Nine-year-old Emma Dakoli was announced the winner of the 68th edition of Zecchino d’Oro on Sunday evening, one of Italy’s most historic and well-known children’s song festivals, held annually in Bologna.
Italian media reported that Emma comes from Monza and noted that, according to the festival’s rules, the official award is attributed to the song’s composers, Francesco Marruncheddu and Lodovico Saccol.
Emma’s father, Florian Dakoli, told BIRN that the family originally comes from the coastal Albanian city of Durrës and has lived in Monza for many years. Emma herself was born there.
“I work for a transport logistics company, while my wife works in university administration,” he explained.
Founded in 1959 and organized by the Antoniano Institute, Zecchino d’Oro is considered one of Europe’s most prestigious events dedicated to children’s music. Each year, original songs written specifically for young audiences are performed by selected children from across Italy. The festival is widely recognized for its educational values, long-standing tradition, and broad cultural influence.
According to Italy’s National Institute of Statistics, more than 500,000 residents of Albanian origin were living in Italy as of January 1, 2014—a number that is widely believed to be significantly higher today. Most are well integrated and contribute positively to Italian society.
Despite this, questions arose about why Emma was presented by the media exclusively as Italian, with little or no mention of her Albanian family background.
“No one asked us about our origins,” Florian said during a phone interview with BIRN.
He then spoke warmly about his daughters: “Mia, the youngest, is four years old, and Emma will turn ten on January 1.”
Emma enjoys singing and painting, and also attends swimming lessons. “Our priority is that she studies first—everything else comes after,” her father added with a smile, noting that this is an agreement they have as a family.
Although both parents are deeply committed to supporting their daughters, time is limited. “We like music too, but we don’t really go to concerts,” Florian said. “We work a lot, and time is scarce.”
Family members and relatives living in Lodi were overjoyed when Emma—who had been studying piano and rehearsing with the local children’s choir MiMiSol—was invited to perform at Zecchino d’Oro. “Just imagine the happiness of her 90-year-old grandfather, Besnik,” Florian added.
The Albanian community in Monza also welcomed Emma’s success with enthusiasm. Ken Mehmeti, who has known the Dakoli family for years, expressed surprise that neither some Italian media outlets nor even festival organizers highlighted Emma’s Albanian roots.
Mehmeti, who previously worked within Italy’s Mediaset media group, criticized the way immigrants are often portrayed. “Some media are still quick to specify ethnic backgrounds when reporting crimes or accidents,” he said. “I don’t believe this is simply a matter of oversight.”
Others interviewed pointed out that feelings of exclusion persist not only due to media narratives but also because of lingering social barriers. Mikel Deçolli told BIRN that in the suburban municipality where he lives, nationality still makes a difference—even though his family has held Italian citizenship for years.
His daughter, he said, had to wait for a legally guaranteed unpaid internship position until local candidates were placed first. “She waited a long time,” Deçolli noted, emphasizing that such experiences continue to reinforce a sense of separation between communities.
Meanwhile, even in Albania, news of Emma’s achievement initially spread slowly. Only a handful of media outlets in Tirana and Durrës described her as an Albanian or as being connected to Durrës, despite the festival being followed in Albania for nearly four decades.
Albanian participation in Zecchino d’Oro dates back years. In 1992, the song “Gjinkalla,” written by Durrës-based authors Hasan Ulqini and Agron Xhunga, was successfully performed at the festival by young Alfons Baba. Other Albanian children followed in later years.
Fatime Hoxha, a retired literature teacher, contacted journalists after recognizing Emma’s family. “I taught Florian when he was a student,” she said. “I don’t understand why there was hesitation in mentioning her background. Perhaps we still carry our own sense of inferiority,” she concluded.
