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By:
Besarte Elshani
- 17 October 2024 22:52
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As an extraordinary celebration that reveals the musical values of the local scene, the second edition of the Song Festival has been announced on Kosovo Radio and Television, and a week before, the budget was one of the main topics at the media conference. A kind of "strategy", with which the self-authorization of RTK to organize a major event was foreseen, has fallen into the water. The annex to the memorandum provides 300 euros from the Ministry of Culture on the grounds that the public broadcaster is in a very bad financial situation. "A very big festival with extremely small and well-controlled expenses", said Adi Krasta, director of the Festival and deputy director of RTK, and the artistic part is the other side of the event.
When there is less than a week left until the start of the second edition of the Song Festival on Radio and Television of Kosovo, the organizers have revealed concrete details about the organization and the artistic side. It has been announced that the performers will take to the grandest stage this year.
But the main emphasis in the press conference was the budget. With all this, the organizers promise an extraordinary party that unfolds the musical values of the local scene.
A kind of "strategy", which envisioned the self-authorization of Radio Television of Kosovo to organize a major event like the Song Festival, has fallen into the water. While in the previous edition the Ministry of Culture allocated 300 thousand euros for the Festival, while RTK provided 50 thousand euros from its own budget, two years later it was foreseen that the public broadcaster would take over the financial side.
For the organization of the second edition, the Ministry would allocate 250 euros, and 100 to the broadcaster. Next year, both parties would share 150 thousand euros.
Adrian Krasta, deputy director of RTK and director of the Song Festival, said that the public broadcaster is in a very bad financial situation and that for this reason, an annex to the memorandum was signed between the two parties.
"I have prayed to the Ministry of Culture for years and this year that the Ministry of Culture does not implement the dynamics of the memorandum, that Radiotelevision is in a very bad financial situation. I begged them for us to sign an agreement, which we signed very late, an annex to the memorandum, that this year they will give the figure of 300 thousand euros", said Krasta, before announcing that the same amount for the Festival it is also decided for the next edition.
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"The budget of the festival this year is 350, of which 300 will be given by the Ministry and 50 by Kosovo Radio and Television. Next year, I am not able to say what will happen, but in the planning that the general directorate and the finances of RTK have done this year, the figure of 350 has been set for the coming year as well", he said in the conference where space for questions was given only to RTK and Radio Kosovo journalists.
He said that over 83 thousand euros of the budget will be spent on salaries, 190 thousand on goods and services, while over 26 thousand euros will be spent on other operational expenses. According to him, RTK is doing "a very big festival with extremely small and well-controlled expenses".
While talking about the difficulties of organizing the Song Festival, he said that surprisingly it has become even more difficult this year due to what he called very complicated inter-institutional relations.
"What happened years ago in a very difficult festival, which surprisingly became more difficult this year. There were problems, very complicated inter-institutional relations. The Ministry of Culture has financed, but the Municipality of Pristina has also provided financing, the Youth Palace has also provided financing with services, so this festival has four great organizers", said Krasta.
While talking about the artistic side, he announced that the rest of the program, after the presentation of 16 competing songs, will be made by the group "Lindja", the singer Alban Skënderaj and the Albanian artist with the stage name Stanaj. A "surprise of a very high level of the festival" has left a surprise. He said that it is compared to "Sanremo values of the Song Festival".
He has also announced the moderators of the second edition: singer-songwriter Genc Salihu, together with actress Drita Kabashi.
Salihu said that light music is a national value, while he drew parallels between the Song Festival on RTK and "Kosovo Chords".
"I consider that entertaining or light music is a national value, which must be preserved. She has her house at the festival. This is something traditional, which in Italy, Croatia, Albania, was once also in Kosovo - 'Chords...'. This is a kind of reincarnation of 'Kosovo Chords'. I am very happy and I feel at home", said Salihu at the conference.
Actress Kabashi expressed optimism that they both will continue with the rhythm of the duo of the previous year.
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"I am very happy that this year I will present the festival. I was extremely happy when the Festival team offered me this opportunity. I am an actress and this is such a theater, but music has always been a part of me. The matching of these two worlds is a very beautiful thing", said Kabashi.
The first edition held at the end of October last year was presented by the director of the festival, Adrian Krasta, and the moderator Besim Dina.
Even this year without a home, the burned hall of the Palace of Youth, as was likely last year - when "Oj Kosovë" by the artist Arbër Salihu, known as La Fazani, won - will be the space for improvisations. Even this year, it is far from the European song contest "Eurosong".
However, it was announced at the conference that the leaders of the Union of European Broadcasters have expressed the desire to follow the event closely.
It was announced that 18 songs would compete in this edition. They are even on the list published weeks ago by the Festival. The data was updated by the artistic director of the RTK Song Festival, Florent Boshnjaku.
"This year we have 16 songs in the competition. The festival will be for three nights. In the first and second night, all the songs will be presented, while half of them go to the final. This is the competition part, although I prefer to call it a party, but at the end of the day it's a winner. I think it's a party winner, not a festival winner. It is something that the jury appreciates, the public likes and the songs that are part of the festival will always remain as such and that is why we work, that they have longevity and not just perform an obligation that is performed for three days" , he said.
The soloists together with the RTK Orchestra are already rehearsing in the Atelier of the Palace of Youth. The Bosnian promises another amazing musical journey, considering the event a unique platform for artists.
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"It is a sin not to use a platform so beautiful, so good, so prepared, so professional, which Radiotelevision i Kosova offers, especially it has been proven with the last edition, I believe that in this edition they will be convinced anyway, but still, the decision is personal. There can be no reason, neither technical nor professional, because there are many professionals behind, who work", he said.
The musical narrative, the second in a row of the Song Festival, comes on October 24, 25 and 26.
