1.
Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Serbia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest nine times since making its debut in 2007. Serbia previously participated as part of Yugoslavia and as Serbia and Montenegro, Serbia won the contest on its debut as an Independent country in 2007, with Marija Šerifović and the song Molitva. The countrys next best result is Željko Joksimovićs third place in 2012, Serbia also reached the top ten in 2008 and 2015. In 1989 Yugoslavia won the Eurovision Song Contest for the time in their history, with Rock Me, sung in Croatian. Serbias debut entry as an independent nation, the ballad Molitva by Marija Šerifović, won the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, Serbia became the first country that won with debut entry after Switzerlands win at the first edition. After this, they were the host of the 2008 contest in the Serbian capital of Belgrade, the second Serbian entry, performed in Belgrade was written by past entrant for Serbia as part of Serbia and Montenegro and contest host Željko Joksimović. The song Oro, a ballad, performed by Jelena Tomašević came 6th. In 2009, Serbia selected Marko Kon and Milaan to represent them in the second semi-final on 14 May, the duo failed to qualify for the final for the first time in Serbias history in the contest. In 2010, Milan Stanković was selected to represent the country in the contest with Ovo je Balkan, a song with ethno elements. It qualified for the final and in the end achieved 13th place with 72 points, in 2011, Nina was selected with her 60s inspired song, Čaroban. She was accompanied with three singers who would be dancing throughout the performance. In the semi-finals She performed 6th and qualified for the final, in the final, she performed 24th and achieved 14th place. Željko Joksimović represented Serbia in 2012 in Azerbaijan, Baku with the song Nije ljubav stvar, on the second semi-finals he took second place, while he finished third in the final, below second-placed Russia and the winner, Sweden. Moje 3 represented Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö with the song Ljubav je svuda and they would finish 11th in the first semi-final, therefore not qualifying for the final. This was the time that Serbia did not qualify for the final. In April 2014, Serbia announced that they will broadcast all three shows, in addition, they said that it is likely to return at 2015 and that they will probably hold a national selection to find their representative. On 26 September 2014, it was reported that Serbia had decided to return to the 2015 contest to be held in Austrian capital, on 15 February 2015 Serbia chose their own representative in emission Odbrojavanje za Beč. Odbrojavanje za Beč is the national final organised by RTS in order to select the Serbian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, the selection featured three songs composed by Vladimir Graić, the composer of Serbias winning entry Molitva in 2007
2.
Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Montenegro debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007. Previously it participated as part of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro, the 2005 entrants from Serbia and Montenegro, No Name, were from Montenegro, as were the 1983 and 1984 entrants for Yugoslavia. Since Montenegro became an independent state on 21 May 2006, the nation has taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest, the country made its solo debut in the 2007 contest and so far has managed mediocre results with qualifying twice for the grand final. It contributed for some good results for Ex-Yugoslavia and Serbia. 2009 saw the third best result to date finishing 11th place in the first semi-final. In November 2009 RTCG announced that Montenegro would withdraw from the 2010 contest, RTCG submitted an application for the 2011 contest, which was held in Düsseldorf, Germany. For the next years after 2007, Montenegro have been starting the first semi-final for three years in a row until 2013 when they were allocated to the half of the first semi-final. In 2014, Montenegro qualified for the Grand Final for the first time in its history with Sergej Ćetkovićs Moj svijet, in 2015, Montenegro qualified for the Grand Final for the second time with Knez who performed song Adio, composed by Zeljko Joksimovic. Song Adio has two versions, on English and French language, Knez managed their best result ever, finishing in the 13th place. ^ Contains some phrases in Montenegrin and German, as of 20163, Montenegros voting history is as follows,3. Montenegro in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest Points to and from Montenegro eurovisioncovers. co. uk
3.
