This year, the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest featured a record breaking twenty languages. Eurovision Ireland will be looking at all the languages that have been performed at the Contest, since 1956, in our latest #AtoZ. Today, we begin the series with Abkhaz, Albanian and Amharic.

Abkhaz

Abkhaz, also known as Abkhazian, is a Northwest Caucasian language most closely related to Abaza. It is spoken mostly by the Abkhaz people. It is one of the official languages of Abkhazia, where around 190,000 people speak it.

Abkhaz appeared within phrases of “Keep on Going”, the Georgian entry for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. Oto Nemsadze performed “Keep on Going”, finishing in 14th place in the semi final, with 62 points.

Albanian

Albanian is an Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan group. It is the native language of the Albanian people.

Albanian appeared in full, within “Zjarr e ftohtë”, the Albanian entry for the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest. Luiz Ejlli performed “Zjarr e ftohtë”, finishing in 14th place in the semi final, with 58 points.

Amharic

Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populations in Ethiopia.

Amharic appeared within lines of “Feker Libi”, the Israeli entry for the cancelled 2020 Eurovision Song Contest. Eden Alene was due to perform “Feker Libi”.

Let us know what you think about the Eurovision Song Contest – either in the comments below or on our FACEBOOK, BLUESKY, TWITTER, YOUTUBE, INSTAGRAM and TIKTOK pages.

The Eurovision Community, which Eurovision Ireland are a part of, celebrates diversity through music. Please keep your comments respectful. We will not tolerate racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, body-shaming or any other derogatory or hostile language.

Author: Richard Taylor

Source: Eurovision Ireland, Wikipedia & YouTube/EBU