They’re the Balkan country known for their sometimes quirky Eurovision entries. But Montenegro will no longer be part of Eurovision 2020. Broadcaster RTCG has confirmed that Montenegro will NOT be participating at Eurovision 2020.
Update: The broadcaster has now confirmed to Eurovision news site ESCToday that they have withdrawn their application for Eurovision 2020.
The EBU reportedly gave RTCG an extension to finalise its participation, but it was unable to to “meet the requirements” and so withdrew. ESCToday reports that RTCG “tried its very best to compete in Rotterdam but things didn’t materialise in the end.”
The claim was earlier made both by the Greek Eurovision fan blog Eurovision Fun and the Eurovision gossip blog HOD45.
Wiwibloggs has also heard the same claim from a source close to Montenegro.
Both blog sites claim that the Montenegrin broadcaster RTCG is withdrawing for financial reasons, with the broadcaster reportedly unable to afford the participation fee. While the fee is variable depending on the size of the broadcaster, it can still be costly for some.
In September, RTCG confirmed its provisional participation to reputable fan site ESCToday. However, ESCToday was clear to note that the broadcaster had not yet made a final decision regarding its participation in Eurovision 2020.
Broadcasters had to confirm their intended participation to the EBU by 16 September but had until 10 October to withdraw from Eurovision 2020 without penalty.
The EBU is expected to release the list of confirmed acts for Eurovision 2020 sometime in the next few weeks.
The news follows the earlier announcement from Hungarian broadcaster MTVA that strongly suggests Hungary won’t participate in Eurovision 2020. The broadcaster confirmed that its national song contest A Dal will no longer be used as the national final for its Eurovision entry.
While the Hungarian broadcaster has not explicitly confirmed their withdrawal from Eurovision 2020, it did release a statement saying, “Instead of taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2020, we will support the valuable productions created by the talents of Hungarian pop music directly.”
Montenegro at Eurovision
This won’t be the first occasion Montenegro has taken time off from the song contest.
After debuting as an independent nation in 2007 and competing three times, Montenegro didn’t participate in 2010 and 2011, also for financial reasons.
However, Montenegro was back in 2012 and has participated every year since.
Montenegro’s best years at Eurovision were 2014 and 2015, where Sergej Ćetković and Knez each made it to the grand final with emotional ballads in the Montenegrin language. Knez’s song “Adio” finished in 13th place in the grand final, giving Montenegro its best-ever result.
Montenegro is also known for its quirky entries, including jazz poet Rambo Amadeus, rapping astronauts Who See, and the intergalactic diva Slavko Kalezić.
What do you think? Are you sad that Montenegro won’t be in Rotterdam? Tell us your thoughts below!
Guys looks like Montenegro didn’t withdraw the executive director denied it.
I read that too. I hope they can still participate.
Last time it looked like a country was withdrawing but ended up not withdrawing (North Macedonia 2018),
It became my 1st place. So I hope this scenario continues xD
Financial issues. Uugh. Money, money, money.
Well..interest for eurovision in montenegro is like..nobody watch that….so..we dont want that..bye.
Because you can’t send a decent song. So why people would bother??!
Oh, no. 🙁 Adio for this year… I really hope they come back next year stronger than ever. Meanwhile, I would encourage Montenegrin artists to try out for Dora and Beovizija.
oh no this sucks . knez we need you. so sad.
sergei knez and igranka please return
adio
Lol whence this news has not yet been confirmed to you by the RTCG Greetings from Montenegro
Why, why-ay-ay-ay? Montenegro don’t walk along.
Their 2019 National Final was almost as good as Supernova
It’s like ESC 2010 when countries were dropping out one after another…
The parallels to 2010 would actually be good news for Germany 😀 (cause Lena won in 2010, sooo, there is hope again xD)
Well, so far Montenegro dropped and possibly Hungary too, but Ukraine and Bulgaria are making a comeback so unless other countries withdraw, we have the same number of countries as 2019.
🙁
Open up to Kazakhstan!!
Yes please! The people at EBU are acting like hypocrites, first they make a slogan like “Open Up” and then they don’t invite Kazakhstan…
Montenegro 2013 was… well, not my cup of tea at all 🙂
Totally need to echo what others already pointed out: If Moldova, the by far poorest country in Europe, can manage to participate every year, anyone can. If they want to. Anything else just sounds like BS to me.
It’s the budget of the broadcaster, not the country as a whole. Countries like Luxembourg and Monaco are very rich, but their broadcasters are only small and don’t get a lot of profit!
