Photo Credit: RTCG
After a 2 year absence, Montenegro have returned to Eurovision! In this article, we take a look at their national final Montesong – how it will work, who’s taking part, and we’ll find out a little more about the artists hoping to represent the small Balkan nation.
Montesong 2024 Format
The first Montesong will take place on Wednesday 27th November 2024, and will be held at the Voco Hotel in Podgorica.
The director of the festival is Danijel Alibabić, former vocalist of the band No Name who represented Serbia and Montenegro in 2005. The festival’s creative director is Vladana, who represented Montenegro in 2022.
Rules:
- The artist has to have some Montenegrin citizenship, but the writers of the song can be from anywhere in the world.
- Their song must be sung in an official language of Montenegro.
- The song cannot have been released prior to the contest, and must be up to 3 minutes long, as per Eurovision rules.
There were 32 valid submissions and these were then whittled down to 16 via the RTCG committee. Each song is judged for composition (max. 50 points), lyrics (max. 30 points), and production (max. 20 points).
For the final, a 50/50 split of juries and televote will decide the results.
In an interview with Eurovision.tv, Alibabić said:
“I would like to commend the selection committee, which broadened its perspective and recognised our desire for the festival to be diverse. Our idea was for all target groups to be in front of the television and watch Montesong. The committee worked hard to ensure this within the set criteria. I am pleased that we have 10 Montenegrin authors, which is truly an excellent result considering the competition was open to authors from all over the world.”
If you wish to read more about the history of Montenegro at Eurovision, we have an article about it which you can click below!
Hoping to write a new chapter in Montenegro’s history, these are the 16 songs and artists that are in the running to represent Montenegro:
Anastasija Koprolčec – Kraj (The End)
Baryak – Dva Srca (Two Hearts)
Bend “9” – Stop War
Dolce Hera – Repeat
Đurđa – To Ljubav Je (That’s Love)
Glumci Bend – San (Dream)
Isak Šabanović – Ljeto, Ljeto, Ljeto (Summer, Summer, Summer)
Kejt – Obala Raja (Coast of Paradise)
Luka Radović – Kada Dođe Maj (When May Comes)
Milena Vučić – Škorpija (Scorpio)
Nemanja Petrović – Među Zvijezdama (Among The Stars)
Neonoen – Clickbait
Nina Žižić – Dobro Došli (Welcome)
Tamara Živković – Poguban let (Fatal Flight)
Tina Džankić – Nova (New)
Verica Čuljković – Čuješ Li (Do you hear?)
Originally Boban Rajović was included in the 16 finalists but on the 4th November, Boban withdrew from Montesong due to personal commitments. He was due to perform the song ‘Suze‘ and has been replaced by Tamara Živković.
In addition to these 16 songs, should any more of the artists withdraw, there are 2 more reserves who would take their places. They are;
Hanibal – Čuvaj me Danijel
Daniel Popović – Kano kastigan
Interestingly Daniel Popović is the same Daniel who represented Yugoslavia back in 1983 finishing in 4th place, and was the first Montenegrin singer to represent the country.
Now that we know the names, let’s meet them!
Anastasija Koprolčec
First up is Anastasija Koprolčec! She hails from Podgorica and has had a passion for music and performing since the age of 6. She had enrolled at the Art, Music and Ballet school ‘Vasa Pavic’. Nowadays, music is still part of her career as she works as a backing vocalist for children’s songs. Hoping to make a name for herself, she’ll be singing the ballad ‘Kraj’ which was composed and co-written by Montenegrin singer and actor Bojan Marovic.
Baryak
Band Baryak are a band consisting of different members of the Podgorica underground music scene combining their musical influences to create something authentic. These influences range from electronic music, and pop, but also draw on the genres of techno and heavy rock. Their song ‘Dva Srca’ showcases their unique sound and they’ll be hoping to be another band to represent Montenegro on Europe’s biggest stage.
Bend “9”
Formed in 2022, Bend “9” are a band who have been trying to make a name for themselves in Montenegro and beyond with their metal sound. In their short space of time, they’ve already released several original songs and their newest song ‘Stop War’ will hope to give them further success in the country as their Montesong submission.
Dolce Hera
Alexandra Prelević Palladino is the birth name of Dolce Hera. She’s a singer and multi-instrumentalist. She was a professional drummer and was a founding member in the punk rock band ‘Shin-ei’ which enjoyed some success in the country in the late 2000s. Outside of her music education, she also has a master’s degree in law.
After a break from music, she returned as a solo artist releasing new material, including a collaboration with singer and Eurovision 2022 contestant Vladana called ‘Sweet & Bizarre’. She’ll be singing ‘Repeat’ at Montesong. Some songs have a pop instrumental to feature a dance break on stage, but her song instead features a jazz break! Jazz is a genre that hasn’t been featured very often at Eurovision. Could we be hearing it next year?
Đurđa
Đurđa is a graduate of the Faculty of Music in Belgrade and has released songs such as “Zaljubljena” and “Premalo”. For Montesong, she’ll be singing the ballad ‘Ljubav je’ hoping to charm the judges and the public. This song was co-written by Serbian superstar, composer and X Factor judge Kristina Kovač. Will we be hearing this song at Eurovision?
Glumci Bend
Made up of a group of actors, Glumci Bend is a band that combines a love of acting with a love of music. They combine these interests to create dramatic music adding a sense of theatre to their performances.
