It’s the Eurovision selection that’s entering the third year of its revival run. And now, Serbian broadcaster RTS has announced the 24 acts who will be taking part in Beovizija 2020.
There are a number of notable names included in the lineup, including girl-group Hurricane. The group is comprised of Serbia’s Eurovision 2016 representative Sanja Vučić, Ivana Nikolić and Ksenija Knežević. Ksenija is the daughter of another Eurovision alumni, Montenegro’s 2015 singer Knez. They’ll be singing the song “Hasta la Vista”, which Sanja has written the lyrics for.
Another big name is Neda Ukraden. Born in Croatia and now residing in Serbia, Ukraden was a big star across the former Yugoslavia in the 1970s and 1980s. Her career is still going strong today, mostly because her recent releases are extremely club-friendly. This includes her Beovizija 2020 entry “Bomba”, which was originally released at the start of December last year.
Neda Ukraden – “Bomba”
Bane Mojićević is also a name of note. He’s best known for winning reality shows like Zvezde Granda and Your Face Sounds Familiar. During his stint on the latter, he even tackled the Eurovision 2014 winning “Rise Like A Phoenix” by Conchita Wurst.
A number of other contestants also have previous links to Eurovision. Bora Dugić was the flautist who accompanied Jelena Tomašević in 2008 in Belgrade.
Meanwhile, Ana Milenković was part of a Eurovision winning team. She was a member of the ‘Beauty Queens’ – the backing vocalists for Marija Šerifović, who won Eurovision 2007 with “Molitva”.
Some participants are also returning to Beovizija. Ivana Jordan participated in 2006 and 2007, while Ivan Kurtic returns for the third year in a row.
Andrija Jo is a rising star with over 600,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel. Although Beovizija predominantly showcases local/regional talent, Andrija has an international team behind his song “Uvek”.
Canadian songwriter Laurell Barker, the first female songwriter to be behind three entries at the same edition of Eurovision, has written the lyrics. Meanwhile, Swedish composers Jimmy Jansson and Palle Hammarlund (who created girl-group Dolly Style) are also on board.
But, that doesn’t mean that local composers aren’t also represented. Marko Marković’s entry “Kolači” has an all-star team behind it. Vladimir Graić, who wrote previous Serbian Eurovision entries “Molitva” and “Beauty Never Lies”, has composed the song. Leontina Vukomanović, who wrote “Lane Moje” and Serbia’s Junior Eurovision 2019 entry “Podigni Glas”, has provided the lyrics.
Additionally, North Macedonia’s Eurovision 2015 act Daniel Kajmakoski is part of the team behind Igor Simić’s song “Ples za rastanak”.
Beovizija 2020: All Participants and Songs
1. Igor Simić – “Ples za rastanak”
Music: Daniel Kajmakoski, Matej Đajkovski, Vladimir Danilović
Lyrics: Vladimir Danilović
2. Sanja Bogosavljević – “Ne puštam”
Music: Sanja Bogosavljević
Lyrics: Kristina Kovač
3. Rocher etno bend – “Samo ti umeš to”
Music: Rastko Aksentijević
Lyrics: Rastko Aksentijević
4. Neda Ukraden – “Bomba”
Music: Dušan Bačić, Dejan Nikolić
Lyrics: Dušan Bačić
5. Marko Marković – “Kolači”
Music: Vladimir Graić, Marko Marković
Lyrics: Nemanja Filipović, Leontina Vukomanović
6. EJO – “Trag”
Music: Stevan Milijanović
Lyrics: Stevan Milijanović
7. Karizma – “Ona me zna”
Music: Dušan Janićijević, Dejan Jelisavčić
Lyrics: Dejan Jelisavčić
8. Andrija Jo – “Uvek”
Music: Jimmy Jansson, Palle Hammarlund
Lyrics: Laurel Barker
9. Naiva – “Baš baš”
Music: Žika Zana
Lyrics: Jelena Zana
10. Bojana Mašković – “Kao muzika”
Music: Goran Kovačić
Lyrics: Bojana Mašković
11. Ivana Jordan – “Vila”
Music: Ivana Jordan
Lyrics: Ivana Jordan