@JOWST NE I agree with the first part of your comment but you’re wrong when it comes to Luxembourg and Monaco. Luxembourg doesn’t take part to the contest because the broadcaster is not interested. Monaco doesn’t take part because the TMC (broadcaster of Monaco) belongs to the french group TF1 who doesn’t allow TMC to broadcast eurovision anymore…
But yeah, if Moldova manages to give enough money to the broadcaster, others countries should be able to. It’s all about priority 😐
I am actually happy that they have withdrawn
With loosing both Hungary and now Montinagro, it would be time to introduce a new guest country, I’d love to see Kazakhstan, Kosovo or Lichtenstein join to see what theyd brong to the contest
sucks wind nooooo
This doesn’t really effect my since in my opinion, Montenegro weren’t the best…….. They were always near to last on my list each year
Why don’t countries like Morocco, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan enter despite Israel in? They can compete together like they do at the Olympics! (They ARE within the European Broadcasting Area and ARE full members too.
Morocco has no interest in the contest and they believe arabic won’t work. Lebanon can’t show Israeli acts on tv by law and that is against ESC rules. Egyptian and Jordanian public won’t fond the contest due to islamic reasons.
Well, all above mentioned are legitimate reasons, but Morocco can always send an act in French. I could imagine, let’s say Saad Lamjarred, placing quite high even with a song in Arabic
So basically Israel is ruining any chances of an Arab country joining Eurovision
Basically.
No arabic countries are ruining it for themselves by chosing not to participate in anything along israel.
Far from it. Egypt and Jordan have long ago signed peace agreements with Israel and have diplomatic and financial ties with it, and my bet is that they don’t take part because the tone of the contest conflicts with their overall conservative and religious nature. It’s not like Israel is vetoing the participation of Lebanon, it’s Lebanon that refuses to broadcast the competition if Israel is in it. Every country within the European broadcasting area is welcome to participate, I don’t see how Israel is to blame for another country’s refusal to comply with the contest rules. Saying Israel is… Read more »
It’s an utter pity.
*********
Exit: Montenegro.
Enter: Kazakhstan
Please!!!!
Kazahstan will never happen… I’d like them in but i don’t see the EBU going there.
Maybe EBU will invite Kazahstan at 100 anniversary of contest
It’s always sad when a country withdraws, especially when it’s for financial issues. I hope it’s only a year break and that they use the time to rethink what they’ve been doing in terms of selection, since their last entries weren’t competitive (though Vanja’s song grew on me a lot).
Of course its sad, its like losing an European family member. Hope they return in 2021
Goodbye to 24 points, Serbia
You serving name of the Serbian song from 2016 ?
Lets hope they come back with a bang! Cause most of their entries have been dire…
Also , how come Moldova the poorest country can afford to participate every year but Montenegro can’t?
I feel like that’s literally the only thing the Moldovan broadcaster spends money on. We don’t know any local Moldovan shows, but we sure as heck know the kind of spectaculars they send every year. I’d like to think the Moldovans are chill with it. (Plus they get high-profile people to work with them, like Kirkorov or the sand lady).
But we haven’t heard yet whether Moldova is going to participate in 2020 or not. I don’t know, despite being poor, maybe Moldova is smart with its money? We’ll have to see when the official lists comes out.
They’re not “poor”. They are just not high income. There’s a significant difference. Moldova actually has a larger GDP than Monaco does. National economies are far more complex than personal ones.
Not all broadcasters have the same budget.
2013- 2015*
I’m a big fan of most of their stuff. I love all of their entries from the 2010s except The Real Thing and I’ve got them in my top 10 four times in that decade, in addition to that I loved Ja sam ti san, Nepogrješivo, Nevinost, Neželjena and Dušu mi daj (I swear I’m not Montenegrin). So this really sucks to see. Hopefully they’ll come back stronger and do really well in 2021.
Ok but who will Serbia give their 12 points to now?
Funnily enough, the country Serbia gave the most points to is Hungary.
Sweden / N. MACEDONIA, Croatia ?
Bigger question is how will Serbia cope with the fact that they won’t get those 24 points next year?!
North Macedonia or Slovenia, perhaps.
I don’t think so about Slovenia
It’s good that Montenegro is taking a break. I really hope they will come back stronger and selects the artist internally and they get rid of Montevizija because wrong winner = stays in the semi-final.
they had a decent song last year they didn’t send
That was unexpected.
Wait for Moldova and Hungary….
There’s no way Moldova will leave. They always said nothing about their participation. Every year literally.
Im sad for the hungarian and Montenegrin fans who really loves ESC:( I want to hear their reactions.
Yeah I as a Montenegrin esc fan am really diassapointed and pissed at the same time, but oh well maybe we manage a top 5 next year after the break xD
I wonder how can Northmacedonia, Albania, Serbia always compete and Montenegro struggle with money always. Are Montenego the poorest country in Europe? All western countries do always compete. Except one year break sometimes for Portugal.
THIS! And even a tiny country like San Marino is participating for the 11th time…
They had an incident this year with executive director and some workers that left the broadcaster and they have to pay them big money… some 250 000 to 500 000 euros which would cover the participation fee, and now they dont have that money.
I think that Moldova is the poorest country in Europe (its broadcaster hasn´t yet confirmed for Rotterdam…).
