Albania was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "", composed by Klodian Qafoku, with lyrics by Florian Kondi, and performed by Luiz Ejlli. The Albanian participating broadcaster, (RTSH), selected its entry through the national selection competition Festivali i Këngës in December 2005.
Due to the non-top 11 result in the previous contest, Albania was drawn to compete in the semi-final of the contest, which took place on 18 May 2006. Performing as number six, the nation was not announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore failed to qualify for the grand final, marking Albania's first non-qualification in the contest.
Prior to the 2006 contest, (RTSH) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Albania two times since its first entry in . Its highest placing in the contest, to this point, had been the seventh place, achieved in 2004 with the song "The Image of You" performed by Anjeza Shahini.
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, RTSH organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. RTSH has organised Festivali i Këngës since its inauguration in 1962. Since 2003, the winner of the competition has simultaneously won the right to in the Eurovision Song Contest.
RTSH organised the 44th edition of Festivali i Këngës to determine its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The competition consisted of two semi-finals on 16 and 17 December, respectively, and the grand final on 18 December 2005. The three live shows were hosted by Albanian singer Soni Malaj and presenter Drini Zeqo.
The semi-finals of Festivali i Këngës took place on 16 December and 17 December 2005, respectively. 17 contestants participated in each semi-final, with the highlighted ones progressing to the grand final.
The grand final of Festivali i Këngës took place on 18 December 2005. "" performed by Luiz Ejlli emerged as the winner and was simultaneously announced as the Albanian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006.
Key: Winner Second place Third place
The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 took place at the O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece, and consisted of a semi-final on 18 May and the grand final on 20 May 2006. According to the Eurovision rules at the time, all participating countries, except the host nation and the "Big Four", consisting of , , and the , were required to qualify from the semi-final to compete for the final, although the top 10 countries from the semi-final progress to the final. Due to its non-top 11 result in the , Albania was required to compete in the semi-final. It was set to perform in position six, following and preceding . At the end of the semi-final, the country was not announced among the top 10 entries and therefore failed to qualify for the final, marking Albania's first non-qualification in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Between 1998 and 2008, the voting was calculated by 100% televoting from viewers across Europe. However, in 2005 the EBU introduced an undisclosed threshold number of televotes that would have to be registered in each voting country in order to make that country's votes valid. If that number was not reached, the country's backup jury would vote instead. In both the semi-final and final of the contest, this affected two countries: one of them being Albania, who therefore had to use a backup jury panel to calculate its results. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression of the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.
The tables below visualise a breakdown of points awarded to Albania in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, as well as by the country for both the semi-final and grand final. In the semi-final, Albania finished in 14th place with a total of 58 points, including 12 from and 10 from . Albania awarded its 12 points to Macedonia in the semi-final and to in the grand final of the contest.