Macedonia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Ninanajna" , composed by Darko Dimitrov, with lyrics by Rade Vrčakovski, and performed by Elena Risteska. The Macedonian participating broadcaster, Macedonian Radio Television (MRT), organised the national final in order to select its entry for the contest. Twenty entries competed in the competition on 4 March 2006 where "Ninanajna" performed by Elena Risteska was selected exclusively by a public televote, receiving 6,999 votes.

Macedonia competed in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 18 May 2006. Performing during the show in position 11, "Ninanajna" was announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 20 May. It was later revealed that Macedonia placed tenth out of the 23 participating countries in the semi-final with 76 points. In the final, Macedonia performed in position 11 and placed twelfth out of the 24 participating countries, scoring 56 points. This remains the best result until 2019.

Background

Prior to the 2006 contest, Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Macedonia five times since its first entry in . Its best result in the contest to this point was fourteenth, achieved with the song "Life" performed by Toše Proeski. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the , it had featured in every final.

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, MRT organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster had previously selected their entry for the contest through both national finals and internal selections. MRT confirmed its intentions to participate at the 2006 contest on 20 December 2005. Since 1996, the broadcaster selected its entries using a national final, a procedure that continued for its 2006 entry.

Before Eurovision

was the national final organised by MRT to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. Twenty entries participated in the competition which took place on 4 March 2006 at Studios 2 and 3 of MRT in Skopje, hosted by Biljana Dragičević and Zoran Ljutkov and was broadcast on MTV 1 and MTV Sat.

Competing entries A submission period was opened for interested artists and composers to submit their songs between 20 December 2005 and 15 January 2006. MRT received 51 submissions at the closing of the deadline and twenty entries were selected by a four-member committee consisting of Ilija Pejovski (composer and conductor), Trajče Organdžiev (MRT), Avni Veliu (MRT) and Susana Pavlovska (MRT). The twenty competing artists and songs were announced on 23 January 2006 during a press conference. Artist Song Songwriter(s) Adnan "Kje prespijam na kauč" () Aleksandar Ristovski-Princ Adrijan and Esma "Ljubov e..." () Jovan Jovanov, Elvir Mekić, Borče Nečovski Arči "Skokotaj me" () Alexandr Stefanovski-Jablan Bagaž "Mala odmazda" () Trajko Karov, Aleksandar StefanovskiBojana Atanasovska "Posle nas" () Grigor Koprov, Ognen Nedelkovski "Svetlina" () Branka Kostić "Vo mojot son" () Hari Kotlarovski, Kristijan Gabroski Džoksi "Zlatni žici" () Džina Papas Džoksi, Ognen Nedelkovski Elena Risteska "Ninanajna" () Darko Dimitrov, Rade Vrčakovski Enedin Biševac and Daria Ilievska "Podaj raka" () Enedin Biševac Eva Nedinkovska "Taan i med" () Garo Tavitjan, Kaliopi Filip Jordanovski "Bidi diva" () Blaže Temelkov Ibrahim Islamoski "Zemi se" () Ibrahim Islamovski, Robert Milevski Kaliopi "Silna" () Kaliopi Lambe Alabakovski "More od solzi" () Darko Dimitrov, Elena Risteska Maja Odžaklievska "Koj pat da izberam" () Grigor Koprov, Ognen Nedelkovski Nataša Gulevska "Kje blesne zrak za nas" () Nataša Gulevska, Ognen Nedelkovski Nataša Mijatović "Cvet vo postela" () Nataša Mijatović Panta Rei "Mori mome" () Koce Dinev, Aco Stoyanov Petar Mehandžiski "Moja najmila" () Jovan Vasilevski

Final The final took place on 4 March 2006. The running order was determined through a draw held on 27 January 2006 during the MRT programme Urban Šik. Twenty entries competed and public televoting exclusively selected "Ninanajna" performed by Elena Risteska as the winner. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the competition featured a guest performance by the Rebis Ballet Studio. + Final – 4 March 2006 Artist Song Televote Place 1 Bojana Atanasovska "Svetlina" 435 14 2 Eva Nedinkovska "Taan i med" 631 10 3 Bagaž "Mala odmazda" 189 19 4 Ibrahim Islamoski "Zemi se" 1,976 5 5 Bojana Atanasovska "Posle nas" 204 17 6 Kaliopi "Silna" 1,700 6 7 Enedin Biševac and Daria Ilievska "Podaj raka" 456 13 8 Nataša Mijatović "Cvet vo postela" 1,052 8 9 Nataša Gulevska "Kje blesne zrak za nas" 164 20 10 Bojana Atanasovska "Vo mojot son" 473 12 11 Adrijan and Esma "Ljubov e..." 6,866 2 12 Adnan "Kje prespijam na kauč" 316 16 13 Filip Jordanovski "Bidi diva" 202 18 14 Lambe Alabakovski "More od solzi" 5,282 3 15 Petar Mehandžiski "Moja najmila" 616 11 16 Džoksi "Zlatni žici" 2,348 4 17 Elena Risteska "Ninanajna" 6,999 1 18 Maja Odžaklievska "Koj pat da izberam" 982 9 19 Arči "Skokotaj me" 528 15 20 Panta Rei "Mori mome" 1,105 7

Promotion Elena Risteska specifically promoted "Ninanajna" as the Macedonian Eurovision entry on 11 March 2006 by performing the song during the Serbian-Montenegrin Eurovision national final .

At Eurovision According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the ten highest placed finishers in the are required to qualify from the semi-final on 18 May 2006 in order to compete for the final on 20 May 2006; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final. On 21 March 2006, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order for the semi-final and Macedonia was set to perform in position 11, following the entry from and before the entry from . At the end of the show, Macedonia was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Macedonia placed tenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 76 points. The draw for the running order for the final was done by the presenters during the announcement of the ten qualifying countries during the semi-final and Macedonia was drawn to perform in position 11, following the entry from and before the entry from . Macedonia placed twelfth in the final, scoring 56 points.

The semi-final and final were broadcast in Macedonia on MTV 1 and MTV Sat with commentary by Karolina Petkovska. MRT appointed Martin Vučić (who represented ) as its spokesperson to announce the Macedonian votes during the final.

Voting Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Macedonia and awarded by Macedonia in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to in the semi-final and to in the final of the contest.

Points awarded to Macedonia

+ Points awarded to Macedonia (Semi-final) Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

+ Points awarded to Macedonia (Final) Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Macedonia

+ Points awarded by Macedonia (Semi-final) Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

+ Points awarded by Macedonia (Final) Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Notes

References