Okay, so Montenegro’s song is going to require some explanation. I mean, the song itself not so much – give it a listen:
It’s a sweeping ballad with lyrics that can either be read as the plea of a woman enduring a breakup or someone charging their whole community with ignoring a grevious wrong. I mean, the last verse is:
(As a side note, I am thrilled I now know the Montenegrin for “How are you hon, are you all right?”)
So the song itself is a standard Balkan ballad, performed very well by a veteran singer who will be returning to Eurovision. And this is the part where I make all of you who are not longtime Eurofans watch the performance of Nina the last time she came to Eurovision, in 2013:
(If you think that’s unhinged, you may not be ready for the music video version of Igranka, which makes anything Erika Vikman is doing on stage look positively tame.)
Dobrodošli marks a return to the contest for Montenegro, which has participated only once since 2019. And out of all the years they have entered (as Montenegro; not Serbia and Montenegro), they’ve only qualified for the final twice – with the Balkan ballads Moj Svijet and Adio. But Nina is in the “death slot” – spot 2 in a semifinal – with another Balkan ballad performed later in the night.
What’s making it even worse is that Dobrodošli wasn’t even the winner of its national final, coming second (by one point, yes, but still second) to the band Neonoen with the song Clickbait.
Clickbait is about as far from a Balkan ballad as you can get. It’s a song about doomscrolling, but with nonsensical lyrics like:
From my perspective, Clickbait had the opportunity to become the new Social Network Song – a campy touchstone for Eurovision fans to reference in memes and in-jokes for years to come. However, someone dug up video of them performing Clickbait in 2023, prior to the Eurovision 2025 eligibility period. A single live performance of a song does not necessarily disqualify an artist – Denmark’s Reiley did a similar thing with his entry in 2023 without penalty– but Montenegro’s broadcasters were not taking any chances.
And this is where things get a little weird for me. Eurovision is expensive. Nina was the clear choice of the juries, and the fan community had a lukewarm reaction to Clickbait. Was the threat of disqualification overhyped, so that the broadcaster could send something that’s more “Eurovision-y” to the contest?
If so, I think they’ve made a mistake. Dobrodošli is a nice song. It’s pleasant, performed competently by an artist who can bring the right amount of emotion to its lyrics. But it’s unlikely to rouse any passions among broadcasters. Clickbait, on the other hand, is divisive as heck. Many people hate it, but a lot of people love it. And in the social media environment we’re currently in, Clickbait could easily have gone viral without a lot of extra prodding from the broadcaster.
What we have now is a situation where Montenegro is once again likely to crash out in the semifinal, and where the broadcaster will have to make a case for returning to an expensive competition. The financial pressures of Eurovision are real for smaller countries, and if their trips to the contest are continually rewarded with “failure” – inability to make it out of the semifinal – the likelihood of continued participation in the contest grows smaller.
I hope Nina does well. I hope Montenegro returns. But most of all, I hope countries like Montenegro realise that success comes not with trying the same formula – the Balkan ballad that hasn’t worked since 2015 – but by doing something that’s new and fresh and authentic, even if the feedback is initially negative. Just look at how many people love Igranka today!
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