The Albanian world has been abuzz following the release of Shkodra Elektronike’s song “Zjerm,” which the band will perform tomorrow evening in Basel, having made it to the final round of the Eurovision contest.
Albania’s 2025 Eurovision song entry is a beautiful display of Albanian costumes, musical instruments and storytelling that showcase the beauty of Albanian culture and traditions to the outside world.
As Albania’s first-ever ethnocultural center and entertainment venue where you can experience many of these traditions live every evening in the center of Tirana, we’ve put together this guide to teach you the meaning behind the song and explain why so many Albanians are fervently cheering on this year’s entrant to the Eurovision song contest.
What Does Zjerm Mean?
Zjerm is a Gheg-dialect Albanian word meaning “fire,” which is featured prominently in Shkodra Elektronike’s music video.
Albanians from northern Albania and Kosovo speak this dialect, distinct from Gheg (southern) Albanian.
Throughout the music video and in the lyrics themselves, fire plays a central role – simultaneously destroying and purifying everything in its way, the light from the flames forming the refrain of the lyrics – shndrit, shndrit, shndrit – shine, shine shine! The duo uses fire to highlight both its potential to destroy and consume everything in its path as well as for lighting up the world.
The song is packed with references to traditional Albanian symbols from folk legends to national dress, urging listeners to remember and protect their roots. “Zjerm” weaves these elements into a rich, emotional narrative that speaks to both cultural pride and transformation.
(And if you’re looking for the 2025 Albanian Eurovision song lyrics translated, we’ve got you covered with another blog post.)
Here are four ways the song puts Albanian culture front and center:
1. Xhubleta – The Highland Female Dress
Beatriçe Gjergji, the female singer of Shkodra Elektronike, proudly sported a modernized xhubleta (pronounced “jubleta”) dress in her music video for this song. The xhubleta is a gorgeous, mini museum of a dress that women from the highlands of Albania would wear on special occasions like weddings and communal gatherings.
This dress is so important to Albanians that it was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Intangible Cultural Heritage Item! You can see three xhubleta dresses on display at Albanian Night’s Costume Hall on your guided walking tour of our cultural center.
Xhubleta are adorned with motifs that hold deep spiritual significance for Albanians. It wasn’t uncommon for a single xhubleta to have dozens of different symbols alluding to pagan Albanian beliefs around snakes, flowers, the sun, the moon and the stars as symbols of protection and blessing for the wearer.
And each type of xhubleta was a social marker, too: young girls would wear a white version of this bell-shaped dress, brides red and elderly women black. The bridal xhubleta was considered the most beautiful and was typically the most heavily decorated, as a way to celebrate the young woman’s marriage and to beautify her in the eyes of her husband and the wedding guests.
It isn’t hard to see why Shkodra Elektronike, both of whose members were born in the northern Albanian city of Shkodër, chose this traditional garb from their region of Albania when they shot their music video. It’s a beautiful and strong garment that represents the fierceness and grace of northern Albanian women throughout the millennia!
2. Çifteli – Northern Albania’s Two-Stringed Musical Instrument
But “Zjerm” goes deeper than just costumes, employing the çifteli plucked string instrument throughout the song.
This two-stringed instrument is a staple of northern Albanian songs, having been traditionally played by male shepherds as they tended to their grazing flocks. Many of the songs which were accompanied by the soft plucking of this small musical instrument were about a sense of longing for one’s homeland, honor, strength and the desire to be reunited with one’s people.
It isn’t hard to see why Shkodra Elektronike chose to use this instrument throughout the song – it alludes to the soul-stirring desire of Albanians to connect with their home and communities through music. In an era in which formal record-keeping and writing were sparse, the çifteli played a vital role in transmitting oral traditions via song in northern Albania.
3. Qystek – Traditional Bridal Headdress
In the opening scenes of the music video, Beatriçe Gjergji, the female singer of the duo, dons a stunning qystek, a traditional ornate forehead decoration worn by women in northern Albanian regions such as Shkodër, Malësia e Madhe and parts of Dukagjini.
Typically adorned with intricate chains, coins, or metallic embellishments, these headdresses are deeply rooted in folk customs and are often associated with bridal wear, adding a touch of cultural elegance to the bride’s appearance, again referencing Gjergji’s northern Albanian roots.
Much like the xhubleta, these headdresses also signified a woman’s social ranking, wealth or marital status. Unmarried women might wear simpler versions, while married women or brides donned more ornate qysteke, sometimes incorporating heirloom coins or jewelry passed down through generations.
And in true Balkan fashion, the qystek symbolizes the integration of multiple cultures. While archaeological findings from Illyrian graves tie this ancient headdress to Illyrian culture, the Ottoman occupation of Albania likely also influenced the stylistic arrangement of this headband, making it a case study in how the region became a melting pot of different cultures throughout the millennia.
4. The Myth of Rozafa
Last, but certainly not least, Shkodra Elektronike proudly references their hometown’s most iconic mythological tale with the dress that Gjergji will wear on the Eurovision stage: Rozafa, the woman entombed in the walls of Shkodër’s castle.
Gjergji’s designer mother, Irina Dema, fashioned the right side of the dress in red to resemble blood vessels, a head nod to the ancient tale in which a northern Albanian woman agreed to be buried in the walls of the castle that kept tumbling down every evening on condition that her right breast, hand and leg be left exposed so she could continue nursing her child.
The sacrifice of Rozafa stopped the walls from crumbling, and continue to uphold the ancient citadel even today. Visitors can still see liquid seeping out of the rocks as she continues to nurture her child and the country’s northernmost ramparts (or so they say).
Shkodër was a historically-significant town that changed hands multiple times before Albania reclaimed it in 1913 from the Ottomans, serving as a vital trade stop and the capital of the north for centuries. In the 1800s, it emerged as a center of Albanian intellectual life, producing the first Albanian newspapers and fostering many of the cultural traditions celebrated in the music video.
Albania’s Eurovision song this year makes multiple references to ancient Albanian traditions, costumes and musical instruments, and we couldn’t be prouder of Shkodra Elektronike for showcasing our culture to the world at Eurovision. Here’s to hoping they bring home the iconic glass microphone trophy – and with it, a win for Albanian culture.
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