This year’s Eurovision will see not three – but four – countries of the former Yugoslavia taking the stage in Basel. The 2025 edition features Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia – plus the welcome return of Montenegro after a three-year absence. As always, each entry is wildly different from one another, but all of them are ready to make their mark.
Croatia is sending Marko Bošnjak with the song “Poison Cake”, a confident track about serving up sweet revenge. From pop to garage to opera and beyond, the song runs the whole gamut of genres. Marko had come close to representing Croatia in 2022, when he came in second place at Dora. Three years on, he’ll finally bear his country’s flag on the Eurovision stage.
Montenegro is back in the game with Nina Žižić and her power ballad “Dobrodošli”. The song speaks to the strength of women in challenging times and the power of female perseverance. Nina is a Eurovision alumna with a seasoned career. Fans will remember her from 2013, where she represented her country alongside the hip-hop duo Who See with the song “Igranka”.
Serbia will send Princ with “Mila”, a melancholy love ballad about winning over a woman’s heart. While the song starts off slow, it builds into a rock-tinged ending complete with guitar riffs. Princ had previously competed in the 2023 edition of Serbia’s national selection, Pesma za Evroviziju, where he won the public vote but came in second place overall. Second time’s the charm indeed for Princ!
Slovenia is sending Klemen with his heartfelt ballad, “How Much Time Do We Have Left”. Klemen penned this song about his wife, who successfully beat a serious illness against all odds. Klemen himself is known for having hosted EMA, Slovenia’s Eurovision pre-selection, four times. 2025 marked his very first year as a contestant. Talk about being multi-talented!
The competition is fierce and only one can end up on top. Which act from the former Yugoslavia deserves to be crowned the winner?
Jog your memory and take another listen to the four entries below. Then scroll down further to vote for your favourites in our poll. Remember, you can vote for as many acts as you want, but you can only vote once.
Countries of former Yugoslavia at Eurovision 2025
Croatia: Marko Bošnjak – “Poison Cake”
Montenegro: Nina Žižić – “Dobrodošli”
Serbia: Princ – “Mila”
Slovenia: Klemen – “How Much Time Do We Have Left”
Poll: Which country of the former Yugoslavia has the best entry at Eurovision 2025?
Who did you vote for? How many of these countries do you think we’ll see in the Eurovision 2025 grand final? Share all your thoughts in the comments below.
Serbia! He has a mighty voice which will cut though most of this year’s gimmickry. But please sing to the camera, Stefan. You didn’t do it at Pesma za Evroviziju or in the video. Otherwise, a podium contender.
No idea if it’s a bot game or not…but this much love for a MN song is suspicious. It’s such a chore…and in all honesty, I feel bad for the choreohrapher/the arms.
I voted for Montenegro but the more I listen to Croatia and his acoustic version, the more it’s becoming a guilty pleasure.
Montenegrin entry is by far the best, it should qualify, and the revamp was great.
I might be one of few that actually enyoy Croatia. It has an alternative vibe and very catchy.
That said I don’t think any of the songs will qualify. It will be 2013 all over again
I think Croatia has a shot given their slot in the semi final. The performance is probably going to convince a lot of naysayers.
Montenegro has a shot as well as it is the best ballad (with Greece) of the semi final, both are probably going to battle it out for the same spot and I think Montenegro has an edge because she has the stronger voice and the song is more impactful despite being put second in the running order.
Montenegro leading the poll was not something I’d ever thought I see. But I agree, Nina’s song is the best out of the four in my opinion.
Actually I think I like Croatia best. Montenegro’s song is nice but doesn’t really stand out. I think Slovenia’s song lyrically isn’t too good. It’s written so literally. And Serbia’s song is…umm.. ok. Good luck to all.
Montenegro miles ahead. Saying that as a Croatian. But tbh a fart would be miles ahead of the “song” we are sending this year.
In a way it’s a bittersweet irony, isn’t it? Last time Switzerland was the host country, Yugoslavia won. 36 years later we are back in Switzerland and honestly, I don’t see any of these four going through to the finale. The worst by far is that grisly act (I don’t want to call that a song) from my own country – Croatia. It’s just plain disgusting.
The ex-yugo really peaked last year. Such a downgrade from some of my favorite countries in the contest. Montenegro is easily the best here, but I fear a 2013 scenario might happen in May.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen…
Sadly I don’t see any former yug in this year’s final
I couldn’t agree more!
I dont know why, but i have this feeling Slovenia is very underrated this year. In a sea full of uptempo tracks i can see this be a moment. I really hope they manage to build a strong staging around the song. I think its a beautiful entry. I hope to see it in the finals.
All are terrible… can we vote for North Macedonia?
I have to agree, with Croatia standing out in being abhorrently terrible.
I think Montenegro is my favorite as of now, but I don’t feel too strongly about any of them. Maybe that will change next month.
Off Topic.
First, Wiwi didn’t use my profile picture when I started using a different device to post, and now everything I comment on it goes straight into the moderation queue.
I’m not necessarily complaining, but can somebody please tell me why this might be?
It happens to me sometimes when I would get a different avatar than the one I have
None of them are qualifying sadly
If being objective, it is not a reason to be sad. They just don’t deserve to qualify.
The ex-Yugoslav region has definitely seen better years.
Like in 1989! 😉
I think Slovenia because the song has an emotional and heartfelt feeling.
My favourite of these is Montenegro. It’s a surprise to me. This only happened twice before for me in this former Yugoslav category: In 2014 and 2015.
Sorry but they are so disappointing this year. Serbia is surprisingly a nice Balkan ballad regardless of the hated it has received.
Croatia has the worst entry, it’s shocking how the juries selected it over other more interesting entries.
Even though Slovenia’s song is boring, with a smart staging it could bring emotions to the viewers and sail into the final like Latvia and Slovenia did last year.
Montenegro is my favorite from this batch, Serbia and Slovenia are okay too. Croatia, on the other hand…
Where are all those bots that hyped Poison Cake?
Ah yes, apparently HRT gave up on Marko after the terrible bookies’ prediction.
Yeah! Yesterday it was reported that 333 people left HRT by March 31. And guess who stayed?! Tomislav Stengl.
But there is something positive in it. After the first semi-finale nobody is going to hear of that bumptious Marko ever again – soon to become the WORST Croatian ESC entry EVER!!!!! We are heading towards the first Croatian zero points in ESC.
Yeah, well, I actually think he has a shot at the final in a terrible year such as this.
As for the worst…are you forgetting Franka and Roko!?
I think this might end even worse than those two stooges.
Crna Gora: good singer, good voice
They are all very mediocre but if I would have to choose id say Slovenia.
I think all ex-Yu entries are a bit underrated this year. They are not great, but they are not the worst either.
Maybe. Except for Croatia. Being 35th in the odds, it’s overrated!
Slovenia by a very long mile>
I can’t with safe Balkan ballads anymore. I had a firm favorite in Repeat, it would have been a worthy successor across ages to Space. I can’t pick between Dobrodošli and Mila. I did try to enjoy Poison Cake and I just couldn’t.
Montenegro for me
Serbia is a favourite of mine this year, and Montenegro is very high on the list too. Both fantastic singers with emotive voices, but I place Princ’s song higher due to how the song builds up and progresses. Croatia I can appreciate is trying to do something different, but I personally find the cutesy/psycho schtick very cringey no matter what the medium. I can see it doing fairly well though as there is definitely a market for that kind of thing. Slovenia is very Coldplay-esque for me. Nothing particularly bad about it, just very safe and dull, and personally does… Read more »
Out of these, only Serbia has a chance to qualify, due to diaspora support in semi. It could do the same as Blanka, much hate in the esc fandom, but surprising result at the end (at least not being the last).
I like Slovenia and Montenegro, but they will certainly not advance. Croatia just terrible this year.
I voted Montenegro great performer, decent song.
Rather poor this year imo. I choose Serbia and Montenegro purely because of the good singers, their songs are not exciting. Slovenia should be dead on arrival, I have to chuckle at the running order, he was the most obvious number 2 ever, the producers probably chose 2 lively acts at the start there but Nina predictably got number 2. Croatia… that performance is painful to watch. I actually thought it was good when listened to the studio version but on stage it is a pure disaster. Marko was my clear choice in 2022 with that ballad, Croatia should have… Read more »
On the other hand… if they somehow manage a really good performance on stage, Croatia could be the best here, it’s the only interesting song. So I guess it could be the best or the worst.
Slovenia is a lovely song, will never understand the lack of support for it. One of the most touching songs this year. Has the feel of a 2000s Coldplay/ David Grey era Brit ballad.
There’s lots of songs this year that are not for me but I can appreciate their qualities, but this one is the bottom. Plain boring and the composition is Iceland 2018 level bad.I was really stunned that he came with nothing better. I don’t think Coldplay would ever dare put their name on that.
I know my taste is vintage, but I like all of them
I really want to see another ex-Yugoslav country winning ESC, but this isn’t a very strong year for them. At this point it looks like they’re all going to NQ.
Serbia and Montenegro for me. Slovenia is okay too but i don’t like Croatia
Easily Montenegro. Such a class act. I am bummed that it’s likely DOA in the semi with this running order.
Croatia is creative, and I kinda like it! The issue is that its transitions are a bit jarring.
Serbia and Slovenia are just not interesting for me.
Strangely enough, our opinions differ a bit here. I personally like Serbia’s song the best out of these 4 and I also like the Slovenian song a lot. I know neither is reinventing the wheel : one is a mainstream Balkan ballad and the other a mainstream ballad.
Croatia is cool. I like how creative it is. It’s not my kind of song but I don’t mind it being there.
Montenegro falls in the same category as Serbia but I find it dull, even if I really like Balkan ballads.
I’ve seen we mostly agree on the Nordic / Scandi songs this year, so I’m totally fine with us having a bit different takes on the Ex-Yu countries. Looking forward to your reviews soon, Thanos. 🙂
Me too! This year I had way less time than usual to fully immense myself into the songs due to responsibilities but of course I will once again write reviews. Looking forward to reading your opinions!
montenegro
Serbia 9/12 (why so underrated ???)
Montenegro 5/12
Slovenia 3/12
Croatia 1/12 (absolutely the wrong decision!)
Not underrated by me, I think Princ can win with better staging