When it came to choosing Montenegro’s Eurovision 2016 act, officials in Podgorica didn’t stress. The board of the state broadcaster unanimously approved rock band Highway — that’s Peter Tosic, Marko Pesic and Luke Vojvodic — who rose to fame on X Factor Adria earlier this year. Now the band is ready to ride their momentum to Eurovision 2016, where they will be their country’s eighth representative. wiwiblogger Denise recently caught up with the band and learned about their name, their love of Eurovision and their plans for Stockholm.
Where does the name ‘Highway’ come from?
The name Highway came up accidentally. We had a couple of different ideas on our minds, but Highway sounded somehow the most modern and we thought it would be good for a band’s name.
Over the last two years, Montenegro has gone for Balkan ballads. Will your song have some sort of Balkan identity too?
Our song for Eurovision is still not finished. We have several versions of it, but for now we can tell you that it will be some kind of modern rock style. We find it a great song for a big stage and hope that the audience will agree with us.
Two of you play the guitar as well as sing. Will your song go heavy on the strumming?
Our song will involve guitars, of course, but we are aware that we can’t play live on the Eurovision stage. Live concerts are something we enjoy the most so it’s a pity we won’t have a chance to show our passion while playing on the stage.
They’ve just released their debut single ‘Sam‘.
Will we hear the song anytime soon or are you going to keep us in suspense?
Well, we have already stepped into the process of making the song very early. It is an advantage because we will have more time to prepare ourselves for the live performance. The song is expected to be released in February or March.
X Factor Adria is a huge show in the Balkans How do you think it’s prepared you for Eurovision?
X Factor Adria was a wonderful experience for us. We learned a lot and we feel far more confident on the stage than before, which is very important. We also learned how to deal with the pressure of live performances as well as many other useful things. We think that X Factor Adria and Eurovision have a lot in common and that the experience we have will help us with that.
Highway’s X Factor audition
https://youtu.be/KNqRrR8s9t8
Are you big fans of Eurovision? If so, what’s your favorite song?
Yes of course! We started watching Eurovision when we were kids. Our favourite songs are No name – Zauvijek moja, Marija Serifovic – Molitva and manGa – We could be the same.
Have you spoken with some of the former contestants to get some advice?
Yes, we spoke with some of the former contestants. They gave us really good advice, which will, we hope, help us when we get in Stockholm.
Will you tour Europe ahead of Eurovision and attend events like Eurovision in Concert and the London Eurovision Party?
We have heard a lot about the Eurovision parties and concerts and we are looking forward to them. We hope to play at some of them and also use it as a way to present our song.
Do you think Highway can beat the 13th place achieved by Knez this year? Let us know in the comments box below!
I hope to see Crna Gora in the finals once again! I watched several of their XFactor performances and I hope it translates into their performance. I sort of hope their song is mostly/all in Montenegrin though.
The combination of Balkan language and rock isn’t a very good one, it’s been proven. Not least with Montenegro’s first two entries.
And rock as an genre, in both ESC and real life, is very much a dead genre. You won’t get much success by doing it. Maybe ten years ago but not in this decade.
With 18 or 19 countries in semifinal , Montenegro with this group not so good vocal and rock song don t have many chance to go to final after 2 years in final.
Something about Balkan languages and rock doesn’t feel right
Nevertheless whatever they send is going to be a much-needed break between ballads and europop in the (semi)final, so I’m definitely looking forward to their song
HATE – HATE – HATE…I dont love them….
I think they should incorporate higher vocals, their deep voices might seem a bit off-putting to some so if their song fits with some higher background vocals i can see them doing well. Plus Marko could be an early contender for ENMTM 🙂
Thanks god for rock. Gays love it. We dont wanna pop female singers, we gay esc fans want 43 rock bands and I think, every esc gays will agree with me.
So Minus One, then Kaliopi and now Highway…
They like We Could Be the Same and Molitva so I like them as a result
I am looking forward to their song lot!
They are the 8th Montenegrin Eurovision act