12. Bane Mojićević – “Svet sa Prokletija”
Music: Mirko Šenkovski Geronimo
Lyrics: Mirko Šenkovski Geronimo
13. Ivan Kurtić ft. Geapsy Train – “Sabajle”
Music: Nikola Burovac
Lyrics: Miloš Roganović
14. Hurricane – “Hasta la Vista”
Music: Nemanja Antonić
Lyrics: Sanja Vučić
15. Milan Bujaković ft. Olivera Popović – “Niti”
Music: Petar Pupić
Lyrics: Petar Pupić, Milan Bjelica, Luka Racić
16. Nenad Ćeranić – “Veruj u sebe”
Music: Alek Aleksov, Nenad Ćeranić
Lyrics: Alek Aleksov, Nenad Ćeranić
17. Bora Dugić i Balkubano – “Svadba velika”
Music: Nikola Burovac, Danijel Đurić
Lyrics: Nikola Burovac, Danijel Đurić
18. Ana Milenković – “Tajna”
Music: Dušan Bačić
Lyrics: Dušan Bačić
19. Srđan Lazić – “Duša i telo”
Music: Srđan Lazić
Lyrics: Srđan Lazić, Dejan Ivanović
20. Lazar Živanović – “Puklo je nebo”
Music: Michael James Day
Lyrics: Adis Eminić
21. Milica Mišić – “Kiša”
Music: Sashka Janx
Lyrics: Sashka Janx
22. Thea Devy – “Sudnji dan”
Music: Pele Loriano, Beth Morris, Dom Scott
Lyrics: Petar Spirić, Aleksandra Lazarević Spirić
23. Biljana Đurđević – “Raj”
Muisc: Tina Amvon
Lyrics: Tina Amvon
24. Aleksa Vučković – “Samo mi kaži”
Music: Dimitrije Borčanin, Aleksa Vučković
Lyrics: Dimitrije Borčanin, Aleksa Vučković
Further details of Beovizija 2020
Although the exact date of Beovizija 2020 has not been revealed, today’s announcement confirmed that the competition will take place at the end of February this year.
The format will also be unchanged from last year, with two semi-finals and a grand final.
RTS also state that, should there be any issues with the winning performer or song, they will choose who will go to Eurovision in their place.
What do you think about the lineup for Beovizija 2020? Which act are you most looking forward to seeing? Let us know in the comments below!
There will be a lot of women in Eurovision 2020
I guess
Andrija Jo or Aleksa Vu?kovi?. Both sings good, are cute and sympathetic. Let’s try to send a guy this time not just screaming big breasted girls/women.
It’s a song contest not a gender competition
there are no small breasted women in serbia, everyone has implants and looks gorgeous 😉 sexist but true, go to Belgrade and see with your own eyes
Jimmy Jansson in Seriba? Am i suprised? Not really bu it feel Serbia should have only balcan song writers, He could write for countries who are more english speaking
More English speaking? What does that exactly mean since only Australia and UK have English as their native? If you meant like 2nd English most of Serbs speak English so what is your point? Your comment makes no sanse
I mean, I want Serbia to send something they actually listen there but “Bomba” is terrible and embarrasing. I have the feeling that balkan untempo songs only work in that region and with the type of fans that just expect Eurovision to be a dancing party full of glitter, divas and fans at max speed.
I just know one thing: Bomba will not win.
Andrija Jo seems very interesting, he’s popular youtuber and model also, I’m curious about the song.
Hurricane! ???
I love her songs but i disappointing i think a song like that will only work in the region and she wrote them in English and had a translator translate?? am i right?
Bomba song is just horrendous. i really love Sanja Vucic , but when all my Balkan friends told me they loved that Favorito song, I was shocked. I think a song like that will only work in the region, and then they will get few neighbourly 12s and fail to qualify or barely qualify. Maybe their Beovizija song is better, I am just speculating. However, I hope Serbia will go for something a bit more classy. I am more excited for the new Graic song to be honest. I also think Kajmakovski deserves a chance to redeem himself.
