Montenegrin broadcaster RTCG has revealed that they will reveal Montenegro’s representative for Eurovision 2022 on Tuesday 4th January. It will be the country’s first act since D-Mol in 2019, after a two-year absence from the contest. In a change to Montenegro’s last two participations, Montenegro will select their artist via internal selection.
Montenegro’s act for Turin will be announced on TVCG’s morning show on Tuesday with Radio Montenegro’s music editor Stana Salgo revealing the representative. Earlier this month, the broadcaster announced that they received 30 submissions for the internal selection. It is the highest number of submissions that Montenegro has received in a decade.
Who will represent Montenegro?
With the Balkan country returning to an internal selection for 2022, songwriters (regardless of nationality) were invited to compete with up to two songs. Singers, however, must have Montenegrin citizenship. Songs released prior to 1st October were not eligible to enter.
A ten-member jury has ranked each act based on three categories, and awarded points out of a maximum total. The following points were available:
- Song – 50 points available
- Lyrics – 30 points available
- Productional potential of the piece – 20 points available
The maximum number of points an entry can receive is 100 points, with the highest scoring entry winning the ticket to Turin. The winner will be announced by RTCG on 4th January.
Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest
Upon gaining independence in 2006, Montenegro applied to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007. Debut entrant Stevan Faddy failed to qualify from the 28 country semi final. Two further attempts in the late 2000s yielded the same result. Upon returning in 2012, Montenegro found greater fortune, qualifying in succession in both 2014 and 2015. Their best result came in 2015, where Knez came 13th with his song ‘Adio’.
Their latest entry came in 2019, where group D-Mol failed to qualify with their song ‘Heaven’. The country missed out on the 2020 and 2021 contests, but is set to return in 2022.
Shortly after the announcement, Ivan Maksimović, the Head of Entertainment at RTCG, confirmed that Montevizija will not be used to select the Montenegrin act for Eurovision 2022 due to financial constraints on the broadcaster and the uncertainty of the pandemic.
Who are you hoping to see represent Montenegro? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to see our reactions to the news in the upcoming months.