It's good to be alive, said NeonoeN at the press conference after the announcement of the victory in the Montenegrin selection for the Eurovision representative - "Montesong" held on Wednesday evening in the Voco hall. They got 10 points from both the jury and the audience, to which they said that the taste of both of them pretty much coincided. The highest number of points from the expert jury, which consisted of: Hari Mata Hari, Nuša Derenda, Dado Topic, Elena Risteska, Tijana Bogićević, Emili de Forest i Danijel Popović she got it Nina Žižić, while the audience's "favorite" was the group Baryak.
The NeonoeN band was, of course, very pleased, joking, enthusiastic and in a good mood. They thanked everyone who voted for them, stressing that there was even some confusion, i.e. that at the beginning of the voting, SMS messages did not go through.
"The fans complained to us, while we were making statements here and receiving the band of the year award there, that they failed to vote for us", they explain and do not hide that the feeling after the victory is strange. They are proud of the fact that the complete song is a Montenegrin product.
"Absolutely every detail in this song was done in Montenegro. So, Montenegro can and knows. That's what was most important to us and what we bragged about. The song was created here, it was recorded here, mixed, mastered... Podgorica, Nikšić Kotor", adds NeonoeNa. They hope that this competition will give a new dimension to the Montenegrin music scene.
"We hope that, after perhaps a long period when the music scene has stagnated, it will now grow and that we will realize that there are those here who work and create, perform what they create and try to find all possible channels so that it does not reach the listeners . I hope that finally the listeners will recognize the value of the product produced here", they pointed out.
They praised all the contestants, pointed out that they had great performances and that above all they all sang great "regardless of the fact that this is a television festival".
Speaking about the Eurovision Song Contest, they believe that their main asset is that they put themselves in the center of all events that are universal and very current in the world.
"We are no exception. A lot of these foreign expressions were used, which are in mass use in these environments, such as ours, which needs to take great care to preserve its culture, its language, and to highlight them wherever it can. We actually do the opposite - we very easily give up everything that is the authenticity of this space", NeonoeNa explains, adding that they don't remember anyone singing "such a thing" at the Eurovision Song Contest.
"Not in the sense that we are moving away from modern technologies. We all use them... did god allow us to use them? Of course, they help us in our everyday life, and when the line of good taste is crossed, then what we sang about in the song happens. So, first of all, the song is an asset, and then also the fact that we come from a small, interesting part of a tourist country, which we will try to present in every possible way", the band pointed out.
Speaking about the very concept of the performance, they pointed out that the singer Marko Vukčević played the role of a hater. Since the song was hyped, they wanted to do something terrible and play with that alter ego.
They also told "Vijesti" after the performance that they were looking for something unusual compared to the glamor and splendor of the Eurovision Song Contest.
"We reckon that these things have already been seen and then we were simply looking for some kind of concept that would go with the song itself and simply represent the general sound of our band. We are a band that plays and is creative in the broadest sense of the word. So we set the scene as more of a theatrical form, as a complete audio-visual concept and I hope we managed to wrap up the story properly in the end", according to NeonoeNa.
During the evening, the other contestants were cheerful and happy to talk to the press after the performance. So for "News" Tina Džankić, who is called the Montenegrin soul diva, performed her song "Nova". However, she thinks that it will still be difficult to popularize her sound after the performance.
"But I think the song will be listened to because it is positive, light, singable. I like it very much, I hope that people will recognize it", she said, and with a laugh she singled out "You are my elixir, it's not a whim" from the lyrics of the song.
The whole competition was beautiful for her, everything was good for her, and the competition was the "highlight" of every evening. She is also satisfied with how it turned out in terms of production, but that there were disagreements.
"There were some things that needed to be fixed, but they definitely fixed them in the final," she said.
The youngest competitor Anastasia Koprolcec she opened the competitive part of Montesong, and as she said, "used her three minutes as best as she knew how", and tried to present herself to the audience as she is. The feeling on stage was unreal for her, she admits.
