The day before yesterday RTS announced the list of this year’s Pesma za Evroviziju entries, which seems to have caused the excitement of Eurovision fans both inside and outside the Balkans within the first hours of its posting!
Below we will attempt to make a first analysis of both the artists, who are quite familiar to the audience this year, and the songs based on what we know so far.
Nemanja Radošević – Jutra bez tebe
Nemanja, a relatively new but promising artist, will sing “Mornings without you”, to lyrics and music by Saša Milošević. The title itself foreshadows a ballad, which, considering the songs he has released so far, is probably a “classic Balkan ballad”. It remains to be seen whether Nemanja will continue in the style he has been used to so far or if he has a surprise in store for us!
Bojana x David – No No No
“No no no” or yes yes yes for the two youngest participants of this year’s PZE? Bojana Radovanović represented Serbia in the Junior Eurovision 2018 with the song “Svet”. David Radosavlević became known to the public through the Pinkove Zvezdice competition. The two started releasing songs as Bojana x David about a year ago as members of the Hurricane record label. Their participation is signed by PZE’s familiar Boris Subotić along with Violeta Mihajlovska. If we had to guess the sound of the song, it would definitely be something that expresses the sounds of the new generation, as well as their other songs.
Marko Mandić – Dno
Marko Mandić will hardly find himself in the “Bottom” of the ranking, as he was one of the hottest names in the Serbian music scene at the beginning of the last decade. He co-wrote the song with Nemanja Filipović. We imagine that, if he stays true to his artistic identity, the song will consist of alternative funk and RnB elements.
Dušan Kurtić – Zbog tebe živim
Dušan Kurtić and “I live because of you”. The title here may give us a premonition of either a ballad or a rousing up=tempo song, but what is certain is that there will be no lack of romani elements as he makes sure to include them in every song and in this way to honour his origins. His brother, with whom he co-wrote this year’s entry, Ivan Kurtić, has competed in the Serbian national final in the past.
Milan Bujaković – Moje tvoje
Is Milan Bujaković‘s third participation going to be a lucky one? As it looks like “My Yours” is going to be a Balkan ballad, like the ones Milan has accustomed us to in the past. The music is written by Petar Pupić, while the lyricists are Lionel Lombard and Maya Sar (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2012).
Hydrogen – Nemoguća misija
Hydrogen consists of four members and is one of the upcoming names of indie and alternative garage music, which they will sensibly represent on the PZE stage. The lyrics and music of the song “Impossible mission” are written by themselves.
Kat Dosa – Tajni začin
Just a few months have passed since the release of her first song and the Serbo-Brazilian Kat Dosa (Kat Cardoso) comes to PZE to claim the country’s representation in Malmö. Lyrics and music for “The Secret Spice” are written by Slobodan Veljković (Coby) and Bojana Vunturišević. Based on her previous songs we can expect a sensual RnB track that could combine lyrics in Serbian, English and – why not – Portuguese.
Filarri – Ko je ta žena
“Who is this woman” Filarri will ask us, returning to the PZE stage. We assume that the song, with music by Nikola Kirđanski Kej and lyrics by Andrijano Kadović Ajzi, will be one of those that the fans of the contest tend to love and to which Filarri has gotten us used to, namely a dance pop – maybe even bop – song with possible Balkan ethnic elements.
M.IRA – Percepcija
M.IRA will sing “Perception” with lyrics and music by herself and Lazar Belić. According to the discography of the young singer we should expect a dreamy / alternative pop song that will reflect the genre she serves.
Saša Báša i Virtual Ritual – Elektroljubav
Saša Báša and Virtual Ritual will present the song “Electrolove”. Lyrics and music are written by Saša Báša himself in collaboration with Petar Milošević and Aleksa Stanković. As the title suggests, we should expect an electronic track that will combine, perhaps, the alternative pop and soft rock sound of their other songs.
Hristina – Bedem
The case of Hristina Vuković is different, as her song, with lyrics and music by herself, entitled “Rampart” has already been released and you can listen to it below. However, its duration exceeds the allowed time limit and so there will be changes when it will be officially published by RTS.
Martina Vrbos – Da me voliš
Croatian-born Martina Vrbos will sing “To love me”, which she has written herself. The title, barring an unforeseen circumstance, foreshadows a ballad of some kind.
Breskvica – Orlovo gnezdo
Breskvica is definitely one of the names that have been talked about and will be talked about a lot this year! More information about her can be found in our article in which we informed you about the confirmation of her participation. As can be seen from the title of the song “The Eagle’s Nest”, the rumours that she will have an ethnocentric song based on traditional Serbian music will probably be confirmed. Music and lyrics, as we mentioned in the related article, are signed by Generacija Zed members Henny, Jhinsen and Relja Torino.