They’ll be performing the song ‘San’ hoping to receive a standing ovation from the juries and the public at home.
Isak Šabanović
Growing up in a musical family allowed Isak Šabanović to be brought up hearing different genres of music from rock and roll, to traditional Balkan music. Isak has taken part in competitions such as The X Factor, so Montesong won’t be his first rodeo. He graduated from the Faculty of Visual Arts, studying audio-visual production. He’ll be presenting the catchy ‘Ljeto, Ljeto, Ljeto’. It’s already gained some attention from the Eurovision fan sphere. Will that momentum continue for Montesong?
Kejt
Kejt is already a popular Montenegrin star and has had a successful career in not just music, but also acting. Living in a musical family growing up, her dad is a clarinet teacher and her mum is a children’s music composer. This isn’t her first attempt at representing Montenegro. She was the runner-up in Montevizija 2018 performing under her real name Katarina Bogićević narrowly losing the Superfinal to Vanja Radovanović.
Over the years, she’s become more well-known in Montenegro and beyond. Hoping to go one better this time, she’ll be singing ‘Obala Raja’ (Coast of Paradise) and plans to put out her first EP soon. The song starts slow but builds into a drum-and-bass sound combined with violins after the chorus. Could this unique effort be one to watch?
Luka Radović
Luka is a singer who’s performed at numerous music festivals across Montenegro and is also a part of a trio called ‘Double Needle Project’ As well, as singing, he likes to create his own instrumental ambient pieces of music. He plans to release his first album in December and his Montesong ‘Kada Dođe Maj‘ will give us a taste of what’s to come.
Milena Vučić
Milena Vučić is a singer and dancer who’s no stranger to taking part in National finals. She competed in the Serbia and Montenegro national final in 2004 as part of the girlband Negre finishing in 19th place overall. She’s had hits in Montenegro and beyond such as “Luče” and “Stereo Veza”.
Her song for Montesong is called ‘Škorpija‘ and was co-written by Sanja Vučić who represented Serbia in 2016 as a solo artist and in 2020 and 2021 as a member of the girlband Hurricane.
Nemanja Petrović
Nemanja Petrović has already achieved a lot in the music industry. He’s a singer, music graduate, conductor, piano, and choral singing professor. Using all of his skills and knowledge, he’ll be singing the ballad ‘Među Zvijezdama‘ hoping to add ‘Montenegrin Eurovision Representative’ to his list of accomplishments.
Neonoen
Neonoen are a four-piece alternative rock band from Podgorica. They’re made up of Marko Vukčević (lead vocalist), Ilija Pejović (lead guitar), Filip Vulanović (bass), and Milan Vujović (drums). Originally called Neon, the band was founded by Marko and Ilija in 2012, but all four musicians have been involved in the local music scene for some years. Their song ‘Clickbait‘ was solely written by band member Ilija Pejović and is part of their upcoming album.
In an interview with “All About The Rock” they talk about their dream of performing to crowds all over the world in years to come, therefore Montesong and Eurovision would be the perfect platform to do just that!
Nina Žižić
Nina Žižić is a name many Eurofans will recognise as she represented Montenegro with Who See in 2013 with their song ‘Igranka’. Despite their shock non-qualification, the song has since become a huge fan favourite with fans praising how contemporary and unique the song was. Over time, she’s become more of an established artist, and after a long break, she is officially back!
Hoping to represent the nation 12 years later, she’ll be singing the ballad ‘Dobro došli’ which was co-written by Darko Dimitrov. If that name is familiar to you, it’s because he’s written for many famous artists all across the Balkans as well as writing or produced 13 Eurovision songs such as Tamara Todevska’s ‘Proud’ for North Macedonia in 2019, and most recently Georgia’s 2024 entry ‘Firefighter’ by Nutsa. She’ll definitely be one to watch! Will she win again for Montenegro and bring them back to the final?
Tamara Živković
Tamara Živković is a singer and flautist and has participated in numerous music festivals such as Belgrade Spring and is currently a student of undergraduate academic studies at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade.
Originally not in the final 16, she was a reserve entry in case one of the other artists withdrew before Montesong. After Boban Rajović withdrew, Tamara was added to the lineup, she’ll be singing “Poguban let”.
Interestingly, Baby Lasagna for Croatia had a similar thing happen to him after initially being rejected from the Dora lineup. He went on to finish in 2nd at Eurovision 2024 winning the televote in the process. Will this be another Eurovision fairytale in the making?
Tina Džankić
Tina Džankić is a soul singer who’s had some success in bands and has also worked with the musical project SOULx3000 on two songs with the most popular having almost 35,000 streams on Spotify.
Her Montesong entry ‘Nova’ is one of her first singles as a solo artist so she’ll be hoping to make a big impression on the judges.
Verica Čuljković
Lastly, we have Verica! She’s a violinist in the Montenegro Symphony Orchestra and founded the Unique String Quartet and the chamber ensemble All Stars String Ensemble Montenegro. Her current projects include working on an album with the Epic Symphonic Rock Symphony Orchestra and representing Montenegro in The Earth Orchestra.
For her Montesong submission, she’ll be singing the piano ballad Čuješ Li featuring her trademark violin hoping to win over the jurors and the televote.
That’s all 16 artists! You can watch Montesong on TVCG or live on the Montesong YouTube channel.
Who’s your favourite? Who do you want to see represent Montenegro at Eurovision 2025? Tell us in the comments!
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