La Serbie-et-Monténégro
Debut – 2004
Last Appearance – 2005
Broadcaster – UJRT
Best Result – 2nd (2004)
Highest Score – 263 points (2004)
Worst Result – 7th (2005 – 137 points)
2004 marked the first time the nations of Serbia and Montenegro had been represented in any form in the Eurovision Song Contest since 1992, after Yugoslavia was expelled from the EBU when their national broadcaster ceased to exist as the country gradually broke apart. They originally intended to take part in the 2003 contest, but 26 countries had already signed up for the final and the EBU didn’t want the Contest becoming too big. Luckily for them, semi-finals were introduced the following year. A national song contest was held in 2003 which they planned as a ‘rehearsal’ for their 2004 national final.
Their return to the Eurovision stage was a triumphant one as they finished 2nd in the Final with the song “Lane moje” as performed by Željko Joksimović, a famous singer/composer in Serbia, ultimately losing to Ukraine. In 2005, rewarded with an automatic place in the Grand Final, they sent Montenegrin act No Name with the song “Zauvijek moja”, and finished a very respectable 7th. Serbia & Montenegro are the only nation to have all the entries they sent in all their national languages.
They were due to participate in the 2006 contest in Athens, Greece, where they would’ve been one of the 15 automatic finalists once again. However, after a major scandal in their national final which involved accusations of tactical voting from the Montenegrin juries, they decided to withdraw, although the EBU allowed them to participate in the televote. On May 21st 2006, a day after the Grand Final, Montenegro voted for independence via a referendum, and shortly afterwards them and Serbia went their separate ways, making their respective debuts as independent states in the 2007 contest.
See also:
ESC Pulse 