Serbia to select its Eurovision 2018 representative through Beovizija

Through an official statement by Olivera Kovacevic – music editor at Serbia’s national broadcaster (RTS) we find out that the long awaited comeback of BEOVIZIJA is in the making for 2018.

The famous festival was used as a national selection in order to find Serbia’s representative at the Eurovision Song Contest from 2007 until 2009. The late Balkan superstar – Tose Proeski (FYR Macedonia 2004) was the first winner of Beovizija in 2003 with his mega popular “Cija Si“.

Beovizija 2018

Olivera speaks candidly about what RTS has in store for us regarding the revival of the festival:
“The song submission period is still in progress and It will remain opened until the 20th of October. If we receive over 30 entries, a panel of professionals will narrow them down to only 10. We plan to stage a national final with these 10 acts in February in order to let the public and the jury decide Serbia’s 2018 Eurovision representative.”
In addition to that, Olivera also states that the selection process will be fully transparent and that the list of applicants will be available to the public.

Serbia at Eurovision through Beovizija

Despite being immensely popular in Serbia and in the Balkan region, Beovizija was only used to determine Serbia’s Eurovision representative 3 times. The most memorable moment for Serbia in the contest has to be Marija’s 2007 winning entry “Moltiva”.

Gaining momentum after Serbia’s Eurovision win, Beovizija was on the radar in the Eurovision fandom. The 6th winner of the festival was the beautiful Jelena Tomasevic and her ethnic ballad “Oro“.
Unfortunately, the last edition of Beovizija resulted with a non qualification at Eurovision. Marko Kon did not manage to take Serbia to the finals with his campy “Cipela“.
Other winners of the festival: Tose Proeski (2003), Negative (2004), Jelena Tomasevic (2005) and Flamingosi (2006).
In any event,
Are you happy for the return of Beovizija? Is Serbia making a smart move by involving the public in the selection process? What’s your favorite Beovizija winner so far? Would you like to see a returning artist back at contest for Serbia? Who would you like to see as their Eurovision representative in 2018?
Let us know in the comments section below and on all social media at @ESCXTRA.