Four boys but one powerful song. After being one of the first countries to confirm an act, Montenegro have finally debuted Highway’s entry for Eurovision. “The Real Thing” is performed entirely in English and features some serious guitar work.
We were told prior to the reveal that Highway would be singing a “modern rock” song and they have stuck true to this. It’s also the first Montenegrin song in full English since their 2012 attempt, “Euro Neuro“. Thankfully, “The Real Thing” is a step up from Rambo Amadeus. The boys do seem keen on reminding us throughout the song that they are “the real thing”, but the vocals seem assured at the least.
Highway — “The Real Thing”
The band first performed the song live at the initial reveal. After the performance, the band said they hoped that the fans liked it and that they hoped that the public would “vote for us, share the song and support us”.
Shortly after this, the music video for the song was debuted. The video mainly focuses on the band playing the song in a darkened setting, interspersed with a female dancer performing. The band have already said that the video will be similar to their performance in Stockholm, Will the dancer accompany them on stage?
https://youtu.be/1mK25WnB9I8
The reveal show also featured a recap of Highway’s days on X Factor Adria. We also saw a highlight reel of Montenegro’s previous Eurovision entries, as well as a performance from Bosnia’s Eurovision representatives. Dalal & Deen feat. Ana Rucner and Jala were all present to sing “Ljubav je“, with the host also congratulating them on winning our recent weekly poll.
What do you think of Highway’s Eurovision effort? Were Montenegro right to deviate from the format that brought them success with Knez and Sergej? Let us know in the comments section below and via our Twitter page.
I like it but it isn’t Igranka those guys were robbed….
It’s my #1… bottom
crap
At least it’s something different from the usual pop-stuff we have.
But I don’t think anyone will be impressed by this, it ends up being a mess.
This is full of mess, Cypriot band is better
Love this entry! Something different and interesting from Montengro again! Could possibly be in my top 10 for the 3rd time in 4 years!
Bring back igranka tho
That is not good.
A serious step back from Montenegro, one of my favourite countries in recent years.
It`s so bad that IT HURTS! 🙁
Last time Montenegro with modern song flop with juries only 14 place of 16 and with televote was on 4 place in combination only 12 place in semifinal wiht 16 countries. We wili see how this song will be rank by juries and televote.
My TOP 10 of 28
1.Latvia
2.Ukraine
3.Norway
4.Italy ( I hope she sound better live at eurovision stage then San Remo )
5.France
6.Germany
7.Hungary
8.Spain
9.Belgium
10.Cyprus
…..
23.Slovenia
24.Moldova
25.Malta (they will change the song)
26.United Kingdom
27.Ireland
28.The Netherlands
A rather odd combination of heavy rock and diverse electronic styles. Not uninteresting, but I am unsure of what to think of it just yet. It is certainly out of the box, but perhaps a bit messy. Maybe I will have to listen to it some more times.
Off-topic: Here is a new set of song reviews: Latvia, Moldova and France: http://escsongreviews.com/2016/03/05/songcheck-2016-latvia-moldova-france/
Thanks for the clip, PP. Well, his live vocals are good and his pronunciation of English too.
I figured they would release something similar in style to Arctic Monkeys, which I love. Good job Crna Gora!
They do however need to not all sing at once, it muffles them out a bit.
cheesecake
Live perfomance fist video on link http://www.rtcg.me/eurosong/eurosong-2016/121206/poslusajte-nase-predstavnike-na-eurosongu.html
The chorus really destroys this song, what a shame. I’d like to see a live performance though.
More rock this year? Yes, please. I have no problem with the genre. The lyrics on the other hand… I’ll wait till some time passes, that’s the best.
I wasn’t expecting it to be good and I was right. I like rock music but this is poor. If you compare it to Cyprus’ rock song, Cyprus is way better
Okey it was just confirmed that this is NOT the running order.
Amazing!!!! listening to it on my way to berghain! best song of the year, kisses from berlin
Loo
We know that first and last song in semifinal and final was uptempo song, and the favorite of SVT sing last in last semifinal , and almost sing last in final.
When people can vote from first song, favorite of SVT sing first like in 2008.
Well the last couple of years the running order hasn’t been an indicator to what SVT wants at all. They just want to make good TV and makes the running order according to a dramaturgy so every song can shine.