"It's as if I'm not on stage at all, as if I'm not even performing my song, but as if I'm in a world of my own with myself. I am sure that all the emotion that was in me at that moment managed to be transferred to all the people, to all the listeners, to everyone who watched and followed", she pointed out.
As for cooperation with Bojan Marović who wrote the music and lyrics, says it was phenomenal.
"When someone mentions him, I praise him more and more. He just told me 'wait for me to finish the song, I won't burden you with anything. When it's done I'll send it to you'. He sent it to me and I immediately told him 'we are recording'. We didn't change anything, we didn't even plan to change what was written and made. We just recorded it officially and that's it," she said.
One of the Montenegrin singers who excels in all genres Katarina Bogićević were especially overwhelmed by emotions after the performance, and she was very honest in her answers.
"I am very excited. I think that this entire performance and preparations were actually a personal and inner journey for me. I think I will remember this forever," she said.
She reveals why she decided to combine English and mother tongue in the song and does not hide that she would like a global career.
"Because I have been living abroad for a long time and I would like to make a global career at some point. I speak English like a native speaker. It all sounded nice to me and I wanted the Eurovision audience and the fans who follow Montesong to understand," said Kate.
The members of the metal band "9", who performed with the song "Stop War", are very satisfied with the production and believe that metal music is the right emotion for the message sent by their song.
"We had problems with the vocal cords until today, but in the end everything was as it should be, so we are very satisfied", they revealed to "Vijesti". They believe that their appearance is an opportunity to popularize metal in Montenegro.
"That was even one of our main goals - to promote this sound in general, through it and ourselves, and to wake up that sound and direction in general", they pointed out.
Speaking of the competitive part of the program, Isak Šabanović said that he was most afraid of that, because he does not like singing at competitions.
"I won't do everything, I won't... here is already the third competition", he adds.
They have been preparing for two months and he says he is grateful Leontini Vukmanović i Nemanja Filipović.
Part of the program was devoted to the awarding of the "Montefon" music awards. Among the winners were Montesong performers: Verica Čuljković (Video of the year), Special award "Snežana Ćosović" for the interpretation was awarded to Tina Džankić. The group of the year award was given to the winners of Montesong, while the Sergej Cetkovic the best singer, a Ivana Popović Martinović the best singer.
Organizer "Montesonga", Daniel Alibabic says that he, as the president of the Association of Variety Artists and Performers of Montenegro, initiated the return of the festival.
"In cooperation with RTCG, we also organized 'Montesong', where the winner will represent Montenegro at the Eurovision Song Contest next year, so the initiative actually started from the Association of Variety Artists and Performers of Montenegro," said Alibabić.
The statute of the Association of Variety Artists of Montenegro has been changed since Alibabić has been at its head, and this non-profit organization does not include organizing festivals and similar events among its activities.
"The organization of this festival is not in the statute. We certainly plan to organize, in addition to this festival, other similar events and awards. As part of this festival, there will also be a Montefon award ceremony, which we will bring back from the time when Bojan Bajramović really ran it the way it should be," said Alibabić about the plans, who did not want to reveal - although the public may be most interested in this - how much it cost. this year's Montessong, because as he says, "he doesn't like to talk about it".
“I always try to talk only about creative things. I don't like to talk about figures, but in any case this has yet to be an expensive project", he said and added that he hopes that next year the state institutions will recognize this festival as a platform for Montenegrin musicians, for presenting everything they do and believe in. that they will have an even better festival with, of course, the support of all decision-makers of state institutions. He shared the role of the Association of Variety Artists in the organization.
"It was up to us to design the stage and all the production operations in terms of the art direction of the Festival of all their performances. Admittedly, the contractors themselves also tried to hire additional people whom they wanted to participate in their projects. But, all that you see on television is actually a co-production somewhere and a production that the Association hired privately", concluded Alibabić.
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