Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006

Serbia and Montenegro was set to be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The Serbian-Montenegrin participant broadcaster, (UJRT), organised the national final Evropesma-Europjesma 2006 in order to select its entry for the contest. Serbian (RTS) and Montenegrin (RTCG) each submitted twelve entries from their respective selections Beovizija 2006 and Montevizija 2006 with twenty-four entries in total competing in the national final on 11 March 2006. The song "", written by Milan Perić and Dalibor Nedović, and performed by the band No Name (which had represented ), won the national final following the combination of votes from an eight-member jury panel and a public televote. However, the results were not recognized by UJRT due to controversy surrounding supposed tactical voting of the Montenegrin jury, and the broadcaster ended up not submitting any entry.

As one of ten highest placed finishers in the Serbia and Montenegro directly qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 20 May 2006. However, Serbia and Montenegro was removed from the contest on 20 March due to UJRT not being able to submit an entry by the submission deadline with the empty slot in the final being replaced by .

Background

Prior to the 2006 Contest, (UJRT) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Serbia and Montenegro as an independent country two times since its first entry in when it achieved its best placing with the song "" performed by Željko Joksimović, placing second in the final. In , "" performed by No Name, placed seventh in the final. Up to this point, Serbia and Montenegro had featured in every final of the Eurovision Song Contest they participated in.

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, UJRT organised the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest while Serbian (RTS) and Montenegrin (RTCG) broadcast the event within their respective republics. UJRT confirmed its intentions to participate at the 2006 contest on 23 November 2005. In 2004 and 2005, the Evropesma-Europjesma national final had been used in order to select its entry, a procedure that continued for the selection of the 2006 entry as announced along with its participation confirmation.

Before Eurovision Montevizija 2006 RTCG organised Montevizija 2006, the second edition of Montevizija, in order to select its entries for the national final. The broadcaster held the competition on 24 February 2006 at its studios in Podgorica, hosted by Zoja-Spahić Kustudić, Andrija Milošević, Danilo Čelebić, Irena Ivanović, and Milena Ristić. Twenty songs competed and nine juries – 8 jury members and a public televote determined the twelve songs to progress to the final of Evropesma-Europjesma 2006.

+ Montevizija 200624 February 2006 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place 1 Jelena Kažanegra "Naći ću te" () 16 0 16 12 2 Dan poslije "Koraci" () 31 1 32 6 3 Bojan Delić "Sudbina" () 22 8 30 7 4 Grim "Uspavanka" () 20 0 20 10 5 Vladana and Bojana "Željna" () 16 0 16 11 6 Saša Barjaktarović "Budi svoj" () 5 0 5 16 7 Krug "Putujem sama" () 22 0 22 9 8 Stevan Faddy "Cipele" () 94 10 104 1 9 Nina Žižić "Potraži me" () 4 0 4 17 10 Dado Đurović "Ne postojim" () 4 4 8 15 11 Milena Vučić "Živa sam" () 23 0 23 8 12 Katapult "Kad ljubav pobijedi" () 1 3 4 17 13 Milica Milić "Ti si mi za sve" () 6 7 13 13 14 Danica Krsmanović "Žubor vina" () 6 6 12 14 15 Stefan Filipović "Za nju" () 47 5 52 3 16 Nela Popović "Kao feniks" () 39 0 39 4 17 Crveno i crno "Anđeo u očima" () 37 0 37 5 18 No Name "Moja ljubavi" () 69 12 81 2 19 Marija Brajović "Ti nisi taj" () 1 0 1 20 20 Nikola Karadžić "Hasta la vista" 1 2 3 19

Beovizija 2006 RTS organised Beovizija 2006, the 4th edition of Beovizija, in order to select its entries for the national final. The broadcaster held the competition on 10 March 2006 in Sava Centar in Belgrade. 23 songs competed in Beovizija 2006, one song, "Blizina", due to be performed by Zvezde Granda and Šaban Bajramović was withdrawn due to Bajramović's poor health condition. Nine juries – 8 jury members and a public televote determined the twelve songs to progress to the final of Evropesma-Europjesma 2006.

