Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest

Participation

Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG) is a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 2006, thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest since then. It has participated in the contest representing Montenegro since its in 2007.

Before the country became independent on 3 June 2006, entries from Montenegro had participated in the contest as part of and later . Entries from the former SR Montenegro placed 4th in and 18th in as part of Yugoslavia, and an entry from the Republic of Montenegro placed 7th in as part of Serbia and Montenegro.

History

RTCG organised the national final MontenegroSong to select the country's entries in and , and internally selected the entry in .

Montenegro failed to qualify for the final on its debut in , as well as its appearances in and . The country placed 11th in the first semi-final in 2009, its best result at the time, with "Just Get Out of My Life" performed by Andrea Demirović. In November 2009, RTCG announced that Montenegro would not participate in due to financial difficulties. RTCG applied to participate in the contest, but with the caveat that the potential representative would have to find sponsors themselves to fund their participation. As that did not come to fruition, in December 2010, Montenegro decided to not participate in the contest on financial grounds.

On 20 November 2011, the head of RTCG revealed that Montenegro would participate in the contest in Baku. The country internally selected its entry, "Euro Neuro" performed by Rambo Amadeus, which failed to qualify from the first semi-final. In , Montenegro internally selected Who See and Nina Žižić with the song "Igranka", which failed to qualify. In , Montenegro qualified for the final for the first time in its history with Sergej Ćetković's "Moj svijet". In , Montenegro again qualified for the final with "Adio", performed by Knez and composed by Željko Joksimović. The song achieved the best Montenegrin result to date, finishing in 13th place. In , RTCG selected Highway and their song "The Real Thing" internally. They performed in the first semi-final but failed to qualify, placing 13th with 60 points. In , RTCG selected Slavko Kalezić and his song "Space" internally. The song failed to qualify, placing 16th. In , RTCG organised the national final Montevizija to select their entry, which was won by "Inje" performed by Vanja Radovanović. The song failed to qualify from the second semi-final, placing 16th with 40 points. In , RTCG again selected its representative through Montevizija, which was won by "Heaven" performed by D mol. The song failed to qualify from the first semi-final, placing 16th with 46 points.

Despite initially confirming its participation in the contest and aiming to expand Montevizija, Montenegro ultimately did not enter the contest, which was later cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. RTCG later stated that the reason was due to "modest results" and financial issues. Montenegro also did not participate in the contest, but returned in , having internally selected Vladana to represent the country with the song "Breathe". Once again, Montenegro failed to qualify for the final, finishing 17th in a field of 18 with 33 points in the second semi-final. Following another two-year absence, Montenegro was set to return in , with plans to hold a new national final format, Montesong 2024, in order to determine its entry. On 31 October 2024, Boris Raonić, Director-General of RTCG, and Danijel Alibabić, President of the Association of Variety Performers of Montenegro, signed a formal cooperation agreement to establish Montesong as a common project, with Alibabić hinting at future editions of the festival. The first edition of Montesong was won by Neonoen with "Clickbait", however, the band was discovered to have performed the song prior to the cut-off date, leading to their withdrawal and runner-up Nina Žižić with "Dobrodošli" subsequently being chosen as the Montenegrin entrant in Basel. Žižić, however, finished in last place in the second semi-final, scoring only 12 points, giving Montenegro its worst ever result and marking the first time that Montenegro has finished in last place in a Eurovision event. Following the 2025 contest, Montesong producer called for Montenegrin authorities to get more involved in RTCG's Eurovision efforts in 2026.

Participation overview

Prior to and 's dissolution, artists from the Montenegrin federal unit represented Yugoslavia in , , and Serbia and Montenegro as a republic unit in , as well as being intended to compete in , where they withdrew.

Awards

Barbara Dex Award

The Barbara Dex Award was an annually awarded, fan-voted accolade for the "worst dressed" artists in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Related involvement

Heads of delegation

Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the performers, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others.

Jury members

Each participating broadcaster assembles a five-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals for the Eurovision Song Contest, ranking all entries except for their own. The modern incarnation of jury voting was introduced beginning with the , and , the juries' votes constitute just under 50% of the overall result in the final alongside televoting.

Broadcasts

Commentators and spokespersons

For the show's broadcast on RTCG, various commentators have provided commentary on the contest in the Montenegrin language. At the Eurovision Song Contest after all points are calculated, the presenters of the show call upon each voting country to invite each respective spokesperson to announce the results of their vote on-screen.

From until , Montenegro competed as part of Yugoslavia, and from to as part of Serbia and Montenegro. The Montenegrin affiliates of the Yugoslav Radio Television (JRT) first and Udruženje javnih radija i televizija (UJRT) later broadcast the contest there with Montenegrin commentary.

• From until , Montenegro competed as part of and from to as part of .

Photo gallery

File:ESC 2007 Montenegro - Stevan Faddy - Ajde Kroci.jpg|Stevan Faddy in Helsinki () File:ESC 2008 - Montenegro - Stefan Filipovic, 1st semifinal.jpg|Stefan Filipović in Belgrade () File:Andrea Demirović.jpg|Andrea Demirović in Moscow () File:Rambo Amadeus Eurovision 2012 Baku Semi-Final.jpg|Rambo Amadeus in Baku () File:ESC2013 - Montenegro 17.jpg|Who See in Malmö () File:Sergej Ćetković - Montenegro 01.jpg|Sergej Ćetković in Copenhagen () File:20150516 ESC 2015 Knez 7747.jpg|Knez in Vienna () File:ESC2016 - Montenegro 06.jpg|Highway in Stockholm () File:ESC2017 - Montenegro 01.jpg|Slavko Kalezić in Kyiv () File:ESC2018 - Montenegro 02.jpg|Vanja Radovanović in Lisbon () File:ESC2019 - Montenegro.jpg|D mol in Tel Aviv () File:Eurovision 2022 - Semi-final 2 - Montenegro - Vladana.jpg|Vladana in Turin () File:Žižić at ESC2025 for Montenegro 14.jpg|Nina Žižić in Basel ()

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