In an Instagram story, Vladana Vučinić revealed that she had resigned from her position at Montenegro’s broadcaster RTCG, and raised questions about the organisation of Montesong, Montenegro’s national selection for Eurovision 2025.
The backdrop of the “Clickbait controversy”
Vladana Vučinić represented Montenegro at Eurovision in 2022, in Turin, with the song “Breathe”. After two years out of the contest, she was among those supporting a Montenegrin comeback to Eurovision, and used her position as Creative Director at RTCG to support the launch of a new national selection, Montesong.
She acted as artistic director and co-host of the show, which was held last week, on Wednesday, and saw the surprise victory of rock band NeonoeN’s entry, “Clickbait”.
In the days that followed, a video of “Clickbait” being performed at a festival in 2023 raised concerns about the song’s eligibility to take part in Eurovision. This could be seen as a violation of the rule that requires entries to be commercially published after September 1st, the year before Eurovision. This date also applies to public performances, in the spirit of levelling the field of play and limiting unfair advantage for a song that could be known to the public months before others.
Before a decision was officially reached, NeonoeN withdrew from participating at Eurovision, leaving RTCG with a decision to make on who will replace them.
Vladana’s resignation and statement
A few hours after this announcement, with speculations going on about who would replace NeonoeN, Vladana Vučinić reacted on social media, revealing that she had already resigned from her employment at RTCG the day after Montesong’s broadcast, which would mean last Thursday.
Her statement was the following, in response to an online comment speculating that the runner-up and favourite, Nina Žižić (who sang “Dobrodošli”), would be chosen, “because that’s what Vladana wants“:
Because of such insinuations, which only harm everyone, I take this opportunity to inform you that I announced my resignation from RTCG the day after Montesong ended, because I felt a moral obligation to do so.
In addition, I would like to remind you that the Public Service of Montenegro [RTCG] is obliged to present publicly available information to the public, and thus answer the following questions, which I hope they will do.
-how and in what way was Montesong financed?
-who and in what way did RTCG present this entire project?
-did anyone receive special fees?
-what exactly were RTCG’s obligations under the contract, in terms of scripts, production, hosts, etc.?
-what were the mistakes and will something be done about it, so that this festival can continue in the future?When things are done transparently, there is no need to keep quiet about them, because it only casts a shadow on the months of effort invested, and Eurovision is again put in a negative context, which ultimately harms musicians in Montenegro and their promotion in Europe.
Personally, I take my hat off to the guys from NeonoeN, I think it is a fair move and I am sincerely sorry that they will not represent Montenegro with a message that is current. Whoever [goes to Eurovision], good luck to them – we don’t have to make a drama about everything.
One good thing about all this is that for a short time, politicians and politics have been put on the back burner, that we have a scene, to which the Public Service and other media must give a little more space.
Vladana Vučinić – statement on her Instagram account from December 4th, 2024
RTCG has yet to respond to this statement, which has only been dropped a few hours ago.
What do you think about Vladana’s resignation? Is her statement worrying? How do you feel RTCG is managing the aftermath of their selection? Tell us more in the comments below or on social media at @escxtra!
