Since Montenegro began its participation in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, no local election has been without controversy and outrage. That year, in the joint state with Serbia, No Name won Jelena Tomasevic which was considered the favorite, which led to great dissatisfaction not only in Serbia, but also partly in Montenegro.
The very next year, a new controversy surrounding the victory of the six No Name over the group Flamingos resulted in the decision for the common country to withdraw from the Eurovision Song Contest that year.
The first representative of independent Montenegro at the Eurovision Song Contest did not fare any better - Steven Faddy. Namely, Faddy feared that he would be disqualified because his songwriter used lyrics from his old song.
The participation is still remembered Vanja Radovanović at the Eurovision Song Contest, which was condemned by the entire public because of the joke, and instead of the crisis PR that was needed on the first day after the press conference in Portugal, when the same was told, for the Public Service delegation to react, they decided to remain silent because maybe for this event will not know.
Each selection was accompanied by a wave of criticism - whether due to the song, the performance or the selection process itself. Even when performers like Sergej Ćetković i Kneza who alone provided the final, or Slavko Kalezić which still attracts the attention of fans of this competition, part of the local public was not satisfied. It seems that it is impossible to find a representative who will simultaneously satisfy everyone's taste and unite the fans of this music competition from Montenegro to cheer for their competitor together.
This year, Montenegro was among the first to choose a representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and when it seemed that we would finally have enough time for a quality campaign, a new scandal followed. Namely, the group NeonoeN, which was not among the main favorites of Montesong, surprised everyone by winning the Montenegrin selection, winning ten points from both the audience and the expert jury. However, soon after the triumph, attention was drawn to a recording from the Zabjelo Culture Festival from the previous year, where a working version of their song "Clickbait" was performed. For the first few hours, many believed that it was fake news, but soon it became clear that tensions once again marked our way to the biggest music scene in Europe. This detail called into question their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, which is why RTCG and the Association of Pop Artists asked the EBU for an opinion.
In the atmosphere of uncertainty, NeonoeN made the decision to withdraw from the competition. With this gentlemanly move, they want to remain consistent with their musical principles, leaving room for another representative to defend the colors of Montenegro on the biggest European music scene.
They themselves pointed out before the festival that they "do not see music as a competitive discipline". They have been on stage for years, and this was the chance to introduce their work to the whole of Europe, as well as the world. However, they decided to put an end to this story and give up on the Eurovision Song Contest.
"Objectively, we made this decision intimately a few days ago. We waited for it to settle down and not do it emotionally and hastily. The moment when the subject of the story was essentially no longer music, that's when everything started to lose its meaning. Another reason for the slight delay in that decision is the fact that we had very good communication with the management of the Public Service, with the desire expressed several times to try to find a way to resolve the situation in a direction that will still be in favor of the one who won the first place at Montesong, that is, us." , the author of the song "Clickbait", one of the founders of NeonoeNa, told the News after the decision to retire Ilija Pejović.
The total number of votes at Montesong was relatively small, as 16 performers received slightly more than 2300 votes in total, which shows that the audience's interest in such competitions may not be at the highest level. However, the very fact that they received the maximum 10 points from the audience for the members of the group NeonoeN has a lot of value.
"That winning factor is strange. This is what we were saying before. We create our songs, we play them, and some that we manage in the studio, we release and distribute as much as we can along with the music video. However, it is always necessary for something else to happen around the song that will focus the public on it as much as possible. This was such a case. In the beginning, one of the songs, after a few days, one of the few most listened to in the offer. By the end of the festival, one of the favorites, and in the end the winner. After the victory, the game changes - we have seen the epilogue", notes Pejović, whose band was supported by many colleagues after the decision for UEUCG and RTCG to seek the EBU's opinion on disqualification.
"It meant a lot to us the support of those who could potentially have been hurt in such processes, considering that we entered the festivals unfairly in the first place. However, the fact that everyone is aware of is that the votes of the jury and the wider audience were not affected in the least by the fact that, at that moment, an unknown song had previously been played live in front of a small audience," says Pejović.
Original bands from Montenegro rarely get the opportunity to perform at domestic festivals, and those who do manage to get a place on the stage often choose a "safe", relying on a repertoire made up of well-known hits. However, NeonoeN stands out from that story. They use festival performances as a platform to promote their original music - not only published songs, but sometimes also tracks in the working version. But that is exactly what cost them participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. When asked if he will continue to share unreleased songs with the audience, Pejović answers:
"We have an album ready, which we hope will be released soon, so we will play first of all songs from it. And as we also have previous works in songs that will not be found on the album, it is quite enough program for festival and other gigs where the stage is shared with other participants. We will actually work as we feel, as we have done so far. Without too many calculations", concludes Pejović.
In the coming days, RTCG will make a decision on the new representative of Montenegro at Eurovision in Switzerland in 2025. Among the possible candidates are Nina Žižić, which won second place, but also the band Baryak, which received the most points from the audience. One thing is certain - Montenegro will have its own representative who will try to leave a mark on the biggest music scene in Europe.
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