"Carry Me in Your Dreams" was the Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

n entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Eurovision Song Contest 2009

The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest and was hosted by Russia after their win in 2008. It took place between 12 and 16 May 2009 at the Olympic Indoor Arena in Moscow, Russia....

, held in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. The song was composed by Edmond Zhulali and Agim Doçi, composers of Albania's first entry to Eurovision, "The Image of You

The Image Of You

"The Image of You" was the debut entry for Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest, being performed in English by Anjeza Shahini in the semi-final of the 2004 Contest....

" by Anjeza Shahini

Anjeza Shahini

Anjeza Shahini is an Albanian singer. She represented Albania at the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "The Image of You" in the country's debut year in the ESC.-Eurovision 2004:...

, and is performed by Albanian singer Kejsi Tola

Kejsi Tola

Kejsi Tola is an Albanian singer and the winner of Albanian Idol 2007. In 2008 she was the winning contestant in the Festivali i Këngës competition to find the representative for Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia. Kejsi has a cousin called Öner studying music theory and...

 in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

. It finished 17th with 48 points.

Background

The song was the winner of Festivali I Këngës 47

Festivali I Këngës 47

Festivali i Këngës 47 took place at the Palace of Congres in Tirana, Albania. There were two semifinals and a final with 20 entrants competing. The winner was determined by a jury of 7 judges. The RTSH orchestra was present, but the option of playback was available to the performers...

, the festival used to select Albania's Eurovision entry. Albania was the first country to select and publicly present its song. The song was chosen as the winner of the festival on 21st December 2008--five months before Eurovision, to be held on 16th May 2009. The song was performed during Festivali I Këngës in Albanian

Albanian language

Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...

 as "Më merr në ëndërr" (Take me into your dreams), and the English version of the song was premiered on 18 March.

At Eurovision

Kejsi performed the song at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 semi-final on 14 May 2009, performing 16th in the running order, following Moldova

Moldova

Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...

's Nelly Ciobanu

Nelly Ciobanu

Nelly Ciobanu is a Moldovan singer. Ciobanu graduated from music college of the city of Tiraspol. Nelly made her debut on stage in 1993, with her brother as part of duo "Master Dinamit"...

 with "Hora din Moldova

Hora din Moldova

"Hora din Moldova" is a song by Moldovan singer Nelly Ciobanu and was the Moldovan entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, held in Moscow, Russia...

" and preceding Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

's Svetlana Loboda

Svetlana Loboda

Svitlana Loboda is a Ukrainian singer and composer. Loboda represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 and finished in 12th place with 76 points.-Early life:Loboda was born in Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR...

 with "Be My Valentine! (Anti-Crisis Girl)". She received 73 points, placing 7th of the 19 competing songs, and qualifying to the final.

At the final on 16 May Tola performed 19th in the running order, following Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

's Hadise

Hadise

Hadise Açıkgöz , is a Belgian born Turkish singer of Circassian descent. Hadise's career began in 2004 with the release of her debut single "Sweat", which peaked at 19 on the Flanders chart. Hadise continued to release more successful singles, most notably the single "Milk Chocolate Girl"...

 with "Düm Tek Tek

Düm Tek Tek

"Düm Tek Tek" is a song by Belgium born Turkish singer Hadise that was performed as the Turkish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia....

" and preceding Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

's Alexander Rybak

Alexander Rybak

Alexander Igoryevich Rybak or in Belarusian Alyaksandr Igaravich Rybak , born 13 May 1986 in Byelorussian SSR is a Norwegian singer-composer, violinist, pianist, writer, and actor...

 with "Fairytale

Fairytale (Alexander Rybak song)

"Fairytale" is a song written and composed by Norwegian violinist/singer Alexander Rybak, and the first single from Rybak's debut album Fairytales...

". The song received 48 points, placing 17th of the 25 competing songs.

The staging featured two b-boys dressed as mimes (twin brothers) and a sequined green man (Jenia Evgenios Buli, who has performed with Kalomira in 2008 and Giorgos Alkaios

Giorgos Alkaios

Giorgos Alkaios is a Greek recording artist. His career began in 1989 after appearing on a Greek reality show. Following a brief period of stage acting, Alkaios dedicated himself to music. His first single, "Ti Ti", made him popular in Greece. His distinctive musical style fuses Greek and Oriental...

in 2010).
If only tele-voting had been used, Albania would have come in 11th.