Serbia already tried way too hard to be classy and it failed. It’s time for them to be theirselves and to send the kind of songs that they actually listen to, not the kind of songs they believe Europe will like.
And Hurricane’s song will be more like Avantura and Brzi prsti since it’s the same songwritter.
You do not have to be someone else to be classy. Molitva was classy. lane Moje was classy. And they were distinctly Balkan.
Yeah, and after Molitva Graic served us Aritmija and Zemlja cuda, wich were not classy at all. You don’t make such masterpieces everytime you want, also i believe that people don’t want Serbia to send the same kind of Balades again and again. Like it or not, but Bomba and Favorito are the kind of songs that serbian people listen to. The fact is that Beovizija isn’t as strong as it was at the beggining, when huge stars were competing. Most of singers or composers don’t care anymore about sending some really strong entries. To get the hype back they… Read more »
Another Molitva would be a blessing at this point. The last time they competed for a top spot was in 2008 with, surprise, surprise, a Balkan ballad.
Sure they can get the public support and stay in the semi. Juries will kill Bomba before you spell Neda.
I’m talking about the serbian public. How do you want them to get good songs in the NF if noone cares about it, not even serbs.
And let’s not pretend that juries are fair and not corrupted. They don’t care about the song quality.
I agree about bomba. As a Serb I can confirm that think kind of songs is most popular here right now, but bomba doesn’t seem to be popular. Songs like lane moje aren’t popular as they were and the whole esc is tired of us sending ballads every single year. I disagree about hurricane, their songs are great and I’m sure Europe will like them too (If they’re good as their last 3 songs) since everyone loved me tana.
Bomba is a MEGA BOP, also respect for Neda being 69 and being this sassy
#YeahYeahFire
Sanja Bogosaljevi? was also in Beauty Queen. She’s the backing vocalist for Serbia in ESC 2011, 2015, and 2017
WE WANT HURRICANE <3
Kristina Kova? (who wrote Sanja Bogosavljevi?’s song) was also behind the Serbian entry in 2011
I’m confused how Laurel Barker apparently single handedly wrote lyrics in Serbian
Lol , maybe only one word is in Serbian
Lol maybe she just ran it through Google Translate and said we’re good
it’s possible she wrote them in english and had a translator translate them i guess…
Shouldn’t the translator be on the list of autors then? Since he’s competing with the serbian version of the song it would be logical that the autor of the serbian version is included.
This Bomba song already sounds better than all last year songs reunited. That’s the kind of things i would expect Serbia to send. Looking forward this year’s Beovizija, might be much much stronger than previous years.
I know we haven’t heard all the songs but I kinda want Neda to win with that bomba song xD
Well, Serbia is the last place i would expect to see some Swedish songwriter. I hope it’s a fresh material not a reject from a dozens of another national final
I was hoping for that too but when I checked out the singer’s previous work, it became apparent to me that it’s more that likely another reject…
Laurell barker in Serbian? That’s new:)
Anyway, so far Hurricane is the only one to look forward to. But knowing the exposure and fame Neda Ukraden has I fear she might take it. Please someone else take it..
Honestly, it’s disappointing to see so many non-Slavic songwriters here. This is a region with some of the best songwriting in all of Europe. It would be especially sad if one of those songs were to go onto win.
Having said that, am excited by the Sashka Janx penned entry. I haven’t always enjoyed her as a performer but have appreciated her songs. It might do really well being delivered by someone else.
Oh and….Daniel Kajmakoski!
