Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019


Serbia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The Serbian broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia organised and had held the national final Beovizija 2019 in order to select the Serbian entry for the 2019 contest to be held in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Background

Prior to the 2019 Contest, Serbia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest eleven times since its first entry in, winning the contest with their debut entry "Molitva" performed by Marija Šerifović. Since 2007, eight out of eleven of Serbia's entries have featured in the final with the nation failing to qualify in 2009, 2013 and in 2017, missing out 2014 contest.
The Serbian national broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia, broadcasts the event within Serbia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. RTS confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest on 6 August 2018. Between 2007 and 2009, Serbia used the Beovizija national final in order to select their entry. However, after their 2009 entry, "Cipela" performed by Marko Kon and Milaan, failed to qualify Serbia to the final, the broadcaster shifted their selection strategy to selecting specific composers to create songs for artists. In 2010, RTS selected Goran Bregović to compose songs for a national final featuring three artists, while in 2011 Kornelije Kovač, Aleksandra Kovač and Kristina Kovač were tasked with composing one song each. In 2012, the internal selection of Željko Joksimović and the song "Nije ljubav stvar" secured the country's second highest placing in the contest to this point, placing third. In 2013, RTS returned to an open national final format and organized the Beosong competition. The winning entry, "Ljubav je svuda" performed by Moje 3, failed to qualify Serbia to the final at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest. In 2015, RTS selected Vladimir Graić, the composer of Serbia's 2007 Eurovision Song Contest winning entry "Molitva", to compose songs for a national final featuring three artists. After two internal selections in 2016 and 2017, RTS announced that Beovizija will return as a national selection for 2018 contest. In 2018, Serbia was represented by Sanja Ilić & Balkanika and the song "Nova deca". The country ended in 19th with 113 points.

Before Eurovision

''Beovizija 2019''

Beovizija 2019 was the 9th edition of the Serbian national final Beovizija to select Serbia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The contest consisted of two semi finals held on 27 and 28 February 2019, the final was held on 3 March 2019. The contest took place in the Studio 8 of RTS, in Belgrade.

Competing entries

Artists and songwriters were able to submit their song entries from August 2018 to 15 November 2018. Songwriters of any nationality were allowed to submit entries, but songs were required to be performed by citizens of the Republic of Serbia and in one of the official languages of the Republic of Serbia. RTS received 76 entries, and a selection comiteee chose 24 entries for the national final.
ArtistSong Composer
Aleksandra Sekulić"Tugo" Ana Sekulić, Filip Kuranji
Ana Popović"Lutaš" Sofija Milutinović
Dunja Vujadinović"7"Boris Krstajić, Ljiljana Jorgovanović
Dženan Lončarević"Nema suza" Željko Vasić, Dragan Čolaković
Eleonora"Samo lagano" Eleonora Lav Jovanović, Husein Alijević
Extra Nena"Još ti čujem glas" Ivan Akulov, Milena Ludajić, Snežana Berić
Funked Up"Zašto da se ne desi" Vojin Vilotijević
Gipsykord"Boje" Jovan Savić, Zvonko Marković, Mišo Krpo, Sanja Krstić, Milena Ludajić
Goga Stanić"Čudo" Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Dimitri Stassos, Vladimir Marković Luni, Marko Kon, Ognjen Amidžić
Ivan Kurtić"Bella"Goran Ratković Rale, Radenko Mitrović
Ivana Vladović & Wonder Strings"Moja bol" Aleksandra Milutinović
Jana Šušteršić"Viktorija" Vladimir Graić, Željko Hubač
Lana & Aldo"Pogledaj u nebo" Lana Toković
Lord"Radnički sin" Vladimir Preradović Lord
Majdan"Budim te" Nemanja Erić, Marija Vagner
Mr Doo"Do 100" Sanja Ilić, Mr Doo, Leontina Vukomanović
Nataša Guberinić & Una Senić"Samo bez straha" Predrag Vukčević, Marko Stojanović Luis, Nataša Guberinić, Una Senić, Petar Zorkić, Nemanja Kostić
Nevena Božović"Kruna" Nevena Božović
Osvajači"Voda i plamen" Nebojša Jakovljević, Zvonko Pantović
Sanya D Rio"Ljubimo se" Miki Dumonjić
Sashka Janx"Da li čuješ moj glas" Sashka Janx, Marko Nikolić
Sofija Perić"Aritmija" Vladimir Graić, Snežana Vukomanović
Tamara Milanović"Reči nisu dovoljne" Marcel Sprunkel, Gavrilo Milovanović
Tina & Lola Amvon"Tvoje oči" Tina Amvon, Olgica Lola Amvon

Semi-final 1

Twelve songs competed during the first semi-final at the Studio 8 of RTS on 27 February 2019. The six qualifiers were decided by a combination of votes from a jury panel and the Serbian public. The first semi-final was hosted by Dragana Kosjerina and Ivan Mihailović.

Semi-final 2

Twelve songs competed during the second semi-final at the Studio 8 of RTS on 28 February 2019. The six qualifiers were decided by a combination of votes from a jury panel and the Serbian public. Second semi-final were hosted by Nebojša Milovanović and Ana Babić.
During the Semi-final 2, special guest as an interval act was Emilija Kokić, a former singer of the band Riva, 30 years after the only Yugoslav victory in the Eurovision Song Contest 1989.

Final

Twelve songs competed during the final at the Studio 8 of RTS on 3 March 2019. The winner was decided by a combination of votes from a jury panel, consisting of Miša Aleksić, Bojana Stamenov, Dejan Ivanović, Goca Tržan and Aleksandar Milić Mili, and the Serbian public. The final was hosted by Dragana Kosjerina, Ivan Mihailović, Nebojša Milovanović and Ana Babić.

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2019, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Serbia was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2019, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.
Once all the competing songs for the 2019 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Serbia was set to perform in position 9, following the entry from Belarus and preceding the entry from Belgium.

Semi-final

Serbia performed ninth in the first semi-final. It was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Serbia placed seventh in the semi-final, receiving a total of 156 points: 65 points from the televoting and 91 points from the juries.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results was released shortly after the grand final.

Points awarded to Serbia

Points awarded by Serbia

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Serbian jury: