Photo Credit: Nina Žižić
After a dramatic Montesong, Nina Žižić will be representing Montenegro at Eurovision 2025 singing the ballad ‘DobrodoÅ¡li’. In this article, we look at her career up to now, her Eurovision 2013 attempt, future success and her Montesong 2024 journey.
Early Career
Nina was born in 1985, and although she studied English and Literature at the University of Montenegro in 2004, it was singing that was her dream. She first gained recognition as a performer when she was a member of the girl band Negre. The band took part in the Serbia and Montenegro national selection where they finished in 3rd place and finished 2nd in the televote.
In 2006, Nina left the band in order to pursue a solo career. She took part in the Serbia and Montenegro National Final, Evropesma-Europjesma, but in Montevizija 2006, the heat which decided which top 12 songs from Montenegro would make the grand final, she finished in 17th place, out of 20.
However, she achieved a radio hit across Montenegro the following year with ‘Strogo Povjerljivo‘ further boosting her success and giving her a breakout hit.
Eurovision 2013
In December 2012, it was announced that Who See would represent Montenegro, featuring a “secret artist” who was later revealed to be Nina Žižić. They would sing the hip-hop and dubstep song ‘Igranka’ at Eurovision 2013. The song was modern for its day and instantly unique and they were hoping to be the country’s first-ever Eurovision finalists as an independent country.
Their performance was memorable as it featured the members of Who See dressed as astronauts while Nina dramatically entered the stage before singing the chorus. Their creative and strong performance was rewarded with a loud reception from the audience.
Despite a strong 4th place finish in the televote, the juries placed them in 14th place meaning Montenegro ultimately failed to qualify, finishing in 12th place overall.
Even to this day, ‘Igranka’ is widely regarded as a fan favourite amongst Eurofans and one of the most undeserved non-qualifications in Eurovision history and regularly charts well in the yearly ESC250 event where fans vote for their favourite ever Eurovision songs. Some fans even say it’s Montenegro’s best-ever Eurovision entry.
Future Success
Nina continued to build on her success in Montenegro, releasing more singles and even contributing one of her songs, ‘Kiss You Goodbye,’ to the film Too Many Coincidences.
More recently, she has been releasing new material, as well as posting covers to her YouTube channel. She even collaborated with fellow Montesong 2024 contestant Dolce Hera on the song ‘Common Dreams’ in 2023.
While Montenegro wasn’t always able to take part in the contest every year because of financial issues, Nina would often assist the country whenever they took part, such as being part of the internal jury to help Montenegro decide their entrant for Eurovision 2022.
Montesong 2024
After withdrawing from Eurovision 2023, after a 2-year absence, Montenegro announced their return to the contest announcing a brand new national final in the process called Montesong, to celebrate the Montenegrin music scene and share local talent.
Nina Žižić was announced as one of the 16 artists who would be taking part, delighting fans who wanted to see her finally get another chance at representing the small Balkan nation at Eurovision.
Her song ‘DobrodoÅ¡li’ (Welcome) is a dramatic ballad and was co-written by Darko Dimitrov who has written many Eurovision songs such as ‘Firefighter‘ by Nutsa, and Eurovision 2019 jury winner ‘Proud’ by Tamara Todevska.
Despite a vocally strong performance, and winning with the international jurors, the public only ranked her in fourth place, so she finished in second place overall, losing to NeonoeN.
However, days after their victory, it was revealed that NeonoeN had performed their winning song ‘Clickbait’ at a festival prior to September 1 2024, which was against the Montesong rules. While the broadcaster RTCG and the EBU were in talks, NeonoeN themselves decided to withdraw from the contest.
After a lengthy and tense wait, matters were made worse with the creative director of Montesong and Eurovision 2022 contestant Vladana resigning from her position. There were some fears that Montenegro would withdraw from Eurovision 2025. In the end, on the Sunday morning show; ‘Dobro jutro Crna Goro’, it was announced that runner-up Nina Žižić would represent them at Eurovision.
Dobrodošli
In an interview with Wiwibloggs when asked about the song, she said:
“The song is to empower women, her death and her rebirth.”
She also said in regards to a possible revamp of the song for Eurovision:
“I think 100% that we’re going to keep it in Montenegrin. There will be a revamp. What I would love to add are backing vocals.”
While it’s not yet known when the song’s revamp will be released, you can listen to her live performance of the song at Montesong right here:
We wish Nina and the Montenegrin delegation the best of luck for Eurovision!
Do you think Nina will bring Montenegro back to the final?
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