+ Beovizija 200610 march 2006 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points 1 Dejan Vozlić "Nisam kriv" () 11 — 0 11 13 2 Biber "Kapija" () 34 — 0 34 6 3 Enes Ukić "Osvoji me" () 4 875 6 10 14 4 Koktel bend "Vatrena" () 2 — 0 2 19 5 Ivana Selakov "Izabran" () 3 — 0 3 18 6 Julija i Julija "Iskrena pesma" () 0 — 0 0 22 7 Ivana Knežević "Poruka za ljubav" () 15 — 0 15 10 8 Blah Blah Band "Maler" () 18 297 2 20 7 9 Blizanci "Jednom pokidano" () 9 367 4 13 11 10 Nevena "Ništa o njoj" () 5 — 0 5 16 11 Maja Nikolić "Kada ti treba" () 17 256 1 18 9 12 Marko Jeftić "Sve ili ništa" () 0 — 0 0 22 13 Vanja Radovanović "Kad me jednom za te ne bude" () 1 — 0 1 21 14 Želimir Petrović "Otrezni me" () 2 — 0 2 19 15 Slađa Ivanišević "Neopisivo" () 5 — 0 5 16 16 Tijana Dapčević "Greh" () 54 1,468 7 61 4 17 Ana Bekuta "Konak" () 8 631 5 13 11 18 Ana Nikolić "Romale romali" () 67 3,086 10 77 2 19 Ivana Jordan "Lazarica" () 55 2,552 8 63 3 20 Mari Mari "Da ti se dlanovi zalede" () 46 317 3 49 5 21 Flamingosi feat. Louis "Ludi letnji ples" () 82 10,128 12 94 1 22 Romana "Kap po kap" () 19 — 0 19 8 23 Propaganda 117 "Bajka" () 7 — 0 7 15

Evropesma-Europjesma 2006 UJRT organised Evropesma-Europjesma 2006 in order to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The competition took place at the Sava Centar in Belgrade on 11 March 2006, hosted by Jelena Jovičić and Boda Ninković. The show was broadcast in Serbia on RTS1 and RTS Sat as well as streamed online via the broadcaster's website rts.co.yu, and in Montenegro on TVCG 1 and TVCG Sat.

Competing entries Both UJRT broadcasters, Serbian RTS and Montenegrin RTCG, each conducted separate selections in order to select the twenty-four entries to proceed to the national final: RTS organised Beovizija 2006 on 10 March 2006 where twenty-three songs competed, while RTCG organised Montevizija 2006 on 24 February 2006 with twenty entries competing. From each selection, the top twelve entries qualified for the national final and among the competing artists was No Name which represented . Artist Song Songwriter(s) Broadcaster Ana Bekuta "Konak" (Конак) Saša Milošević Mare, Zoran Marjanović RTS Ana Nikolić "Romale romali" (Ромале ромали) Ljiljana Jorgovanović, Zoran Lesendrić RTS Biber "Kapija" (Капија) Đorđe Radivojević, Rastko Aksentijević RTS Blah Blah Band "Maler" (Малер) Lidija Rosić, Bojan Vasić RTS Blizanci "Jednom pokidano" (Једном покидано) Nenad Jovanović, Аleksandar Perisić RTS Bojan Delić "Sudbina" (Судбина) Dejan Perišić RTCG Crveno i crno "Anđeo u očima" (Анђео у очима) Vesna Milačić, Miha Radonjić RTCG Flamingosi feat. Louis "Ludi letnji ples" (Луди летњи плес) Goran Stanković, Ognjen Amidžić RTS Grim "Uspavanka" (Успаванка) Nebojša Đukanović RTCG Ivana Jordan "Lazarica" (Лазарица) Ivana Jordan RTS Ivana Knežević "Poruka za ljubav" (Порука за љубав) Svetlana Slavković, Aleksandar Kobac RTS Jelena Kažanegra "Naći ću te" (Наћи ћу те) Nikola Radunović RTCG Krug "Putujem sama" (Путујем сама) Dražen Miljanović RTCG Maja Nikolić "Kad ti treba" (Кад ти треба) Leontina Vukomanović, Saša Milošević Mare RTS Mari Mari "Da ti se dlanovi zalede" (Да ти се дланови заледе) Aleksandra Milutinović, Ljiljana Jorgovanović RTS Milena Vučić "Živa sam" (Жива сам) Vesna Milačić, Miha Radonjić RTCG Nela Popović "Feniks" (Феникс) Momčilo Zeković RTCG Nina and Dan poslije "Koraci" (Кораци) Nina Petković, Zoran Radonjić RTCG No Name "Moja ljubavi" (Моја љубави) Milan Perić, Dalibor Nedović RTCG Romana "Kap po kap" (Кап по кап) Saša Milošević Mare, Ljiljana Jorgovanović, Goran Stanković RTS Stefan Filipović "Za nju" (За њу) Sergej Ćetković RTCG Stevan Faddy "Cipele" (Ципеле) Jelena Galonić, Aleksandar Filipović RTCG Tijana Dapčević "Greh" (Грех) Dragan Brajović RTS Vladana and Bojana "Željna" (Жељна) Svetlana Raičković RTCG

