After two years away from the contest, Montenegro is returning to Eurovision in 2022 with renewed vigour. The country’s representative for this year, Vladana, has now released her entry “Breathe”.

The song starts softly, with Vladana accompanied by piano. It then continues to build with an increasing amount of string and orchestral instrumentation added into the mix.

A music video accompanies the release of “Breathe”. It features clips of a young ballet dancer while Vladana sings in a quarry.

Vladana – “Breathe” (Montenegro Eurovision 2022)

Back in January, Vladana described her entry as a “cure” for the problems faced by Europe and the larger world. “I will sing in English so that the message can be heard beyond the Balkans,” she told broadcaster RTCG, adding that the ballad is “a powerful hymn.”

“I think the message should be heard beyond the Balkans, so we decided on the English language. We’re also thinking about recording the song in Italian because of the hosts, and we have not yet decided on the Montenegrin version.”

“I wrote the words in a breath, without any changes,” she says, noting it’s based on a difficult ordeal her family endured in the past year. “My feelings turned into lyrics and music.”

Vladana has got a very big name on her side: Composer Darko Dimitrov, the genius behind Tamara Todevska’s Eurovision 2019 jury winner “Proud”. “It’s very important that something takes me,” he says. “I immediately fell into the song and I think we will have a decisive performance.” He continues: “The ambition is for the performance to be of high quality. The less you hope, the greater the success.”

For now, Vladana says she imagines that she’ll perform alone on stage and possibly with a piano, and hopes the performance will lean toward the avant-garde. “I haven’t thought about it yet,” she says, “but it has to be special, because it’s very important to me.”

Who is Vladana Vučinić?

The 35-year-old artist has enjoyed a long career in Montenegro. Viewers first came to know her on a national karaoke show in 2003. But our girl can do a lot more than lip-sync for her life. Later that year she released her debut single and had the chance to perform it at the prestigious Budva Mediterranean Festival (one of the launchpads for another Eurovision star — 2007 winner Marija Serifovic).

Eurovision has been on Vladana’s radar for more than a decade. She attempted to represent Montenegro twice by entering the national selection Montevizija in 2005 and 2006. Vladana isn’t just a pop star. She’s a star with an artistic sensibility. You can see this in the music video for her 2010 music video for “Sinner City,” an animated wonder that shows her facing the perils and pleasure of romance — and the loneliness that can be found even in intimacy. Her best-known hit, it became the first video from a Montenegrin solo artist to appear in rotation on MTV Adria.

Vladana — full name Vladana Vučinić — isn’t a one-trick pony. In addition to pursuing her music, she has a degree in journalism from Montenegro’s State Faculty of Political Science. Building on that she launched her own online fashion magazine Chiwelook, for which she interviewed influential people across music, culture and politics.

What do you make of Vladana’s “Breathe”? How do you think Montenegro will do at Eurovision 2022? Let us know in the comments below.

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Anonymous
Anonymous
1 year ago

VLADANA SPECIFICALLY SAID that she made her song in English so her message would be understood by more people than if she sang it in her native language. I like her decision, and I think people just love to hate on the English language.

Joe Bloggs
Joe Bloggs
1 year ago
Reply to  Anonymous

May be some anti-UK stuff behind some as well.

Antonio
Antonio
2 years ago

I love it! I will vote for Montenegro this year!

Nils
Nils
2 years ago

I kind of like it, but I LOVE that Montenegro finally has a realistic chance to qualify again.

Anhel
Anhel
2 years ago

It’s great as a singular experience, but not something I’d listen to over and over.

Angelique
Angelique
2 years ago

I like it! Montenegro, welcome back!
It’s way better than San Marino, Norway and Lithuania!

Anhel
Anhel
2 years ago
Reply to  Angelique

What, why did you single out those countries when their songs have nothing in common?

AMAAN STORM
AMAAN STORM
2 years ago
Reply to  Anhel

What’s wrong in doing so? He likely has those three countries at the bottom of his list and he’s merely stating that this song goes in just above them for him. Nothing wrong in that.

