Jana Burčeska will represent F.Y.R. Macedonia in Eurovision 2017!

Earlier this evening, MRT (the Macedonian national broadcaster) revealed that Jana Burčeska would represent Macedonia at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. Jana has been internally selected, just as Kaliopi was for this year’s contest. MRT have also announced that Jana’s song will also be internally selected. However, the expected release date for the entry is yet to be determined.

More about Jana Burčeska…

Jana first rose to fame after placing fifth in the first ever series of Macedonian Idol which aired in 2011. She used this platform to further her music career in her home country. Consequently, Jana entered popular music show Skopje Fest three times – in 2012, 2013 and 2015. However, while Skopje Fest has been used to select Macedonian Eurovision entries in the past, such as when Daniel Kajmakoski won the competition in late 2014, it wasn’t used to do so in the three times Jana entered the competition. Instead, Esma & Lozano, Tijana Dapčević and Kaliopi were internally selected in favour of using Skopje Fest.

Jana performing a cover of Aretha Franklin’s classic “Think” on Macedonian Idol in 2011

Turning around Macedonia’s fortunes

MRT have stated that they are in the process of choosing a songwriting team that will result in a “modern and attractive Eurovision product“. Nevertheless, the song will also ensure that Macedonia’s “national character” will be presented in front of the European and global audience. Macedonia will be hoping that this will turn around their poor Eurovision record in recent years. The country have only qualified once in their nine most recent appearances at the contest. Kaliopi was responsible for this sole qualification when Crno i belo finished 13th in 2012. Unfortunately she couldn’t repeat her success this year. She returned to the contest in 2016 with Dona, but fell agonisingly short of qualifying by finishing 11th in the second semi-final in Stockholm.

Jana performing acoustically in September 2014
Do you think the selection of Jana suggests a possible improvement to Macedonia’s results? Perhaps they could even improve upon Elena Risteska’s finish of 12th place in 2006, which remains a national record? Let us know your thoughts on the selection in the comments below!