on 18 and 19 December, and the grand final on 20 December 2003, which included Shahini being chosen to represent Albania in the contest.
and her backing vocalists during the grand-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004.

Istanbul

The 49th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest took place in Istanbul, Turkey, and consisted of a semi-final on 12 May and the grand final three days later on 15 May 2004. According to the Eurovision rules at the time, selected participating countries, apart from the host country and the "Big 4", consisting of,,, and the, were required to qualify from the semi-final to compete for the grand final. However, the top 10 countries from the semi-final progressed to the grand final.
Albania performed 13th in the semi-final, following and preceding, while the country qualified for the grand final in 4th place with 167 points. In the grand final, Albania was scheduled to perform 9th, following and preceding, and reached the 7th place in a field of 24 with 106 points. The latter result remained the highest placement for Albania in the contest before their successful participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan. During her minimalistic performance of the song, Shahini was accompanied on stage by four backing vocalists.

Track listings

  1. "The Image of You"3:00
  1. "Dua të jem imazhi yt "4:25

    Release history

RegionDateFormatLabel
Various2004CDRTSH
Various14 February 2018Digital download