Ivana Vladović – Jaka
Ivana Vladović is another familiar name in PZE. The song “Strong” with lyrics and music by Milan Stanković (Serbia, 2010) and SevdahBaby could probably be an empowering ballad, having only the title as a clue.
Lena Kovačević – Zovi me Lena
Lena Kovačević is also a well-known name in the Serbian music scene. In her songs, she mostly combines pop and jazz music, which we think will happen with “Call me Lena”, written by Darko Dimitrov, Robert Bilbilov and Vladimir Danilović.
Keni nije mrtav – Dijamanti
Keni nije mrtav is one of the most active rock/punk bands in the Balkans. We expect their song, in lyrics and music by themselves, “Diamonds” to be something in the style they have accustomed us to so far.
Zejna – Najbolja
Zejna is another familiar face of PZE. This year her song “The best” is signed by Marko Drežnjak and Zvonimir Đukić. The title gives us the feeling of a dynamic dance track, but we can expect everything from her.
Konstrakta – Novo, bolje
Konstrakta, who won PZE two years ago and managed to give Serbia the fifth place in 2022, returns to the national final with the song “New, better”. Is the title a reference to her previous participation or does it refer to something completely different? We will soon find out. One thing is for sure, we can expect another subversive song from Konstrakta, in the style and philosophy she has accustomed us to. The track is signed by her in collaboration with Milovan Bošković and Jovan Antić.
Iva Lorens – Dom
Iva Lorens is one of the best known young artists of the Serbian alternative pop scene. Her entry, “House”, with her own music and lyrics in collaboration with A.N.D.R. we believe will be a mid-tempo futuristic track, following the structure of her songs so far.
Zorja – Lik u ogledalu
Zorja is certainly a familiar name to those who have followed PZE in previous years. The creators of this year’s track, “Figure in the Mirror”, are herself along with Lazar Pajić and Vladan Maksimović. From Zorja, both based on the title and the songs she has presented, we would expect a dynamic Balkan ballad.
Yanx – Kolo
Yanx is another well-known face of the Serbian national finals, formerly known as Sashka Yanx. The truth is that we have a hard time in accurately translating the title of this year’s entry as “Kolo” is the name of one of the most famous Serbian traditional dances. Either way it seems that the song will have a rather ethnic-pop feel to it and is co-written by her in collaboration with Mikos Mikeli.
Chai – Sama
Although she is very new in the industry, Chai has become quite famous in Serbia as her songs have gone viral several times on TikTok. We don’t think she will stay “Alone”, as the modern trap elements of her songs will definitely seduce many. The song’s creators are Rap Gorilla, Aleksandar Ilić and herself.
Durlanski – Muzika
Another entry signed by Rap Gorilla, Aleksandar Ilić and Durlanski himself. Durlanski is a new rap singer and we expect his entry, “Music”, to be in the rap vein as well.
Nadia – Sudari
We return to the PZE familiarities with Nadia and “Clashes”. The participation is signed by her in collaboration with Nikola Denčić and Kosta Pantelić. The truth is that we don’t have a musical sample from her, apart from her last year’s entry which was a pop-rock track, so we can guess this year’s song.
Džordži – Luna park
Another singer returning to PZE is Džordži with “Luna Park” composed by Slavko Milovanović with lyrics by Pavle Subotić. From the title we could probably expect a mid-tempo or up-tempo entry combined with modern alternative pop and ethnic elements that Džordži often incorporates in his songs.
Filip Baloš – Duga je noć
The last PZE returnee on this year’s list is Filip Baloš with “The Night is Long”. The song is co-written by him in collaboration with Ivana Pavlović Jymenik. Filip finished 4th in last year’s PZE and this year we could, perhaps, expect another modern pop song from him.
Teya Dora – Ramonda
One of the names that will surely be of great interest is that of Teya Dora. Already since last year, her fans have been waiting for her to represent Serbia in the contest, especially since her song “Džanum” went viral on TikTok and caught the eyes of European fans. This year’s entry, which she co-wrote with Luka Jovanović and Andrijano Kadović Ajzi, is titled “Ramonda”. Ramonda is the name of a small purple flower which, in addition to its symbolic value in Serbian tradition, has the ability, when it withers, to come back to life with a single drop of water. This title, therefore, has made fans believe that the song will be a ballad about the rebirth of a person after a difficult situation in their life. We can definitely expect a song with Balkan elements from Teya Dora, which she is used to espouse through her music.
As a reminder, the semi-finals of PZE2024 will take place on 27 and 29 February, while the Grand Final will be held on Saturday 2 March. In fact, this year you will be able to watch the show live on the official Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel.
Is there a name that stands out to you? Let us know in the comments below!
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