Ever since we researched Tijana, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s Eurovision 2014 contestant, we have had Yugoslavia on the mind. Her camp video about Josip Tito is totally ridic, and reminded us of the colorful performances we saw from the ex-Yugoslav republics in Malmö. In what proved to be a tragic year for the region, NONE of them advanced to the final. In honor of the efforts made by Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia, we want you to choose your favourite. You can listen to each song below and also read excerpts from the Wiwi Jury reviews. Then vote in our poll below and sound off in the comments section! You can vote for as many contestants as you would like, but you can only vote one time. This poll will close on September 13.
Croatia: Klapa s Mora with “Mizerja”
What the Wiwi Jury said:
Bad: “The song smacks of cheap wedding entertainment. Do not walk down the aisle. And if you do please hand the singers some Dulcolax and Prozac. They simultaneously look constipated and seriously depressed.”
Good: “It’s always nice when Eurovision entries truly embody the country they are representing! The instrumental bridge at 1:50 is my favorite part, as it sounds beautiful and feels magical.”
Average Score: 5.0
FYR Macedonia:
What the Wiwi Jury said:
Bad: “Macedonia to Eurovision is like second cousins to weddings. You feel the need to invite them but they wouldn’t really be missed if they didn’t turn up. This is a car crash waiting to happen judging by the live performance.”
Good: “If Hungary’s ByeAlex is my guilty pleasure this year, then this is the sh*t I hide deep inside my bedroom closet where nobody else can find it. But like all hidden secrets, this one is oh so good.”
Average Score: 4.86
Montenegro: Who See feat. Nina Zizic with “Igranka”
What the Wiwi Jury said:
Bad: “Obviously it was impossible to make a worse song than “Euro Neuro” but Montenegro have done a good job in trying. A horrible mish-mash of musical styles that is only slightly bearable when the second half of each rap section is underpinned with a reasonable dance beat.”
Good: “I kind of love this song for testing the boundaries of what Eurovision is traditionally known for.”
Average score: 4.71
Serbia: Moje 3 with “Ljubav je svuda”
What the Wiwi Jury said:
Bad: “‘Ljubav je svuda’ sounds like a medley of three bad songs that deliberately omits a chorus…Enjoy them in the semis because this trio ain’t advancing.”
Good: “This is my jam, y’all. These ladies know how to sing, they harmonize like no other on the la-la-la-la-la-la-la segment, and they look amazing doing it. The acoustic version shows off their vocal abilities even better. ‘Ljubav je svuda’ is a catchy club number with an anthemic quality: watch out for fist pumps on the dance floor. It’s a triple threat from Serbia, and I have already fallen victim to their charms!”
Average Score: 6.14
Slovenia: Hannah Mancini with “Straight Into Love”
What the Wiwi Jury said:
Bad: “I would totally dance to Hannah’s song—for one verse. After that it just starts to loop, and not even her half-hearted attempt at a bridge can keep me moving. Straight into love but not straight into the final.”
Good: “’Straight Into Love’ is yet to reach my top 5, but Hannah brought it straight into my Final 26. With a good live performance in her semi-final, she might take it even further.”
Average Score: 6.57
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Photo: Eurovision.tv (EBU)
Montenegro for sure. They were a totally modern act and pushed the boundaries of what kind of music is considered “Eurovision”. Shame too many people are too closed minded to different and new kinds of music.
I also adored the Macedonian entry (and believe me I would certainly miss them in Eurovision!!) but again, not enough people are open to such styles of music.
Montenegro got my vote, but if I were to have two votes, Slovenia would have got my second.
Montenegro – great performance – was most wronged by jury, of the countries that do not qualified to the final.
Serbia and Croatia – good songs, good voices but their choice of the show ruined it.
Macedonia – wrong choice for start, was like letting Justin Bieber sing the song and giving Adele just the la-la-la part, no wonder it was nothing good of it.
Slovenia – boring song and the singer out of tune – the devastating Monetta combination.
Oh yeah, the one thing I will add about Slovenia is I don’t think I’d agree with last place, though the vocals were somewhat shaky (again, due to the microphone arrangements). I’d rather give that to Croatia due to the stoic performance. Hannah gave it her all, for sure, and for that she deserves credit. The competition was quite heavy though.
Charles, I was born in the 80s too – that’s no excuse! 😉
Montenegro
Just due to personal taste: actually none was worthy of being in the final. And I hope this serves as a lesson to all these coutries as to put “quality” above anything else. It’s easy to be popular among the fans, but you are going to dissapoint the juries and bore the tv viewers, just forget it. And that is what all 5 entries did. Montenegro: Not my style of music! I understand a lot of you guys love it but I was born in the 80s and listening to Black-Eyed-Peas-Esque rap eletro .. just is so annoying. You see… Read more »
croatia hands down, even tho the performance/staging lacked
MONTENEGRO!!! The new scoring system failed Montenegro this year. I loved FYR Macedonia’s song (poor Esma… give her a song where she can hear herself over the instrumental next time!) and Serbia’s performance too (despite the lousy song), but in retrospect Montenegro had the best package out of the non-qualifying former Yugoslav republics. Slovenia – don’t copy Eric Saade’s choreography, and if it’s going to throw off your ability to sing on time, wear a headset instead of carrying the mic!!! Croatia – Beautiful song, great voices, but no stage chemistry whatsoever and easily the most disappointing presentation. You can’t… Read more »
Serbia and Montenegro definitely deserved a place in the Final. They were unique, and they both had a great songs! I’m not sure whether I think Slovenia deserved a place in the Final, but Hannah had a better song and better vocals than some of the countries that qualified.
1- Slovenia
2- Serbia
3- Montenegro
4- Macedonia
5- Croatia
None of them deserved to get to the final, but here is my rankings :
1. Croatia
2. Montenegro
3. Slovenia
4. Serbia
5. Macedonia
Who See should have qualified for sure…. Amazing performance and actually lovely guys.
Croatia! Mižerja is such an amazing song and, in my opinion, it deserved a place in the final.
None of them deserved to be in the final. Of course some songs that did make the final also didn’t deserve to be in the final…
abstention. they all deserve to stay in the semis. bosnia, where are you?
Montenegro!
Montenegro. The rest aren’t even close. FYROM was close, but then they changed their song.
1)- Montenegro : Amazing song, very catchy. The performance in semi final wasn’t perfect but was one of my favorite.
2)- Serbia : Good song, amazing song but the staging was very distracting.
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3)- Croatia : Good song but the performance wasn’t good enough.
4)- Macedonia : The performance was a complete mess to be honest.
5)- Slovenia : Good song, Hannah got a good voice but she was out of tune throughout the song.
1)- Montenegro
2)- Serbia
Both deserved to be in finals, specially Montenegro.
To be fair, this is probably the first time i haven’t really liked any of the former Yugoslav entries….It was a poor showing from them and they really did deserve not to progress to the final. I know some may say controversial, but it wasn’t a fix that they all didn’t qualify…they were not of the standard they deserved to be.
Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia should have made the Final…