European Music Festival 2021

The European Music Festival 2021 was the sixth edition of the annual European Music Festival, organised by Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It was held on 9 October 2021, at the Pallati i Kongreseve in Tirana, Albania. It was the first time Albania had hosted the contest.

Thirteen countries participated in the contest, with France and Spain making they return appearance in the contest. Though Armenia, Australia, Czech Republic, Iceland, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Ukraine had participated the previous year, they were absent for 2021. Members of all these 10 countries delegation had decided to not put their representative due the coivd-19 pandemic situation in their countries, while Poland, had internal selection for this year’s Eurovison Song Contest, which means they couldn't participate in the EMF contest.

Sweden's Dotter with the song “Little Tot” was the winner of the contest. This was Sweden's first victory in the contest, and also it was first time in the history of contest that the participant from last edtition won next edition. Italy and Norway finished in second and third place. Finland and Lithuania completed the top five, with the former finishing fourth and fifth. Spain finished last.

Bidding phase and host city selection
After Albania’s victory in 2020 contest in Paris, the Albanian Head of Delegation Kleart Duraj stated that Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) is keen to host the 2021 contest. On 13 November 2020, it was confirmed by the EBU that Albania would host the 2021 contest.

Host broadcaster RTSH launched the bidding process on 20 November 2020. In the first phase of this process, any interested cities were to present their bid through certified email by 28 November 2020, after which RTSH and the EBU would proceed to send all of them a bid book with more detailed requirements for the cities to submit their plans for review.

On 2 December, RTSH announced that only 1 city was possible to submit their bid for hosting the contest and would be provided the following day with the bid book. The city had until 10 December to draft and submit their detailed plans, which that city did.

On 4 December 2020, the EBU and RTSH announced Tirana as the host city, with the 2,100 capacity Pallati i Kongreseve as the chosen venue for the contest. On 13 December 2020, EBU and host broadcaster RTSH announced that the contest will be held on 9 October 2021.

Hosts
On 30 May 2021, it was announced that Alketa Vejsiu, Blendi Salaj and Jonida Vokshi would host the contest.

Opening and interval acts
On 16 June 2021, The EBU relased information about the opening and interval acts.

The final was opened by the traditional flag parade, introducing all thirteen finalists, accompanied by the Era Rusi performing "Zjarri Im". The interval acts included Elvana Gjata performing her last years winner song "Me Tana" and Rita Ora performing a medley of "Bang Bang" and "Big"

Voting
The results will be determined by 50% online voting and 50% jury voting. The online voting is taking place during the live show and starts after the last performance and is open for 15 minutes. International viewers could vote for one country three Times from one phone number. The other half of the points was determined by a national jury from every participating country. These points are then announced live during the programme by a spokesperson representing the participating country. The spokespersons give out the points from each of the participating country.

Back-up performances
On 7 April 2021, the EBU revealed that, as a measure to guarantee that all participants can take part in the contest, every national broadcaster will create a 'live-on-tape' recording prior to the contest which can be used if a participant cannot travel to Tirana, or subjected to quarantine on arrival. The recordings will take place in a studio setting, in real time (as it would be at the contest) without any edits to the vocals or any part of the performance itself after the recording. A set of production guidelines was also revealed to ensure fairness and the integrity of the recordings.

Backing vocals
On 3 April 2021, the EBU announced that pre-recorded backing vocals will be allowed for one year. The use of recorded backing vocals will be entirely optional. Each delegation can choose to use backing singers, whether on or off stage. A combination of live and recorded backing vocals will also be allowed. All lead vocals performing the melody of the song, including an eventual use of a so-called lead dub, shall still be live on or off stage in the arena

Running order
The draw for the running order of the contest was held on 4 October in Tirana after the Opening Ceremony, with Norway drawn to open the contest and Albania drawn to close.

Participating countries
On 30 December 2020, the EBU released the official list of participants with 13 competing countries.

Returning artists
Two previous entrants is set to return in the 2021 contest:

{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" !Artist !Country !Previous year
 * Eden Alene
 * 2020
 * Dotter
 * 2020
 * Dotter
 * 2020
 * 2020
 * 2020