Podgorica
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Podgorica is the capital and largest city of Montenegro. The city was also called Titograd between 1946 and 1992 when Montenegro was part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Podgoricas favourable position at the confluence of the Ribnica and Morača rivers and the meeting point of the fertile Zeta Plain and Bjelopavlići Valley has encouraged settlement. The city is close to winter ski centres in the north, the citys population was 204,877 in the 2011 census. The Podgorica Municipality contains 10. 4% of Montenegros territory and 29. 9% of its population and it is the administrative centre of Montenegro and its economic, cultural and educational focus. The name Podgorica means below the hill, Gorica being the name of the cypress-covered hill that overlooks the city centre. Some three kilometres north-west of Podgorica lie the ruins of Roman-era Doclea, from which Roman Emperor Diocletian hailed, in later centuries, Romans corrected the name to Dioclea, guessing wrongly that an i had been lost in vulgar speech. Duklja is the version of that word. When founded, the town was called Birziminium, in the Middle Ages, it was known as Ribnica. The name Podgorica was used from 1326, from 1946 to 1992, the city was named Titograd in honour of Josip Broz Tito, the former President of Yugoslavia. Podgorica is located in central Montenegro, the area is crossed with rivers and the city itself is only 15 kilometres north of Lake Skadar. The Morača and Ribnica rivers flow through the city, while the Zeta, Cijevna, Sitnica and Mareza flow nearby. Morača is the largest river in the city, being 70 m or 230 ft wide near downtown, except for the Morača and Zeta, other rivers have an appearance of small creeks. The richness in bodies of water is a feature of the city. In contrast to most of Montenegro, Podgorica lies in a flat area at the northern end of the Zeta plain. The only exceptions are hills which overlook the city, the most significant is 130.3 m high Gorica Hill, citys namesake, which rises above the city centre. The other hills include Malo brdo, Velje brdo, Ljubović, in the main, these are too steep for development and thus limit the citys expansion, especially to the north. However, urbanization has been encroaching on the slopes of the hills since 1990s. Podgorica city proper has an area of 108 square kilometres, while actual urbanized area is much smaller, the mean annual rainfall is 1,600 mm
4.
Montenegro
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Montenegro is a sovereign state in Southeastern Europe. Its capital and largest city is Podgorica, while Cetinje is designated as the Old Royal Capital. In the 9th century, three Slavic principalities were in the territory of Montenegro, Duklja, roughly corresponding to the half, Travunia, the west, and Rascia. In 1042, archon Stefan Vojislav led a revolt that resulted in the independence of Duklja, Duklja reached its zenith under Vojislavs son, Mihailo, and his grandson Bodin. By the 13th century, Zeta had replaced Duklja when referring to the realm. In the late 14th century, southern Montenegro came under the rule of the Balšić noble family, then the Crnojević noble family, large portions fell under the control of the Ottoman Empire from 1496 to 1878. Parts were controlled by Venice and the First French Empire and Austria-Hungary, from 1515 until 1851, the prince-bishops of Cetinje were the rulers. The House of Petrović-Njegoš ruled the country from 1697 to 1918, from 1918, it was a part of Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which was succeeded by SFR Yugoslavia in 1945, FR Yugoslavia in 1992, and subsequently by the state union of Serbia and Montenegro in 2003. On the basis of a referendum held on 21 May 2006. Montenegro is also a candidate negotiating to join the European Union, on 2 December 2015, Montenegro received an official invitation to join NATO, whereby it would be the 29th member country. This invitation was meant to start accession talks. The countrys name in most Western European languages reflects an adaptation of the Venetian Montenegro, many other languages, particularly nearby ones, use their own direct translation of the term black mountain. Examples are the Albanian name for the country, Mali i Zi, the Greek name Μαυροβούνιο, the Chinese name 黑山, all Slavic languages use slight variations on the Montenegrin name Crna Gora, examples include the Czech Černá Hora and the Polish Czarnogóra. Chechen and Ingush people call the country Ӏаьржаламанчоь, the name Crna Gora came to denote the majority of contemporary Montenegro only in the 15th century. The aforementioned region became known as Old Montenegro by the 19th century to distinguish it from the acquired territory of Brda. Its borders have changed little since then, losing Metohija and gaining the Bay of Kotor, the ISO Alpha-2 code for Montenegro is ME and the Alpha-3 Code is MNE. By 1000 BC, a common Illyrian language and culture had spread across much of the Balkans, interaction amongst groups was not always friendly – hill forts were the most common form of settlement – but distinctive Illyrian art forms such as amber and bronze jewellery evolved. In time, the Illyrians established a federation of tribes centred in what is now Macedonia
5.
Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Macedonia, presented in the contest as Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 16 times since its official debut in 1998. The country had attempted to participate in 1996, but failed to qualify from the qualifying round. Macedonia is one of the most unsuccessful countries in the contest, Macedonias best result in the contest is Elena Risteskas 12th place finish in 2006. Macedonia has failed to qualify from the round in eight of the last nine contests, the exception being Kaliopi. Macedonias first appearance in the contest was in 1998, the countrys best result was in 2006, when Elena Risteska sang Ninanajna in Athens, Greece and came 12th. Macedonia is the country to have qualified from every semi-final from 2004 to 2007. Since then, only in 2012 Macedonia have made the final, also, Macedonian composers wrote songs for candidates from other parts of Yugoslavia. However, the Macedonian entries never managed to win, and the SR Macedonia was the federal state never to send a Yugoslav entry to the Eurovision Song Contest. ^ Macedonia unsuccessfully attempted to participate in 1996, when there was an audio-only pre-qualifying round for all countries, the official Eurovision site does not count 1996 in Macedonias list of appearances. Macedonia did not progress to the final in either year, in 2008 Sweden beat Macedonia to the final, if a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. The other reason being that back in 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. co. uk Eurovision Macedonia
6.
Serbia
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Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia, is a sovereign state situated at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central Balkans. Relative to its territory, it is a diverse country distinguished by a transitional character, situated along cultural, geographic, climatic. Serbia numbers around 7 million residents, and its capital, Belgrade, following the Slavic migrations to the Balkans from the 6th century onwards, Serbs established several states in the early Middle Ages. The Serbian Kingdom obtained recognition by Rome and the Byzantine Empire in 1217, in the early 19th century, the Serbian Revolution established the nation-state as the regions first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory. During the breakup of Yugoslavia, Serbia formed a union with Montenegro which dissolved peacefully in 2006, in 2008 the parliament of the province of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence, with mixed responses from the international community. Serbia is a member of organizations such as the UN, CoE, OSCE, PfP, BSEC. An EU membership candidate since 2012, Serbia has been negotiating its EU accession since January 2014, the country is acceding to the WTO and is a militarily neutral state. Serbia is an income economy with dominant service sector, followed by the industrial sector. The country ranks high on the Social Progress Index as well as the Global Peace Index, relatively high on the Human Development Index, located at the crossroads between Central and Southern Europe, Serbia is found in the Balkan peninsula and the Pannonian Plain. Serbia lies between latitudes 41° and 47° N, and longitudes 18° and 23° E. The country covers a total of 88,361 km2, which places it at 113th place in the world, with Kosovo excluded, the area is 77,474 km2. Its total border length amounts to 2,027 km, all of Kosovos border with Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro are under control of the Kosovo border police. The Pannonian Plain covers the third of the country while the easternmost tip of Serbia extends into the Wallachian Plain. The terrain of the part of the country, with the region of Šumadija at its heart. Mountains dominate the third of Serbia. Dinaric Alps stretch in the west and the southwest, following the flow of the rivers Drina, the Carpathian Mountains and Balkan Mountains stretch in a north–south direction in eastern Serbia. Ancient mountains in the southeast corner of the country belong to the Rilo-Rhodope Mountain system, elevation ranges from the Midžor peak of the Balkan Mountains at 2,169 metres to the lowest point of just 17 metres near the Danube river at Prahovo. The largest lake is Đerdap Lake and the longest river passing through Serbia is the Danube, the climate of Serbia is under the influences of the landmass of Eurasia and the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea
7.
