As the national final season is taking shape across Europe, the Serbian national broadcaster RTS has unveiled the competing acts that will be vying for the ticket of the Balkan country to Tel Aviv!
A list of 24 candidates!
Following its return last year, Beovizija is going to be hosted in Serbia for the second time in a row and feature a total of 24 competing songs, all in the hope of the Eurovision representation. During the submission period, the broadcaster received 76 potential entries, which were initially evaluated by a special appointed committee.
The lucky ones of this assessment are the following:
- Ivana Vladović & Wonder Strings – Moja bol
- Extra Nena – Još ti čujem glas
- Sanja Rio – Ljubimo se
- Nataša & Una – Slobodna
- Jana Šušteršić – Viktorija
- Saška Janks – Da li čuješ moj glas
- Dženan Lončarević – Nema suza
- Funked Up – Zašto da se ne desi
- Goga Stanić – Ti znaš da ne znaš me
- Majdan – Budim te
- Sofija Perić – Aritmija
- Ana Popović – Lutaš
- Aleksandra Sekulić – Tugo
- Osvajači – Vatra i plamen
- Džipsikord – Boje
- Dunja Vujadinović – 7
- Eleonora – Samo lagano
- Lord – Radnički sin
- Tina & Lola Amvon – Tvoje oči
- Mr DOO – Do 100
- Ivan Kurtić – Bella
- Nevena Božović – Kruna
- Lana & Aldo – Pogledaj u nebo
- Tamara Milanović – Reči nisu dovoljne
Beovizija 2019 is reportedly going to take place in late February. Both a special jury and the public will be having a 50% stake at the event’s final outcome, which will determine Serbia’s entry at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
Who are the returning artists?
The participants list sees several familiar acts getting back to the competition and trying their luck once again. Three of last year’s Beovizija candidates will take part again with new songs and will fight for the coveted victory. These are the 2018 runner-up Saška Janks, as well as Lord and Lana & Aldo, who had finished 4th and 15th respectively.
It’s also remarkable that Extra Nena, who was the very last Eurovision entrant for the united country of Yugoslavia in 1992 will fight for a comeback to the contest’s stage and an even better result than her 13th place that year.
Furthermore, Nevena Božović is returning as a solo artist in 2019, as she has also represented her country in the past. This happened in 2013, when she participated as part of the group Moje 3 and the song Ljubav je svuda, which had come 11th in the first semi-final, thus failing to qualify to the Grand Final. Nevena was also the Serbian participant at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007, where she achieved an honourable 3rd place for her nation.
Serbia at Eurovision
The former Yugoslav country debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest as an independent state in 2007, and surprisingly won the competition with Marija Šerifović and her powerful ballad Molitva. This has been the only victory for Serbia to date. The country has been participating every year since, with the exception of 2014.
Serbia has seen mixed fortunes since their debut, with 3 more Top 10 placings (2008, 2012, 2015) and 3 eliminations in the semi-finals (2009, 2013, 2017). Throughout the years, the country has used various formats in order to select their Eurovision entrants and songs, with both internal selections and national final events.
In 2018, the country’s broadcaster RTS decided to bring back their national selection show Beovizija, which had most recently taken place in 2009. In a national final with 17 competing entries, the overall winners of the night were Sanja Ilić & Balkanika, thus earning the right to represent the country in Lisbon’s Eurovision edition, with their song Nova deca.
In May, the Serbian hopefuls took part in the second semi-final and managed to progress to the Grand Final on 12 May, where they eventually finished 19th, with a total of 113 points.