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
2 years ago

It’s not too late for them to ditch the English here, right?
I mean, this could get a really good result for Montenegro…if we weren’t fully aware that it didn’t make any sense.

musica
musica
2 years ago

These lyrics… it doesn’t have to be poetry but it does need some core of meaning. There’s no emotion attached to random words. Unforgivable, unforgivable, unforgivable… who or what is unforgivable? To breathe, to live, to fight, I don’t get it.

Edmund
Edmund
2 years ago
Reply to  musica

Thank you! I’ve been trying to figure out what “unforgivable” is referring to here and I CANNOT FIGURE IT OUT!

Anonymous
Anonymous
1 year ago
Reply to  musica

“To act so selfishly is unforgivable” Since it is about losing her mom to covid, she’s probably talking about antivaxxers/antimaskers.

Anonymous
Anonymous
1 year ago
Reply to  musica

And then it gets deeper in the next line. “They’ll die without [air], it’s unforgivable” probably means that it isn’t fair that her loved ones have to die.

Bart
Bart
2 years ago

I was impressed, I think this song is very moving and because of the situation in Ukraine I really could felt the pain she decribes in the song. I love that the song builds up.

Rob
Rob
2 years ago

Just a normal eurovision ballad.. her voice is great but the melody is just good … if the lyrics would be in their native language the song would be way better!

Aj22
Aj22
2 years ago

Melody…Good
Vocals…Great
Lyrics….(Face Palm)

Is it too late to not sing in English?

Bella
Bella
2 years ago

Your typical Eurovision flavorless ballad… Not bad at all, just instantly forgettable.

Evan
Evan
2 years ago

Not gonna lie, this is my top right now. Absolutely beautiful and powerful message!

NickC
NickC
2 years ago

Their best since Knez.

Moonstar
Moonstar
2 years ago

I’m disappointed with this song. It’s nothing special, really. The Engish lyrics feel forced somehow and Vladana’s pronunciation is not quite good, I can’t understand her at times. Singing this in Montenegrin would add to the song , I think. People can concentrate on the melody and Vladana’s voice.

ete sech
ete sech
2 years ago

I loved everything about the song, but the lyrics. Still, they’re not as bad as some are making it out to be . I think it’ll make it to the final with a proper staging, which I trust it’ll have 🙂

EurovisionFanGU
EurovisionFanGU
2 years ago

I love her voice & the song is lovely but I must confess, I was distracted by the ribcage hat thus, not paying attention to the lyrics. I know the song and performance emphasizes of respiratory complications as a focal point but, that ribcage hat is soo distracting. I’m personally hoping she doesn’t wear it in Torino or, atleast wears a totally revamped version because I really don’t wanna remember this entry as “The song where she wears a ribcage as a hat”.

Denis
Denis
2 years ago

I did not expect this beauty! Or the greatness.
This is easily their best entry ever. Who knew little Montenegro could have that talent?

Polegend Godnova
2 years ago

she has wonderful vocals and the music has a very balkan flavor which i love. my only concern is the poor lyrics: the subject matter isn’t clear, and the choice of words in the chorus isn’t at all melodic.

Mr X
Mr X
2 years ago

This would so much better in national language..

Craigee_mac
Craigee_mac
2 years ago

I agree with your thoughts. This song will be in the 2nd half of SF2 with Poland and North Macedonia. I prefer those 2 ballads to this one, so I think this will be a NQ sad to say

Karl
Karl
2 years ago

I liked your Poloser Garbagerina name better :/

Voilà monsieur
Voilà monsieur
2 years ago

I think it would be better in Montenegrin personally.

Nadia
Nadia
2 years ago

These English lyrics need a translation to English. (I like everything else though)

Joe Bloggs
Joe Bloggs
1 year ago
Reply to  Nadia

The lyrics are clear enough actually for someone who knows English.

Nancy G
Nancy G
2 years ago

I really want to love this, but if I’m truthfulI just think it’s OK. It starts beautifully but then gets a little boring. We’ve heard this type of song many times before. Lacks power.

Craigee_mac
Craigee_mac
2 years ago
Reply to  Nancy G

100% agree! I listened for 3 minutes waiting for it to go somewhere. I found it kind of teased me – I kept waiting for the big moment, but it never quite got there for me. I am still so glad to have MNE back in EV 2022 though!!

Joe
Joe
2 years ago

Every song this year has been OK at worst and incredible at best. Montenegro continue this with another great entry!

Joe
Joe
2 years ago
Reply to  Joe

Lyrics aren’t perfect, but this is basically Proud 2.0, which is what I hoped for and expected when I saw Darko Dimitrov was the producer. Man can do no wrong.

Joe Bloggs
Joe Bloggs
1 year ago
Reply to  Joe

It’s not a copy of Proud.

MonsieurMüller
MonsieurMüller
2 years ago

I must confess I had great expectations. However, there is one point where I swore the song would take off and take me to a “wooooooow” moment… but it left me just there, in the same spot. It never happened anything. Something I can’t explain is missing, and that’s a shame when you’ve gathered the talent, the enthusiasm, the determination …and the budget.

Last edited 2 years ago by MonsieurMüller
Craigee_mac
Craigee_mac
2 years ago

This comment is exactly how I feel 100%. This song kind of teases you, but then goes nowhere special

Vale
Vale
2 years ago

She has a strong voice and some parts of the songs are interesting, but other parts lack originality (music and lyrics). Her live performance will decide her destiny.

Rashad
Rashad
2 years ago

This wasn’t a cure for Europe, it was euthanasia in a form of a song.

ete sech
ete sech
2 years ago
Reply to  Rashad

Jajajaja vtlv, I disagree but I LMAO’d

Jezinky
Jezinky
2 years ago
Reply to  ete sech

Vete a la verga jajaja I never thought I would see that phase here since almost everyone is european or american

Torkel
Torkel
2 years ago

I actually like this Song a lot. It takes a little bit to much time to build but ones it did its very good. The second chorus gave me chills and I enjoy her voice and the instrumentalisation. Good job Montenegro.

Ria van de Velde
Ria van de Velde
2 years ago

It ‘s a nice song I like it.

Sabrina
Sabrina
2 years ago

From vocals to production, it feels very professional and it’s always nice when a small country shows this level of ambition. The video also shows they have some budget to work with. But I’m one more here having a problem with these lyrics. I don’t know if it went through a (bad) translation, but part of it sounds weird and the other part feels too literal.

Jimmy
Jimmy
2 years ago
Reply to  Sabrina

I completely agree with you, Sabrina! The vocals, production, video are all doing a good job—but it’s as if the song was made with an AI lyrics generator.

I hope the team see the feedback consensus and consider switching to Montenegrin.

Sabrina
Sabrina
2 years ago
Reply to  Jimmy

I would be perfectly fine with that. But even if they want to keep it in English, some rewriting would be helpful already.

AMAAN STORM
AMAAN STORM
2 years ago

Not feeling it at all. But I do love seeing Montenegro in Eurovision.

By the way, did anyone else catch the random article on Google that stated that London Grammar will be representing the UK?! When I went to click on it, the article was gone! Was it a leak?

Joe
Joe
2 years ago
Reply to  AMAAN STORM

I saw that too! That would be great news if it was the case. I love London Grammar and their sound is perfect for Eurovision.

Jimmy
Jimmy
2 years ago
Reply to  AMAAN STORM

They’ve also signed a management agreement with TaP Music—announced this week.

Dan
Dan
2 years ago
Reply to  AMAAN STORM

I’ve just had a search on Twitter, basically London Grammar have signed with TaP Music which is the agency that has partnered up with the BBC to select our entry this year. I’ve seen someone else say the band seems to have cancelled tour dates in Australia which were booked for May so there is a good chance it could be them! However the article you saw probably got taken down because the information from it appears to be taken from a tweet from a Eurovision parody account called @Furovision lol

Joe
Joe
2 years ago
Reply to  Dan

They’ve been shtum about anything Eurovision-related (obviously) but you never know. I want to have high expectations given the quality of TaP’s roster and the way they’ve talked about their aspirations, but the UK has burned me too many times for me to give them benefit of the doubt until I see some receipts.

Sale
Sale
2 years ago

It’s such a good song, the video is so beautiful abd knowing that she wrote the song to her mother which passed away from covid makes it even more special. How it performs depends on the staging but it can easily pull a Proud moment if done right. It’s a great starting path, and step up for Montenegro that I hope continuous on.

Sale
Sale
2 years ago
Reply to  Sale

and*

Apollo
Apollo
2 years ago

The song is okay, nothing special.

The music video is stunning though, really well produced and instantly evokes emotion.

AlexisMateoFan45
AlexisMateoFan45
2 years ago

I can 100% see Vladana serving us a North Macedonia 2019 type of performance and eating this up. Idk why yall are being so negative when this overall package is miles ahead of pretty much all national finals’ results this year. Thank God for internal selections

Apollo
Apollo
2 years ago

I’m very certain that won’t happen.

Andy
Andy
2 years ago

Grows on me with every other listen! I could put this to my first place i’m not sure.

ali
ali
2 years ago

I really like the song, i really hope to see it i’m the grand final but i don’t have much hope. If i have to guess it might be a song the juries love to death but not so much the public.

shira
shira
2 years ago

It kinda… I don’t hate it, but the lyrics sound a bit like they google translated it into English and then recorded what they got.

Tomi
Tomi
2 years ago

There’s nothing particularly bad or particularly great with this song. After a few listens, it’ll grow on me, I think.

WeAreWhitChanel
WeAreWhitChanel
2 years ago

Wait, are you sure that that it’s Montenegro? It’s their best entry ever. See you in the final!

Craigee_mac
Craigee_mac
2 years ago

I just took a first listen, and I found myself waiting for the song to go somewhere. I found it kind of teased me – I kept waiting for the big moment, but it never quite got there. Montenegro shares the 2nd half a SF2 with Poland and North Macedonia, and I enjoy both of those songs more than this, so the staging will be key here. It’s an open SF, so who knows where this song will end up? If I HAD to call it, I’d say this song won’t qualify as it is now.

Last edited 2 years ago by Craigee_mac
Jo.
Jo.
2 years ago

decent effort, but not competitive enough

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
2 years ago

I’m really sorry to Vladana: The song didn’t reach me on the first listen. It’s a nice try, and a lot of effort has gone into the video and the production, but, the song just isn’t staying with me.

Kosey
Kosey
2 years ago

I quite enjoy it, it feels like a classic Eurovision entry which is always much appreciated.

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
2 years ago

This was the ballad we needed! Thank you Montenegro you’re back at it again!

Jake
Jake
2 years ago

when you have multiple ideas for music video concepts and you decide to put them all in one video…this feels like Eurovision filler that could squeak into a final and depending on staging…I think her live voice will be great…agree that this would be more impactful in native language

Anoni
Anoni
2 years ago

I wish she had sent a song similar to her other songs…

Tom
Tom
2 years ago

She is beautiful but these lyrics in English are total cringe

Last edited 2 years ago by Tom
Ukraine stan
Ukraine stan
2 years ago

I don’t love this kinda song, but I love that they’re here. It’s a staple of Eurovision and I love Vladana’s self-seriousness and delivery

Nedda Gerrard
Nedda Gerrard
2 years ago

Since the lost of both my grandmother and great grandfather to COVID, I’ve been barely able to think about it so seeing Vladana be so open and brave about her loss in such a way is most inspiring. All my love to her.

Max
Max
2 years ago

I was hoping for something closer to her previous songs. However, the music video looks very expensive. This may indicate a strong stage show. I am looking forward to it!

Tom
Tom
2 years ago

It’s a good song! But I can’t help but feel it would’ve been waaaay more impactful in Montenegrin?

Mio
Mio
2 years ago
Reply to  Tom

There are some awkward lines in English like “the sweat of the storm.” Overall, I am contemplating the meaning and trying to figure out how to relate to the song. Climate change? Viral Pandemic?

Joe Bloggs
Joe Bloggs
1 year ago
Reply to  Mio

I suppose it could be quite humid before a storm, may depend what your climate is like.

Roelof M
Roelof M
2 years ago

Certainly their strongest entry since 2015, this is definitely one that will come alive on stage if they don’t make it to cheesy. I think I would’ve preferred it in Montenegrin, but I get why she chose to sing in English. Overall, this is a good effort from Montenegro!