Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest

Yugoslavia
(1961–1991)
(1992)
Member station JRT
National selection events Jugovizija
Appearances
Appearances 27
First appearance 1961
Last appearance 1992
Best result 1st: 1989
Worst result Last: 1964
External links
Yugoslavia's page at Eurovision.tv

Yugoslavia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 27 times, debuting in 1961 and competing every year until its last appearance in 1992, with the exceptions of 1977–1980, and 1985. Yugoslavia won the 1989 contest and hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 1990.

Contents

History

1961–1991: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961. The national pre-selection organized by the Yugoslav broadcaster Yugoslav Radio Television (JRT) was Jugovizija, and it featured entries submitted by the subnational public broadcasting centers based in the capitals of the each of the constituent republics of the Yugoslav federation: SR Bosnia and Herzegovina (RTV Sarajevo), SR Croatia (RTV Zagreb and RTV Split[1]), SR Macedonia (RTV Skopje), SR Montenegro (RTV Titograd), SR Serbia (RTV Belgrade) & SR Slovenia (RTV Ljubljana) and also the broadcasting services of the constituent autonomous provinces: SAP Kosovo (RTV Priština) and SAP Vojvodina (RTV Novi Sad).[2] The first to compete in 1961 were Belgrade, Ljubljana and Zagreb, while the others joined in the following years.[2]

During its existence, SFR Yugoslavia was represented by a variety of artists from five of the eight Yugoslav federal units. These artists were from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia, with Macedonia, Vojvodina, and Kosovo never passing the national pre-selection. Croatia was the most successful constituent republic, as its performers won the national contest 13 out of the 26 times SFR Yugoslavia took part in the contest. From 1977 to 1980, and in 1985, Yugoslavia didn't participate in the contest.

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia won the Eurovision Song Contest 1989 with the song "Rock Me" by the group Riva. Following the rules of the contest, the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 took place in Zagreb, as the entry came from Croatia.

1992: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

During the process of breakup of SFR Yugoslavia in 1991, the former constituent republics: Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia proclaimed independence and hence withdrew from Jugovizija, while the then-leaderships of Serbia and Montenegro agreed to maintain a close alliance. On March 28, 1992, the countries that still (at least formally) constituted the fading and shrunken former Yugoslav federation took part in 1992 Jugovizija held in Belgrade. It included artists not only from Serbia and Montenegro, but also from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although the latter declared independence on March 1 of that year. Among it candidates was Alma Čardžić.[3] The winner of that pre-selection was "Ljubim te pesmama" performed by Extra Nena (Snežana Berić) from Serbia.[4] Before that year's ESC took place, on April 28, a new federative state was formed consisting of Serbia and Montenegro called Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which was represented by the previously mentioned Extra Nena in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992 held on May 9.[5][6][7]

1993–present: After the breakup of SFRY

After the dissolution of SFR Yugoslavia its former constituent republics proclaimed independence. The once subnational public radio and TV stations changed to national but under new names, including: RTV Slovenia, Croatian RTV, RTV Serbia, Macedonian RTV and so on. Since joining the EBU respectively, all of the ex-Yugoslav countries have participated in the Eurovision Song Contest: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia.

Overall the results of the new republics have been mixed: Croatia had some early successes in the mid-1990s, and the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina have enjoyed some success in recent years, while the Republic of Macedonia has never secured a top 10 result despite making it through to the final each year until 2008, in which it lost at the semi-final stage. In 2004, the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro debuted and came in 2nd and in 2007, Montenegro joined the contest but failed to qualify for the final, while Serbia won the Eurovision Song Contest the first time it entered as an independent nation.

Contestants

The following lists the 27 contestants that won the local competition and went on to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. Note that the selected entries of 1978–1980 and 1985 did not actually compete at the contest, as Yugoslavia did not participate during those years because of internal political reasons. Yugoslavia is one of the few countries that have sent all the songs in one of the official languages. A gold background indicates a first place finish, while a red one indicates a last place finish.

Year Artist Title Place Points
1961 Ljiljana Petrović "Neke davne zvezde" 8 9
1962 Lola Novaković "Ne pali svetlo u sumrak" 4 10
1963 Vice Vukov "Brodovi" 11 3
1964 Sabahudin Kurt "Život je sklopio krug" 13 0
1965 Vice Vukov "Čežnja" 12 2
1966 Berta Ambrož "Brez besed" 7 9
1967 Lado Leskovar "Vse rože sveta" 8 7
1968 Luciano Capurso & Hamo Hajdarhodžić "Jedan dan" 7 8
1969 Ivan & 4M "Pozdrav svijetu" 13 5
1970 Eva Sršen "Pridi, dala ti bom cvet" 11 4
1971 Kićo Slabinac "Tvoj dječak je tužan" 14 68
1972 Tereza Kesovija "Muzika i ti" 9 87
1973 Zdravko Čolić "Gori vatra" 15 65
1974 Korni Grupa "Moja generacija" 12 6
1975 Pepel in Kri "Dan ljubezni" 13 22
1976 Ambasadori "Ne mogu skriti svoju bol" 17 10
1981 Vajta "Lejla" 15 35
1982 Aska "Halo, Halo" 14 21
1983 Daniel "Džuli" 4 125
1984 Vlado & Isolda "Ciao, amore" 18 26
1986 Doris Dragović "Željo moja" 11 49
1987 Novi Fosili "Ja sam za ples" 4 92
1988 Srebrna Krila "Mangup" 6 87
1989 Riva "Rock Me" 1 137
1990 Tajči "Hajde da ludujemo" 7 81
1991 Bebi Dol "Brazil" 21 1
1992 Extra Nena "Ljubim te pesmama" 13 44

Voting history (1975-1992)

Yugoslavia gave the most points to...[8]

Rank Country Points
1  Italy 62
2  Switzerland 61
3  United Kingdom 57
4  France 56
5  Israel 54

Yugoslavia received the most points from...[8]

Rank Country Points
1  Turkey 80
2  Israel 64
3  Cyprus 59
4  Denmark 52
5  Iceland 48

Hosting

Year Location Venue Presenter
1990 Zagreb Koncertna dvorana Vatroslav Lisinski, Zagreb, SR Croatia, SFRY Helga Vlahović and Oliver Mlakar

Non-participating years

In all, Yugoslavia did not participate in 5 contests: from 1977 to 1980 and again in 1985, due to national memorial day for 5 years of anniversary of death of Josip Broz Tito being held in the country.[9]

See also

References

External links