After taking a short breather, Montenegro will be making a return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2025.
National broadcaster RTCG has announced its intention to make an appearance in Switzerland next year, and has also revealed plans for a brand new national final to select the entry.
Montenegro returns to Eurovision in 2025
Montenegro last competed at Eurovision in 2022, when Vladana represented the nation with the song “Breathe.”
Vladana is now Creative Director at RTCG and will be utilising her experience to help guide the country on their return. Speaking about the announcement, she said:
“We are thrilled that Montenegro is returning to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2025. After several years of absence, this is a wonderful opportunity for us to showcase our country’s rich cultural diversity on the European stage. Our representative will be selected through a national competition called ‘Montesong’, which will be organised in collaboration with the Association of Performing Artists and Entertainers of Montenegro. This partnership is designed to encourage as many Montenegrin performers as possible to participate. Our goal is to promote new musical talents and reconnect with the wider European audience. We believe this will mark the beginning of a new and successful era for Montenegro at the Eurovision Song Contest.”
Those wishing to compete in Montesong have just over six weeks to submit their entry.
Vladana has also provided more information on the rules and requirements for those for composers and singers hoping to participate:
“While composers can be from any country, the performers must be Montenegrin citizens. The lyrics of the songs must be written at least 51% in the official languages used in Montenegro. Composers are required to submit a final or high-quality demo recording of their song, up to three minutes in length, featuring the performer who will perform the song at the competition. The submission must include a five-digit code under which the composition will undergo the selection process. The deadline for submissions is October 1, 2024.”
More details about the submission process can be found on RTCG’s website.
Montenegro at Eurovision
Montenegro has had an on-off relationship with Eurovision. Making their debut as an independent country in 2007, the nation competed for three years before taking a hiatus.
Returning in 2012, they remained a regular at the contest through until 2019. This period also saw the country achieve its best results, with Sergej Ćetković and Knez qualifying for the grand final in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
After another short break, Montenegro made a one-off appearance in 2022. Sadly, the nation earned their tenth non-qualification.
Switzerland 2025 will mark Montenegro’s 13th appearance at Eurovision.
Are you excited to see Montenegro return to Eurovision in 2025? Who do you wish to see represent the nation in Switzerland? Let us know in the comments below.
Nice! A really friendly ESC country. Come on Romania and Bulgaria… come back too!!
Why did they leave in the first place? They were only gone for 3 years… too short to call it a comeback in my opinion. I hope they are not rewarded with a good spot in the semi’s that would be unfair for countries who keep trying ?.
Economic issues, disillusionment with poor results, any reason. Clearly, Montenegro feels that the time has come for them to break their hiatus to return.
Welcome back Crna Gora!
While we are talking about things returning to Eurovision can the wiwijury please return to their panel of jurors scoring each song. The last two years have been a massive letdown. Please…some traditions are worth celebrating.
Any country coming back is great news, but I don’t have much confidence in them qualifying for the final. I hope they do, because if not, then they might be tempted to withdraw again.
Montenegro isn’t exactly coming back. If any of the northern countries wins the next contest, Montenegro will withdraw the next year. If a neighbouring country wins, they’ll be in.
What? Switzerland isn’t a neighboring country.
Switzerland have great relations with the balkans though 😉
Many ex-Yugo emigrants in Switzerland. I didn’t mean it literally. 😉
Withdrawing & coming back in a loop. It’s not wrong & I’m not against it. But it’s still debatable if Montenegro are really coming back. 😀 I wish they would stay. Some of their songs were good, others not so much. But no country has only good songs…
Welcome back to the EBU regime. Be careful with cameras, sponsors… they are on the first place, not you.
Vasilije ?
Montenegro, and North Macedonia in
Netherlands out.
Win-win-win
As a Dutchie, at this point I want to leave the contest, have fun in the GSC, yall can figure out what the G stands for (no not gay) ;).
As a fellow Dutchie I concur. The contest died for us in 2024. But ya’ll have fun without us, no need to keep kicking when we’re already down.
<3 Golan Song Contest <3
<3 Greatest Song Contest <3
No idea what the G stands for, if it’s not Great or Gay..
?
Did we have to have rancour with the very first comment, Azuro? I thought that for once, this story could only attract positivity.
Haters gonna hate, every time.
As a Dutchie, your only comment I agree with you.
Good to see them back and hope North Macedonia will follow. Can’t see Bulgaria or Romania coming back, while Netherlands probably withdrawing
I usually like their entries, though they are kind of hit or miss at ESC. I particularly like their Balkan Ballads, like 2014,2015 and 2018. In any case, welcome back Montenegro!
Yeah 2014 & 2015 were their golden years
Welcome back Montenegro!
Brilliant news! Hope they can finally qualify for the final again.
It will have been 10 years since their last qualification in 2015, so maybe 2025 will be their lucky year
So they could not compete in UK cause it was to expensive,nor in Sweden cause it was also expensive
But they can compete in ridicusouly expensive Switzerland:)
All the money used to buy cars must have added bonus I guess
they had no huge financial problems though, unlike Bosnia & Herzegovina or Bulgaria
they just withdrew to work on a more competitive budget, and probably now too on this new Montesong national selection project
No, they just had to buy new cars for the news readers:)
And build expensive bridges in the middle of nowhere just because.
But now that is done they have to spend budget on something
As someone from Montenegro, i can assure you that is an complete and utter lie. That was a lie invented as an excuse on why we don’t compete to the EBU and fans of the contest. The real reason was we had political turmoil and budget had to be restrained in couple of areas, and since most of the Montenegrin audience do not care about Eurovision, RTCG they cut their losses and we withdrawn (We tried in 2022 to return but that was a travesty in it’s own), so we kinda not competed couple of years and not even shown… Read more »
Or perhaps it was saved to fund 2025, which seems sensible. We all do that.
Would rather them than the Netherlands, welcome back!
NL probably will be back, it seems there is mutual understanding when it comes to the changes that need to be made, we will know soon, source Dutch media
Whatever Montenegro sends, it won’t be some meaningless, generic dance fluff. And whoever it is will be able to actually sing and not hide behind pre-recorded, manipulated vocals like we flooded with so much of this year.
Please, last 3 entries were cr@p
2018 certainly wasn’t cr@p. 2017 and 2019, maybe so.
No country always hits. But Montenegro rates better than most everyone when it comes to sending songs that mean something more than “Let’s Dance” or “Watch me wiggle”. And boy, do we need that!
Welcome back Montenegro. Now when they are back, I’m wondering why North Macedonia is not coming back. They have been more consistent than Montenegro and they have been in every Eurovision from the first semi final in 2004. It has been two years in a row they skip the main show but they still participate in Junior Eurovision. Really weird decision
It was criminal that Vladana didn’t qualify to the final in 2022!
Welcome back, Montenegro! We’ve missed you so much. I can’t to see what you will bring for 2025.
Welcome back!
They stopped building these 500-mile bridges in the middle of nowhere and the money for Eurovision is there again. Happy for their return, one of my favourite countries no doubt!
Sometimes you need a break.
I hope Who See come back for 2025.
tbh the only entry i have liked from them is 2009 so i do Ralph Siegal writes a song for this selection
Get out of my head, get out of my bed
what are you on about
Lyrics from the song written by Siegel for Montenegro, NQ in 2009
Ah jaysus, not the manus with the man bun.
???
Ralph Siegal is bald what are you on about