Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
Yugoslavia was represented at 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. The Yugoslavian participating broadcaster in the contest was Yugoslav Radio Television (JRT) which usually selected its entrant with a national final. Yugoslavia won the 1989 contest and hosted the 1990 contest.
"Neke davne zvezde" performed by Ljiljana Petrović was Yugoslavia's first entrant in the contest in 1961 and placed eighth. In the 1962 contest, "Ne pali svetla u sumrak" by Lola Novaković gave the country its first top five result, finishing fourth. This would remain Yugoslavia's only top five result until the 1983 contest, when "Džuli" by Danijel finished fourth. "Ja sam za ples" by Novi Fosili also finished fourth in the 1987 contest. In 1989, the country achieved its only victory in the contest, when "Rock Me" by Riva won.
Remove ads
History
Summarize
Perspective
1961–1991: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
_zingt;_Bestanddeelnr_923-3592.jpg)
Yugoslav Radio Television (JRT) was a founding member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in 1950 and therefore eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, representing the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFR Yugoslavia), since the first contest in 1956.[1] However, despite joining the Eurovision network in 1956, JRT didn't broadcast the contest until it debuted in 1961.[2][3]
Yugoslavia's first stretch of participations from 1961 until 1976 were mostly unsuccessful, with only one top five placing – fourth in 1962 – which would remain its best result until 1983. It also got its only last place in 1964. From 1969 until 1976, it consistently placed outside the top ten – with the exception of a ninth place in 1972 – ultimately coming second to last in 1976.
After a meeting on 4 July 1976, JRT announced its withdrawal from the 1977 contest, citing its low results.[4][5][6] Its withdrawal continued into 1978 but JRT held a referendum among the readers of its RTV magazines on if it should return at the 1979 contest.[7] Over 100,000 people voted in favour of returning to the contest, against just over 2,000 votes for staying out of the contest.[7] However, JRT did not return in 1979 as the broadcaster and all its sub-national stations unanimously agreed against participating in Jerusalem – the host city that year – as they believed it to be illegally occupied and Yugoslavia did not have diplomatic relations with Israel at the time.[8] JRT also did not broadcast the contest, despite doing so in 1977 and 1978.[8] It did not participate in, or broadcast, the 1980 contest either for unknown reasons.
JRT returned to the contest in 1981 and participated four more times before withdrawing again. It continued to place outside the top ten in this period with the exception of 1983, where it matched its previous best result of fourth from 1962. After withdrawing in 1985, due to the contest colliding with a national holiday, it returned in 1986. It saw more success after its return, once again getting fourth place in 1987, followed by a sixth place in 1988.
As Yugoslavia won the 1989 contest with the song "Rock Me" by the group Riva, the 1990 contest took place in Zagreb, hosted by RTV Zagreb on behalf of JRT, as the entry came from them. JRT participated in 1991 for the last time representing SFR Yugoslavia.
1992: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
During the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, the former constituent republics of Croatia, Slovenia, and Macedonia declared secession and hence withdrew from the 1992 Yugoslav national final, while the then-leaderships of Serbia and Montenegro agreed to maintain a close alliance. On 28 March 1992, the broadcasters from the republics that still (at least formally) constituted the fading and shrunken former Yugoslav federation took part in the selection held in Belgrade. It included artists not only from Serbia and Montenegro, but also from Bosnia and Herzegovina, although the latter declared independence on 1 March of that year. Among its candidates was Alma Čardžić. The winner of that pre-selection was "Ljubim te pesmama" performed by Extra Nena (Snežana Berić) from Serbia. Before that year's contest took place, on 28 April, a new federal state was formed, consisting of Serbia and Montenegro and called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which was represented by the previously mentioned "Ljubim te pesmama" by Extra Nena in the 1992 contest.[9][10][11]
Only a few weeks after the 1992 contest, FR Yugoslavia was banned from participating in Eurovision due to UN sanctions during the Yugoslav Wars. However, the contest was still broadcast even under the sanctions except in 1999 due to the NATO bombing of RTS headquarters.
Successor states
Former JRT sub-national stations RTV Sarajevo in SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, RTV Zagreb in SR Croatia, RTV Skopje in SR Macedonia, and RTV Ljubljana in SR Slovenia became RTVBiH, HRT, MRT, and RTVSLO respectively in the new independent countries that emerged from the breakup of Yugoslavia, and were admitted into the EBU on 1 January 1993.[12][13] Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia made their debut in the 1993 contest, and North Macedonia[a] made its debut in the 1998 contest, after having failed to progress from the qualifying round in the 1996 contest.[12][14]
Former JRT stations RTV Titograd in SR Montenegro, and RTV Belgrade and RTV Novi Sad in SR Serbia, formed UJRT, the public broadcasting service of Serbia and Montenegro, which joined the EBU in 2001 and made its debut in the 2004 contest.[12][13] Following the 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Montenegro and Serbia debuted as independent countries in the 2007 contest, after their respective broadcasters RTCG and RTS joined the EBU.[12] The Kosovan broadcaster, RTK – the successor to RTV Pristina, JRT sub-national station in SAP Kosovo – has been trying to enter the EBU since 2009 but has been unsuccessful.[15][16][17]
Remove ads
Participation overview
Summarize
Perspective
27 entries had represented Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest. 22 out of the 26 entries between 1961 and 1991 were in Serbo-Croatian and the rest in Slovenian. No entry from Macedonia or Kosovo ever made it to the contest, illustrating a cultural marginalisation of the poorest parts of the country.[18]
| 1 | First place |
| ◁ | Last place |
Remove ads
Hostings
Related involvement
Summarize
Perspective
Conductors
Commentators and spokespersons
The contest has been also known to have aired on Yugoslav radio stations, including Radio Beograd 1 in 1961 and 1990,[24][25] Radio Beograd 202 in 1992,[26] Val 202 in 1961, 1986 and 1990[27][28][29] and Radio Zagreb 1 in 1990.[30]
Remove ads
See also
Participation of successor states in Eurovision
- Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest
- Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest
- Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest
- North Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
- Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest
- Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest
- Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest
Notes
- The 1991 contest was broadcast delayed by Hrvatska televizija due to nationwide mourning within Croatia following the deaths of Croatian police officers, as part of the wider Croatian War of Independence[60][61]
- Due to division among the JRT member broadcasters, two commentators provided commentary for Yugoslavia in 1991; Croatian commentary provided by Hrvatska televizija was broadcast in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Slovenia, while Serbian commentary provided by Televizija Beograd was broadcast in Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and Vojvodina.[60]
Remove ads
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads