It’s the Balkan country that’s been down on its luck for the past two years at Eurovision. But on Saturday, Montenegro will hope to turn its fortunes around as it selects its act for Lisbon 2018.
Ahead of this weekend’s Montevizija 2018 final, broadcaster RTCG has released 20-second snippets of the five competing songs.
Listen to all five snippets in the video below.
Montevizija 2018 — 20-second snippets
The snippets are ordered in accordance with the running-order draw for Saturday’s show.
- Nina Petkovic “Disem”
- Vanja Radovanovic “Inje”
- Ivana Popovic Martinovic “Poljupci”
- Katarina Bogicevic “Nezeljena”
- Lorena Jankovic “Dusu mi daj”
Montevizija 2018
Having used internal selection since 2012, Montenegro is reviving the Montevizija selection format for 2018. Montenegro last used a national final in their first two years at Eurovision, 2007 and 2008.
From 31 applications, the selection jury shortlisted five acts who will compete in the national final. Lorena Jankovic, Nina Petkovic, Katarina Bogicevic, Ivana Popovic Martinovic and Vanja Radovanovic were selected named as the five finalists.
The list is dominated by women, with only one man in the mix. This is a substantial change from Montenegro’s previous acts. Since 2012, only one female artist has represented Montenegro at Eurovision.
The five competing songs are “Dusu mi daj” (Give me your soul) written by Mirsada Serhatlic, “Disem” (I breathe) by Michael James Down, “Nezeljena” (Unwanted) by Aleksandra Milutinovic, “Poljupci” (Kisses) by Slavko Milovanovic and “Inje” (Mist) by Vanja Radovanovic.
The acts will compete at the grand final of Montevizija, due to be held on 17 February at the Hilton Podgorica hotel.
Montenegro has qualified for the Eurovision grand final twice, both times with Balkan ballads. In 2014, Sergej Cetkovic placed 19th with “Moj svijet”, while the following year Knez placed 13th with “Adio”.
What do you think of the snippets? Which one is your favourite? Could any of them take Montenegro back to the final? Let us know in the comments below.
Vanja, please
I dont see a qualifier, but the best is Nina.
No
hmm :/
These songs aren’t bad, but they are just average. I don’t see a winner, not even a qualifier tbh.
“Disem” is up-beat and it sounds modern. I really like it.
“Inje” is my kind of song, it’s a classic balkan ballad. It’s similar to 2014 and 2015, balkan ballads have worked for Montenegro. My favourite!
“Poljupci” is another ballad. Sounds good.
“Nezeljena” is a song I don’t dislike but it’s my least favourite)
“Dusu mi daj” is like “Inje” but with a female singer. Really good.
It’s a surprise for me to see Montenegro having a national selection with many good songs. I like all of them. My 2 favourites, “Inje” and “Dusu mi daj”.
Getting some Kaliopi vibes from Ivana but Nina wins for me!
Odd how, for me at least, the quality of the songs declined within the order of the preview video.
I mean WTF… I wanna know what just happen to Montenegro.. These Songs are amazing. I like all 20 seconds snippets!! Montenegro here u go!!!
This is a serious overcorrection for Montenegro. Last year they went with the joke entry (as much as I enjoyed space it was a horrible performance) and now all the songs are so bland and slow I was bored during the clips. It’s only 1 minute long and I wanted it to be over…
Nezeljena and Disem sound good – neither like an eurovision winner, but enjoyable enough.
From these snippets, Nina Petkovic’s song sounds the best out of these five.
Soon there will be a country that will release 5 seconds snippets or the first 2 letters of the name of their songs as teasers..
Definitely Disem to Lisbon.. best choice but it doesnt look good for Montenegro this year! Too dated!
Disem with a revamp.
Lol at all the critics and ratings. Guys, it’s 20 seconds only! You can make a first impression, but definitely not anything conclusive. After 2 years of pretty bad English language uptempos, who can blame them for sending Montenegrin ballads. Good luck, guys!
Vanja and Katarina have very strong songs imo. None of them are bad, but I can’t see the other three doing well.
lol
I like nothing. They all sound generic
Unfortunately, nothing special ? Every song sounds the same.. Final? I don’t think so. Sorry.
My top 5:
Nina Petkovic “Disem” 12 pts
Vanja Radovanovic “Inje” 10 pts
Ivana Popovic Martinovic “Poljupci” 8 pts
Katarina Bogicevic “Nezeljena” 7 pts
Lorena Jankovic “Dusu mi daj” 6 pts
None of them are great at all, but of these 5, I lean towards “Dusu mi daj” or “Nezeljena” — those sounded the MOST like they could be hiding something surprising — but nothing here really inspires confidence that they’ll make it out of the semi-final, frankly…
I like all of them but the fifth. Any could do very well.
They all sound the same and really safe- that said they all are decent entries.
After two years of flopping with risky messes that were interesting and awful in equal measure, it looks like Montenegro is looking for a predictable and pleasant entry.
Disem sounds very promising
These are all basic.
More NQ than Q. And for me, the guy’s ballad is the best.
1. Ivana Popovic Martinovic “Poljupci” 8/10
2. Vanja Radovanovic “Inje” 7.5/10
3. Katarina Bogicevic “Nezeljena” 6/10
4. Lorena Jankovic “Dusu mi daj” 4/10
5. Nina Petkovic “Disem 3/10
Choose wisely, Montenegro. Good luck!!
At best Montenegro will be a borderline qualifier judging by these snippets
It sounds like some quality ballads. Already better than beovizija!
Disem!
Nothing at all stands out here. Best of the bunch is Lorena’s song, but I can’t see it getting anything better than 19th-24th in the final.
Ivana Popovic Martinovic “Poljupci” or Lorena Jankovic “Dusu mi daj” for me.
Though all 5 sound pretty generic.
They certainly don’t have a winner but I feel like Montenegro will qualify this year but they’ll probably come 8 the to 10th in their semi
You do know they’re in semi 2
They’re dead