Earlier today, Serbian national broadcaster RTS confirmed that the country would be participating in the 2017 Junior Eurovision Song Contest. The contest is taking place in the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi on November 26th. RTS have also revealed that they are returning to an open submissions process to find their entry. Interested young artists have until August 15th to submit their applications.
RTS reveal the rules
RTS published a set of rules for the interested artists to follow. You can read them here in Serbian. Among the most important rules are that the artist must be between 9 and 14 years old on November 26th and be a citizen of Serbia. Their song must be performed in an official language of the country. In addition, either the lead artist or one of the other proposed on-stage performers must have contributed to the composition of the song. Finally, the song must not have been made public prior to May 1st of this year.
A televised selection is unlikely
Furthermore, RTS state that a jury panel will choose the winning application. It is most likely that the shortlisted applicants will perform for the jury behind closed doors rather than be a televised selection show.
Can Serbia secure their first victory?
Last year, Dunja Jeličić represented Serbia in Valletta. She was internally selected by RTS to perform the uptempo dance-pop entry U La La La. Unfortunately, Dunja finished in 17th place, Serbia’s lowest placing at the contest. Their highest finishes occurred in 2007 and 2010. On these occasions respectively, Nevena Božović and Sonja Škorić finished in 3rd place. Of course, Nevena went on to represent Serbia at the adult contest as part of girl band Moje 3. Also, today is Nevena’s 23rd birthday!
Are you pleased Serbia will be making their 9th participation in Junior Eurovision this year? Are there any artists you’d like to see apply? Let us know in the comments section below and via our social media channels @ESCXTRA!
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