Montenegrin independence referendum, 2006
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An independence referendum was held in Montenegro on 21 May 2006. It was approved by 55. 5% of voters, narrowly passing the 55% threshold, on 31 May the referendum commission officially confirmed the results of the referendum, verifying that 55. 5% of the population of Montenegrin voters had voted in favor of independence. The Assembly of the Republic of Montenegro made a formal Declaration of Independence on Saturday 3 June, the European Union, the United States, the Peoples Republic of China, and the Russian Federation all expressed their intentions to respect the referendum results. Article 60 of the constitution required that a minimum of three years pass after its ratification before one of the states could declare independence. The same article specified the referendum as necessary for this move, however, this constitution allowed member states to define their own referendum laws. It is also specified that the state which secedes forfeits any rights to political and legal continuity of the federation. No state objected to recognizing a newly formed state prior to the referendum, if Serbia had declared independence instead of Montenegro, Montenegro would have been the legal successor state. According to the Montenegrin Constitution, state status could not be changed without a referendum proposed by the President to the Parliament, President Filip Vujanović accordingly submitted such a bill, and it was unanimously passed by the Montenegrin Parliament on 2 March 2006. The Referendum Bill obliged the Parliament, which introduced the referendum and it had to declare the official results within 15 days following the voting day, and act upon them within 60 days. The dissolution of Parliament was required upon the passage of any bill proposing constitutional changes to the status of the state, for such changes to be enacted, the new Parliament was required to support the bill with a two-thirds majority. There has been controversy over suffrage and needed result threshold for independence. The Council of the European Union unanimously agreed to Lajčáks proposal, Milo Đukanović, Prime Minister of Montenegro, however, promised that he would declare independence if the votes passed 50%, regardless of whether the census was passed or not. On the other hand, he announced that if less than 50% voted for the independence option. Do you want the Republic of Montenegro to be an independent state with an international and legal personality. In the video clip they are seen and heard persuading Bušković to vote for the independence, when the video became public, two DPS activists claimed they were victims of manipulation and that Vasilije Mijović talked them into doing so. Mijović denied those claims saying the video had been authentic, DPS spokesperson Predrag Sekulić claimed the video was a montage and a cheap political setup. Mašan Bušković, the target of the attempted bribe, on the other hand said the video is authentic. Polling throughout the campaign was sporadic, with most polls showing pro-independence forces leading, only in the later weeks did polls begin to indicate the threshold would be passed, albeit barely
8.
Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Croatia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 22 times since making its debut at the 1993 contest. Between 1993 and 2011, the Croatian entrant was selected at the Dora pop festival, Croatias best result in the contest is fourth-place finishes in 1996 and 1999. Croatia first reached the top ten in 1995, when Magazin & Lidija Horvat-Dunjko finished sixth and this would be the first of six top ten results in seven years. Maja Blagdan was fourth in 1996, Danijela Martinović was fifth in 1998, Doris Dragović was fourth in 1999, Goran Karan was ninth in 2000, since then, Croatia has failed to reach the top ten. Since the introduction of the round in 2004, Croatia has failed to reach the final on five occasions. Croatia then withdrew from the contest in 2014 and 2015, on its return in 2016, Croatia reached the final for the first time in seven years. Croatia participated at Eurovision ten times as part of Yugoslavia, in 1963,1968,1969,1971,1972,1986,1987,1988,1989 and 1990. Apart from being the most successful Yugoslav republic in the contest, it gave the socialist republic its only win, Rock Me, sung by Riva in 1989, the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 was held in Zagreb as a result. After the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1991, the Croatian national public broadcaster Croatian Radiotelevision had organised a festival to select a Croatian representative for the 1992 Contest. If HRT had been a member of the EBU in time for the contest, Croatias first entry as an independent state was in 1993 with the band Put, performing Dont Ever Cry which was, despite the English title, also partially performed in Croatian. The song came third in the Qualification for Millstreet, which allowed their participation in the 1993 contest, Croatias best position, as of 2016, has been with Maja Blagdans 1996 entry Sveta ljubav and Doris Dragovićs 1999 entry Marija Magdalena. Along with Malta and Cyprus and Portugal, Croatia was never relegated in the 1990s, the last time Croatia qualified for the grand final was in 2009. However, on 5 May 2015, HRT announced that it wont broadcast the 2015 contest and it was the first time since 1992 for HRT to not broadcast the contest. On 26 November 2015, it was announced that Croatia would return to the contest in 2016, nina Kraljić with the song Lighthouse qualified to the final, making it that Croatia qualified for the first time since 2009. After the successful return in 2016, Croatian national broadcaster Croatian Radiotelevision confirmed on 17 September 2016 that they would participate in 2017. Yugoslavian entries in 1963,1968,1969,1971,1972,1986,1987,1988,1989 and 1990 are Croatian entries that competed for Yugoslavia, ^ Spain originally gave its 12 points to Israel and 10 to Norway. After the broadcast it was announced that Spanish broadcaster wrongly tallied the votes and Germany should have got the top mark -12 points - instead of being snubbed, the mistake was corrected and so Germany was placed 7th over Norway. ^ In 2009, Croatia qualified through the back-up jury selection, if a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year
9.
Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Greece has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 37 times since its debut in 1974, missing six contests in that time. Greece won for the first time in 2005 with My Number One, the national broadcaster, Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi broadcast the event each year and organised the process for the selection of the Greek entry. Greece has never finished last in the contest, in the 21st century, Greece has been more successful, with ten top-ten results, including third-place finishes for Antique in 2001, Sakis Rouvas in 2004 and Kalomira in 2008. Greece was disqualified from the Eurovision Song Contest 1982 after it was revealed that Themis Adamantidis was to sing Sarantapente Kopelies, a previously released song. A known Greek folk song had been revised for the competition, Greece was forced to pay a fine, and was allowed to return the following year. Had Adamantidis been allowed to perform Sarantapente Kopelies, he would have appeared second at Harrogate, after returning in 1983, ERT decided that all of the possible songs were of low quality and decided not to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984. Had she performed, she would have appeared eighteenth and she would have performed the song Wagon-lit, the following year ERT announced that it would not return at the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 due to financial reasons. The song also made Greece the first country not a member of Big Four to win the contest without going through a semifinal. Before Greeces win, the highest score was third place, achieved by duo Antique in 2001 with Die for You and then again by Sakis Rouvas in 2004 with Shake It. Greeces least successful result was at 20th place in 1998 with the song Mia Krifi Evesthisia by Thalassa, with 12 points, all from Cyprus, riskyKidd, with 35 points, but this time Cyprus was out of the contest. In 2006, the 51st Eurovision Song Contest was held in Athens, Greece, the two hosts were popular singer, and former contestant, Sakis Rouvas and Greek American presenter Maria Menounos. The singer representing Greece in their own country was popular Greek Cypriot artist Anna Vissi, for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, ERT was able to secure a high-profile artist once again and planned a national final to choose the song. Greece has been one of the most successful countries in the Eurovision Song Contest in the 21st century, including ninth in 2006, seventh in 2007, third in 2008, seventh in 2009, eighth in 2010 and seventh in 2011. In 2014, Greece finished in 20th place, which, along with 1998, is the countries worst result in the contest, Greece was one of only three countries to have never failed to qualify from the semifinals since their 2004 introduction. In addition, Greece also qualified from the 1996 audio-only pre-qualifying round, in 2015, Greece failed to reach the top-ten for the third time in four years, finishing 19th. Since 2013, the music channel MAD produces the Greek national final, for 2016, ERT selected the Eurovision entry internally. They selected the band Argo with the song Utopian Land For the first time since the semi-finals were introduced in 2004 and they finished 16th in the first semi-final. Greece is famous for, especially in recent years, always giving twelve points to Cyprus and this is one of many examples of the bloc voting seen in contest which also occurs between Iberian, Balkan, Scandinavian, ex-Soviet and Baltic countries
For the most recent participation see
Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest
