Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016

Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Country  Bosnia and Herzegovina
National selection
Selection process Internal Selection
Selection date(s) Artist: 25 November 2015
Song: 19 February 2016
Selected entrant Dalal & Deen feat.
Ana Rucner & Jala
Selected songwriter(s) Almir Ajanović
Jasmin Fazlić Jala
Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2012 • 2016

Bosnia and Herzegovina will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. The song will be performed by Dalal and Deen featuring Ana Rucner and Jala. Dalal and Deen are Bosnian singers, the former known as a member of the duo Erato and the latter having represented Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, while Ana Rucner is a Croatian cellist and Jala is a Bosnian rapper. In November 2015 the Bosnian broadcaster Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT) announced that they would be returning to the Eurovision Song Contest after a three-year absence. In the same month, the broadcaster revealed that they had internally selected Dalal Midhat-Talakić, Fuad Backović-Deen, Ana Rucner and Jasmin Fazlić Jala to compete at the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. Their song will be presented to the public in February 2016.

Background

Prior to the 2016 Contest, Bosnia and Herzegovina had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest eighteen times since its first entry in 1993.[1] The nation's best placing in the contest was third, which it achieved in 2006 with the song "Lejla" performed by Hari Mata Hari. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, Bosnia and Herzegovina has, up to this year, managed to qualify on each occasion the nation has participated and compete in the final. Bosnia and Herzegovina's least successful result has been 22nd place, which they have achieved in the 1996 contest.

The Bosnian national broadcaster, Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT), broadcasts the event within Bosnia and Herzegovina and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. BHRT had selected the Bosnian entry through an internal selection process since 2006. In 2013, the broadcaster withdrew from the competition due to insufficient funds and difficulty securing sponsors to cover the costs of participation.[2] Despite attempts to return to the competition in the subsequent years, financial difficulties led to a three-year absence from the contest.[3][4] While the financial situation at the broadcaster remained unchanged, on 24 November 2015, BHRT announced that they had secured funding through sponsorship and would therefore return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016.[5][6]

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

Deen performing "In the Disco" at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004

On 25 November 2015, the broadcaster announced that they had internally selected Dalal Midhat-Talakić and Fuad Backović-Deen to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina in Stockholm.[7][8] The announcement occurred during a press conference broadcast live on BHT 1 and BH Radio 1, hosted by Maja Miralem and featuring BHRT general director Belmin Karamehmedović, BHT 1 director Mario Vrankić and head of the international department of BHRT Lejla A. Babović.[7] Dalal and Deen are Bosnian singers, the former best known as a member of the duo Erato and the latter having previously represented Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, placing ninth with the song "In the Disco". During the press conference, it was announced that Dalal and Deen would be joined in Stockholm by Croatian cellist Ana Rucner and rapper Jasmin Fazlić Jala. Bosnian singer Zuzi Zu was also announced as part of the supporting stage team for the performance at Eurovision.[7] The song to be performed at the contest was also selected internally and was written by Almir Ajanović and Jasmin Fazlić Jala.[7] The selection of both the artists and the song came as a proposal from Tempo Production Studio, headed by Almir Ajanović, which offered to finance the entire Eurovision participation along with several sponsors: APU Network (Swedish organisation of Bosnian businesses established by the diaspora), BBI Real Estate, Azel France, Amko Komerc, Farmavita, Lutrija BiH (state lottery), Bosnalijek and the Association of performers and musicians.[9]

The song will be presented during a television special on 19 February 2016 at the Sarajevo City Hall, broadcast on BHT 1 as well as streamed online via the broadcaster's website bhrt.ba and the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.[10] In addition to the presentation of the song, the show will feature guest performances by 2012 Bosnian Eurovision entrant Maya Sar, 2012 Croatian Eurovision entrant Nina Badrić and Serbian Eurovision Song Contest 2007 winner Marija Šerifović.[11] A Bosnian language version and English language version of the song were prepared. BHRT, in consultation with Tempo Production Studio, decided that the song would be performed in Bosnian at the Eurovision Song Contest.[12][13]

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) 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 (EBU) 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.[14] On 25 January 2016, 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. Bosnia and Herzegovina was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2016, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "Bosnia & Herzegovina Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  2. ↑ "Bosna i Hercegovina odustala od učešća na Eurosongu u Švedskoj" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  3. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (19 December 2013). "Eurovision 2014: Bosnia & Herzegovina will not compete in Copenhagen". esctoday.com. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  4. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (17 November 2014). "Bosnia & Herzegovina: BHRT will not return to Eurovision in 2015". esctoday.com. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  5. ↑ "BIH PONOVO NA EUROSONGU". bhrt.ba (in Bosnian). Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  6. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (24 November 2015). "Bosnia & Herzegovina: BHRT confirms participation in Eurovision 2016". esctoday.com. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "DALAL MIDHAT-TALAKIĆ I FUAD BACKOVIĆ DEEN PREDSTAVLJAJU BIH NA EUROSONGU". bhrt.ba (in Bosnian). Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 25 November 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  8. ↑ Brey, Marco (25 November 2015). "Dalal Midhat Talakić, Fuad Backović-Deen and Ana Rucner to represent Bosnia & Herzegovina". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  9. ↑ Čolak, Lejla (4 December 2015). "BHRT: Odlazak na Eurosong građane BiH neće koštati niti jednog feninga". klix.ba (in Bosnian). Klix. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "Premijera u Vijećnici: Dalal i Deen 19. februara predstavljaju pjesmu za Eurosong". klix.ba (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  11. ↑ "BH EUROSONG SHOW 2016 [19.02.2016.]". bhrt.ba (in Bosnian). BHRT. 9 February 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  12. ↑ Zeba, D. (20 January 2016). "Lejla A. Babović za Faktor otkrila detalje o Eurosongu: Deen i Dalal neće pjevati na engleskom jeziku". faktor.ba (in Bosnian). Faktor. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  13. ↑ Granger, Anthony (20 January 2016). "BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA: SONG WILL BE PERFORMED IN BOSNIAN". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  14. ↑ Jordan, Paul (21 January 2016). "Semi-Final Allocation Draw on Monday, pots revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  15. ↑ Jordan, Paul (25 January 2016). "Allocation Draw: The results!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
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