Final The final took place on 11 March 2006 where twenty-four songs competed. The winner, "" performed by No Name, was decided by a combination of votes from a jury panel and the Serbian and Montenegrin public via televoting. The Serbian jury consisted of Milan Đurđević (musician), Zoran Dašić (RTS music editor and composer), Jovan Maljoković (composer and jazz musician) and Tanja Banjanin (singer), while the Montenegrin jury consisted of Predrag Kalezić (producer), Milica Belević (editor and music critic), Bojan Bajramović (President of the Association of Pop Artists and Performers of Montenegro), Predrag Janković (professor at the University of Montenegro Music Academy), and televoters as the ninth jury member that it was presented by Duška Vučinić (Serbian Eurovision Song Contest commentator). Eurovision contestants Hari Mata Hari, Severina, Brian Kennedy, Elena Risteska, and Anžej Dežan, which would represent , , , , and in the 2006 contest, respectively, were featured as guest performers during the show.

+ Evropesma-Europjesma 200611 March 2006 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points 1 Nina and Dan poslije "Koraci" 10 — 0 10 14 2 Romana "Kap po kap" 5 — 0 5 20 3 Milena Vučić "Živa sam" 6 — 0 6 19 4 Mari Mari "Da ti se dlanovi zalede" 21 — 0 21 10 5 Crveno i crno "Anđeo u očima" 16 — 0 16 11 6 Blah Blah Band "Maler" 2 — 0 2 23 7 Nela Popović "Feniks" 25 — 0 25 9 8 Ivana Jordan "Lazarica" 35 2,007 7 42 6 9 Stevan Faddy "Cipele" 44 1,583 6 50 3 10 Ivana Knežević "Poruka za ljubav" 2 — 0 2 24 11 Krug "Putujem sama" 4 — 0 4 21 12 Ana Bekuta "Konak" 5 419 3 8 18 13 Vladana and Bojana "Željna" 10 — 0 10 15 14 Flamingosi feat. Louis "Ludi letnji ples" 48 11,928 12 60 2 15 No Name "Moja ljubavi" 56 3,475 8 64 1 16 Blizanci "Jednom pokidano" 0 412 2 2 22 17 Stefan Filipović "Za nju" 46 561 4 50 4 18 Maja Nikolić "Kad ti treba" 11 — 0 11 13 19 Bojan Delić "Sudbina" 27 405 1 28 7 20 Biber "Kapija" 13 — 0 13 12 21 Jelena Kažanegra "Naći ću te" 10 — 0 10 17 22 Ana Nikolić "Romale romali" 36 3,981 10 46 5 23 Grim "Uspavanka" 10 — 0 10 16 24 Tijana Dapčević "Greh" 22 687 5 27 8 + Detailed Jury Votes Song RTS RTCG Total 1 "Koraci" 7 2 1 10 2 "Kap po kap" 1 1 3 5 3 "Živa sam" 6 6 4 "Da ti se dlanovi zalede" 6 3 7 5 21 5 "Anđeo u očima" 5 3 8 16 6 "Maler" 2 2 7 "Feniks" 2 6 7 7 3 25 8 "Lazarica" 10 8 8 6 1 2 35 9 "Cipele" 4 10 10 10 10 44 10 "Poruka za ljubav" 2 2 11 "Putujem sama" 4 4 12 "Konak" 2 3 5 13 "Željna" 4 1 5 10 14 "Ludi letnji ples" 12 12 12 12 48 15 "Moja ljubavi" 3 5 12 12 12 12 56 16 "Jednom pokidano" 0 17 "Za nju" 5 3 5 5 7 6 8 7 46 18 "Kad ti treba" 6 4 1 11 19 "Sudbina" 8 8 5 6 27 20 "Kapija" 2 2 4 1 4 13 21 "Naći ću te" 6 4 10 22 "Romale romali" 8 10 10 8 36 23 "Uspavanka" 7 3 10 24 "Greh" 4 1 7 10 22

Controversy and subsequent withdrawal Evropesma-Europjesma 2006 saw the same voting pattern from the jurors from both republics as in 2005. Despite the public vote winners, Serbian Beovizija 2006 winner Flamingosi featuring Louis receiving over 7,000 votes more than the runner-up, Beovizija 2006 runner-up Ana Nikolić, both of them did not receive any points from the Montenegrin jurors whereas No Name, which placed third in the public vote, were awarded eight points by the Serbian jurors (which awarded the Montenegrin acts about 1/4 of their votes) making it enough for them to score another win as all four Montenegrin jurors (which awarded the Serbian acts about 1/10 of their votes) awarded them maximum points. Realizing that the favourites were not going to win, the audience started leaving the event with the remaining audience booing No Name off the stage and throwing objects (such as bottles) at the stage during the reprise. The audience then wooed Flamingosi and Louis on stage as they performed their song with the other Serbian acts present on stage.