What about the rumour that Greece send next year an entry in the native language again ? That will be great if it´s true…..
If I remember correctly Moldova never confirms, they let the EBU confirm for them
This is probably why the list of participating countries hasn’t been revealed yet.
Well, they’ve always struggled because they hadn’t enough money to support their artist and their song properly. Hope a year break will help them.
Fun fact:
2010: Hungary and Montenegro withdrew
2020: Hungary (very likely) and Montenegro will withdraw
*looks at Czech Republic suspiciously*
The Czechs withdrew because they had 3 consecutive abysmal results and never were in the final. They won’t withdraw after their two best.
And slovakia was in 🙁
I want our neighbours slovakia back
Dare to dream
I’m sorry but a lot of their entries were very amateurish. They better save the money and bring something good next time. 2013, 2014 and 2015 were the exceptions.
Why do people say they’re sorry when they’re obviously not?
The problem with Montenegro in these last two years has been that they pick the wrong winner from Montevizija. For example, Nina Petkovi? – Dišem (The song was very good) and Andrea Demirovi? – Ja sam ti san (Total banger, wasn’t too impressed by the performance) would’ve likely made it to the finals. I was very surprised and sad to find out that Montenegro had withdrawn, but if they can come back soon and stronger than before then it’s good to take a break. As Knez would say Adio Montenegro, see you hopefully in 2021!
To be honest, there songs were very dire. They need some time off to reinvent themselves and come back with a fresh approach towards the contest imo.
The harsh truth is none of Montenegro’s entries have been particularly good, and with the exception of 2013 (which continues to be robbed) all their entries that have NQ’d have been deserved (Euro Neuro remains one of the worst entries in the contest this decade). On the other hand, the songs they’ve sent that have some sort of musical merit have been rewarded accordingly with a place in the final. I hope Montenegro uses this break to go back to their roots, which is culturally rich music in their native tongue. That’s not to say they can’t try the modern… Read more »
Euro Neuro was fantastic. I never listened to it on my own time, not once, but it still was awesome for what it was. Trolling done well. Most other countries who tried in that department were much, much worse.
Why Montenegro… I was hoping for at least 43 countries in Rotterdam. If Hungary will also withdraw, I’ll be devastated 🙁
Omg this is so sad, Alexa play Knez – Adio
NOOO!!!!
Always in my top 5 since 2014… I’m very sad about this. They were even my no.1 of 2007 and 2008
Top 5 since 2014… uh- 2016 – 2019 were completely shambolic.
You are a joker
Too bad. They just needed to buy another great song from Mr. Joksimovic and they would have made the final for sure.
They didn’t really offer anything good in the last few years, so I don’t think I’m sad about this news. But yeah more the merrier. Hopefully they will come back soon, but with better entries.
I never liked or disliked their entries, although I must admit, Slavko was a guilty pleasure despite the fact that he actually can’t sing.
Hopefully we see Montenegro back in 2021 and this isn’t a long term withdrawal ala Slovakia, Monoaco, Andorra, Turkey, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Italy (in the 90s-00s).
Praying that Hungary don’t withdraw though, I usually like their entries and they do bring some interesting songs to the competition, especially when they sing in Hungarian.
If there are to many its harder to Qualify. Ps EBU have said it can only be 20 in each semi at the most. Thats good. Dont want 28 like in 2007. do you?
Moldova and Russia always say nothing about participation and we know they are in when the EBU releases the list of participants.
Russia already confirmed
First of all, who said we are a “gossip blog”? and then the story was originally published by us. Eurovisionfun , just took our story without mentioning us as a source. As esctoday did. https://hod45.blogspot.com/2019/11/montenegro-to-withdraw-from-eurovision.html
You guys dont mention any sources yourself though.
Obviously because our source wished to remain unnamed.
It’s not the same thing.
-24 points for us :c
Lol maybe Serbia should fund Montenegro’s participation at Eurovision 2020… Montenegro gets to participate, and Serbia gets an extra 24 points… Win-win situation.
@Africavision Omg, you’re a genius! This needs to happen xD
I’d pay my share. 😉
In the semi final Montengro didnt gave Serbia 12 points from jury
Frankly speaking, their entries kept getting worse every year since 2016. I’m watching ESC with group of friends every year and this year I was embarassed when their entry came up in Tel Aviv. That was pure cringe and my friends were laughing. Perhaps a break will help them to sort their things out. Hoping to see them back very soon with better entries.
Yes I have to agree. They are never going to win to be honest so I can understand why they are withdrawing.
Anyone can win the contest.
this better be a lie !
I’m afraid the truth is out. We won’t be seeing Montenegro next year.
Anh country shouldn’t have to withdraw due finace problems. We should help each other.
ESCTODAY.COM just confirmed Montenegro has withdrawn from the contest. I think it’s time for the EBU to think about participation fee and regulations once more as we see countries in and out almost every year. Ohh and…bring back Luxemburg.