RTCG receives 32 submissions for Montesong 2024.
The Montenegrin broadcaster has received a total of 32 submissions for their Eurovision 2025 national final, Montesong. However, this number could rise as the organisers of Montesong have announced that they are leaving space for additional applications that might arrive in the coming days via the Post of Montenegro.
Once all the submissions have been received, a selection committee will be tasked with listening to all of the songs, and chosing the 16 songs that will compete in the final of Montesong 2024. The finalists will have the opportunity to further improve their songs, and take them from demo to Montesong ready until November 1st.
The 16 songs that will compete in Montesong 2024 will be uploaded onto YouTube ten days before the final, so that the audience can familiarise themselves with the songs and so they can have enough time to make a decision on who to vote for in the final.
Despite this being the first edition of Montesong, media reports from Montenegro confirm that there is great interest in Montesong. The Director of Montesong Danijel Alibabić, spoke to PopTop on Radio Crne Gore about doubts and misinterpretations regarding the motivation and encouragement of the performers:
“Nobody is invited to specifically participate in Montesong, nor can they be invited to represent Montenegro at Eurovision, without first being part of the festival. There are no invitations from the Association of Variety Arists and Performers, nor from RTCG.”
Artistic Director and Montenegro’s Eurovision 2022 representative Vladana Vučinić, explains that the songs in the contest will represent a cross-section of the Montenegrin music scene: “By this, we will know if there is a basis for this competition to continue year after year. I hope that the musicians will live up to expectations and that Montesong will become a tradition.”
More details about Montesong 2024 are expected to be revealed later today on TVCG2.
After initially being planned to take place over two nights, on November 26th and 27th, RTCG announced a few weeks ago that the show would now be a one night show on November 27th at the Voco Sports Hall in Podgorica. The final results will be decided by 50% televoting and 50% jury voting.
Back in August, Montenegro confirmed that they would be returning to Eurovision in 2025, after withdrawing from the 2023 and 2024 contests due to financial reasons. Their participation in Basel will mark the country’s 13th participation Eurovision since their debut as Montenegro in 2007. They had previously participated in 2004 and 2005 as Serbia and Montenegro.
Across their 12 participations, Montenegro has only qualified to the final on two occassions – with Sergej Ćetković in 2014 and Knez in 2015. They finished in 19th and 13th place respectively. Montenegro’s last participation was in Turin in 2022, where Vladana sang “Breathe”, finishing in 17th place in semi final 2.
Are you excited for Montesong 2024? Which Montenegrin artists would you like to see participating in the contest? Let us know your artist wishlist in the comments below!
Photo: Nathan Reinds / EBU