So we got the same song writing team who wrote Hello Hi (for Dolly Style in 2015 for Sweden) with Barker writing the lyrics
Oh boy
and i oop…. Serbia doesnt need cheap schlager
haha and you know the song already? Your opinion is a thumbs down from me
so, it’s ljubav je svuda part II
Igor Simic and Hurricane is my favorites!!Hurricane is ultra, mega, giga popular on Balkan, “Hasta la vista” smells on latin, dance, electro song, this will be future eurovision hit like “She got me” and “Fuego”, if Sacha Jean Baptiste be engaged, performance will burn…Igor Simic is very talented singer, he’s not popular in Serbia and his only hit is “Poveruj u ljubav” (“Believe in love”), he also recorded covers for songs “Promises”, “No roots”, “Perfect”…
that bomba is just a firecracker
RTS should have Sacha Jean Baptiste on speed dial in case Hurricane wins, which i hope cause They are slayingg
SJB really ain’t good… even entries that have done well with her as a stage director, I didn’t like their staging minus Cyprus 2018 off the top of my head.
SJB is always very hit and miss, Armenia 2016, Cyprus 2018 and Switzerland 2019 were killer, but Australia 2017 and Cyprus 2019 were quite bad. She isn’t the golden key to succes anymore.
Armenia 2016 was very good staging. But yeah I think that’s the best way to put it, she’s very hit and miss.
Cyprus 2019 had a really good staging in the stand-in rehearsal with a perfect replay effect and other cool effects too. The lighting and the backround LED lights were also better. I don’t know what happened to the ESC 2019 production team on May. It’s quite a shame because Tamta’s staging looked cheap when in reality was a million miles better
depends on how much you’re willing to pay
I think that a SJB staging works for artists that have a strong personality and are good perfomers, like Eleni, Luca and Kristian. Hurricane and especially Sanja are incredible in their live perfomances and their vocals are also great so a simple and elegant staging would elevate them i think.
SJB is also amazing at rock entries. Cyprus and Georgia in 2016 looked fantastic. Matter of fact, all the entries she staged that year looked fantastic.
Just watched the unplugged videos of Hurricane on Youtube, damn these girls can sing. Please give us a bop
Sanja Bogosavljevi? was also a backing vocalist for Marija in 2007
Wait a second… Is that the same Thea Devy who was rumored for Austria before Vincent Bueno?
Quite a nice line-up from Beovizija and well, another Laurell Barker song. We can’t be mad at her only for showing effort, right?
Looked up Thea’s website and apparently she’s Austrian-Serbian 🙂
I really hope the competition is getting better again. It is very unusual for Serbia to allow so many foreign songwriters and goes to show how much Beovizija has been struggling. ‘Bomba’ is the one to beat for now. Someone please beat it. It ain’t much of a bomba.
The submissions are annonimous, the jury has no idea who composed the song until the songs have been picked, so it’s not really desparation imo
Sanja Vucic has deep connections within RTS, also explains how she got selected in 2016
so wouldn’t surprise if she uses her powers again, to make Hurricane win
Hurricane is the one to beat, heavy favourite hasta la vista, nothing can go wrong for Hurricane
Laurell Parker even in Serbia. Really? :@
As the lyricist of a song in Serbian, judging from the song title.
I suppose it’s the same case of Arilena, the song was initially in English and got translated to fit the national final rules. Which means that if Andrija wins, he’ll probably sing in English in Eurovision.
Barker barking at everybody
Hurricane and only hurricane. I’m sorry but i don’t see much in others. Composer of “hasta la vista” also composed their last two songs ” Avantura” and “Brzi prsti” and both are bops so this one will be too. I don’t like bomba, It’s not really Neda’s style and has too much autotune. Andrija might get a good song but I’m not sure about his vocals but I’m sure he will get public votes from all little girls that follow him no matter if the song is good or not. Others are not really interesting to me. I think 24… Read more »
Hurrican or Adrija Jo who has a really good songwriting team so..
What songs are officially out?
Only bomba
Neda Ukradena is 70 years old… Let that just sink in xD
Btw I hope Hurricane win (if beozivizija is fair and 50% public unlike last time…) because they would surely bring a class perfomance.
Beovizija was 50% public and was fair last time
Beovizija was literally 50% televoting last time
Wasn’t it like in Romania when Ester won, 15% public and the rest juries? If not then my mistake:)
No. Both previous editions of Beovizija had a 50/50 vote.
I just wanted to stress out how young she looks compared to her real age… She looks like she could be 40 or even younger:)