Loo
If this is true running order SVT don t want to win Wiktoria or Robin, and want to win Ace or someone from second chance maybe Isa will be sing 11 ih she get more votes that Saraha or spot 11 SVT save for Saraha and she s song weaker than Haba Haba from Norway 2011.
According to some sources this is the running order for the final in MF 2016
1. Save Me – Wiktoria
2. Finalist from AC
3. Constellation Prize – Robin Bengtsson
4. Finalist from AC
5. Human – Oscar Zia
6. Youniverse – Molly Sandén
7. My Heart Wants Me Dead – Lisa Ajax
8. If I Were Sorry – Frans
9. Finalist from AC
10. We Are Your Tomorrow – David Lindgren
11. Finalist from AC
12. Don’t Worry – Ace Wilder
This is NOT confirmed. Christer Björkman will during the live show tomorrow.
I.TOTALLY.love it!!! OMG, this is so modern, so avant gard! this is the first time in the eurovision history that we heard such a style! i mega love it!!!
I… actually thought that Montenegro was going to worse than this (sorry Montenegro), so this is a pleasant surprise for me. If anything, this reminds me of this Australian electro-dance duo called The Presets (for reference, this link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO45oUdRqTs), who are quite popular among Australia’s youth for this almost ‘chaotic’ and crazy sound… So to be honest with you, this is quite close to the music I already listen to on a daily basis, and I’m quite surprised that something like it is going to be a Eurovision song. Of course, it’s not something /most people/ are going to… Read more »
Hmm, not quite up to par. Not a particularly bad song, but probably wouldn’t make the final.
This sounds like an amateur high school band who composed its music in a house garage.
The chorus is not the typical climax that you’d expect in Eurovision, and this is probably the most interesting song this year actually, musically speaking. Great verses. I do think they probably should’ve written the chorus differently for a contest like this, but I wasn’t expecting Highway to put something forth that was so unique, so good job.
oh my god that is dissonant
Belarus and Ireland are officially not the worst entries this year
Oh i really want to like this entry….but it seems sboring due to the lead singer’s vocals. It has great music but the lyrics and vocals really do not sell me on them. Its better than Georgia, but definetly not better than Cyprus.
A very weak song which has little chance of reaching the finals
Outclassed by Cyprus in the rock genre. No final for Montenegro this year. Bring back the Balkan realness of last year! 😀
Montenegro is hole forgotten by world
Well.. It for sure is different. I will go back watching Romania now.
Worst song yest for me…. #bringbackIgranka
This starts strong but then flattens out. It’s the lead signer, when he goes into his lower registry he sounds flat and it won’t appeal to the mass crowd.
#BringBackTheBalkanBallad
EVEN VASILIJE WOULD’VE BE BETTER!!!
You want variety, you got variety. Big ups to Montenegro for stepping outside the lines. I love the dark harmonies, but it’s going to be a tough sell.
Well I wish we could see them more in that video, because they are all pretty good-looking but I guess I have to wait until May. The song starts off with some good ideas, trying to sound dark and experimental, but then rapidly depends into plain noise. We definitely need some good Manga-style rock in Eurovision but this is not it. We have only Cyprus this year, but even that is too derivative. My top-26: #1 Ukraine #2 Austria #3 Hungary #4 France #5 Switzerland #6 Slovenia #7 Latvia #8 Iceland #9 Spain #10 Cyprus #11 Norway #12 Finland #13… Read more »
I want to like it, it has all the ingredients for a great song but it feels like things aren’t adding up and it feels disorientated and it makes it sound off. I don’t think this’ll make it to the final, as I don’t think the public will get behind it, and the jury may shy away from the clunkiness of the song.
The vocals sound….demonic to me. I’m not really digging this to be honest. Hopefully they sound better live than this
Sorry, is this a joke?
That cannot be the real song, right?
This has no melody at all.
Montenégro does good!!
This is like a song you hear on a Fifa playlist, and i don’t lik it. Last year was a masterpiece.
I kinda wish this wasn’t the really thing
awesomeeee
WOW perfect! Thank you Montenegro, Georgia and Cyprus for making this ESC interesting! You have our str8 points!
No boys.just no.