Montenegro is returning to the Eurovision stage this year after a two-year break, and the honor of defending the colors of our country has gone to Nina ZizicThe experienced singer, who is remembered by the audience for her notable performance with the group Who See in 2013, will perform the emotional ballad "Dobrodošli" in the Montenegrin language in Basel tonight. This ballad, which is behind the author's team Boris Subotic, Violeta Mihajlovska Milic i Darko Dimitrov carries a strong message of hope and rebirth.
Nina has been in Basel for more than ten days, where she is intensively preparing for tonight's performance in the second semi-final of Eurovision 2025. During that time, she had the opportunity to get acquainted with this year's stage and atmosphere of the competition. Yesterday, she held two dress rehearsals, and today she will have another one in the morning, just before the start of the official program.
"The first two rehearsals went great. Yesterday I had dress rehearsals that are being filmed. I'm excited about the start. However, it wasn't until the night before last when the Eurovision Song Contest officially started and when I saw on TV what it all looked like that I was overcome by an additional wave of excitement. Everything really looks perfect both live and on TV," Žižić told "Vijesti".
She has spent the past few days fully dedicated to preparations, and today she is arriving in Basel with the greatest support and fans.
"My family and boyfriend are coming today and I can't wait for them to arrive," she says honestly, adding that she is satisfied with the preparations so far.
"We still have to do some small things during the final rehearsals, everything else is ready," said Nina, who is returning to Eurovision after 12 years. She does not hide that the experience she gained then was significant for her.
"Of course, it's important to me that I've already been to the Eurovision Song Contest. Although, until I stepped onto the Eurovision stage again, I wasn't aware of the experience I had. I thought it had been erased from my memory. Previous experience really means a lot. Those first few days of rehearsals weren't as exhausting as the ones before the performance itself, because we wouldn't be going back to the hotel, we'd almost be camping in the arena. But somehow everything was nicely arranged in those 14 days, so we had two to three days to rest between rehearsals and I didn't even feel all that effort," she recalled.
As she says, sleeping in the same bed for 14 days was especially significant for the final preparations before tonight's performance.
"The fact that I didn't change my room or bed for 14 days means the most to me. To be honest, the most exhausting thing for me was going to promo parties. At first, it was all great, but weekend after weekend you're constantly at airports, changing rooms, changing air conditioning, it really ground me down. However, staying in Basel itself is great for me and the team is great. They try to make every step easier for me, even to the point of making me uncomfortable," she doesn't hide.
The second semi-final night of the biggest television music competition, which is scheduled for 21 p.m., will be opened by a representative from Australia. Go-Jo with the song "Milkshake Man", and immediately after it the audience will have the opportunity to hear Nina. After the Montenegrin representative, competitors from Ireland, Latvia, Armenia, Austria, Greece, Lithuania, Malta, Georgia, Denmark, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Israel, Serbia will perform, and the competition part will be closed by a participant from Finland.
Nina admits that she is relieved to be among the first to perform.
"Being among the first to perform has its advantages. I also spoke with Construction about the schedule of performances and together we concluded that it doesn't matter when someone performs. I think she was third, so she achieved remarkable success. You either make it to the final or you don't. Whether you were first or last, it doesn't matter. What I can say firsthand is that there is a craze for the competitor from Australia who will open the second semi-final tonight and he doesn't really mind being first. Although, there is also some relief that I will finish among the first and I can withdraw, so what God forbid," says Žižić, whose goal is still to reach the final, and that was achieved by the representatives of Sweden, Norway, Albania, Iceland, the Netherlands, Poland, San Marino, Estonia, Portugal and Ukraine from the first semi-final night.
Nina saw off the start of the first evening, but resting for what awaited her tonight was her priority.
"I didn't watch the entire evening. I watched until the performance of the contestants from Belgium and then I went to sleep. However, the day after the first semi-final evening, I had a hard job waiting for me - strenuous rehearsals and it was more important for me to rest for all that. However, in the morning when I saw who had made it through and who hadn't, I was really surprised. There are a few of them who are considered favorites, but I am surprised that we won't be watching the representatives of Croatia and Slovenia in the final. I think they had more potential compared to some of the ones we will be watching on Saturday night. But I don't even know what the benchmarks are for advancing," concludes Žižić.
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