Yugoslavia In The Eurovision Song Contest

Yugoslavia won the 1989 contest and hosted the 1990 contest.

Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest
(1961–1991) (1992)
Former participating broadcaster	Jugoslavenska radiotelevizija (JRT)
Participation summary
Appearances	27
First appearance	1961
Last appearance	1992
Highest placement	1st: 1989
Host	1990
Participation history 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992
Related articles
Jugovizija
External links
Yugoslavia's page at Eurovision.tv

Ljiljana Petrović was Yugoslavia's first entrant in the contest in 1961 and placed eighth. In 1962, Lola Novaković gave the country its first top five result, finishing fourth. This would remain Yugoslavia's only top five result until 1983, when Danijel finished fourth with the song "Džuli". Novi Fosili also finished fourth in 1987 with "Ja sam za ples". In 1989, the country achieved its only victory in the contest, when Riva won with the song "Rock Me".

1961–1991: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

 

 

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961 along with Spain and Finland. The national pre-selection organized by the Yugoslav broadcaster Yugoslav Radio Television (JRT) was Jugovizija, and it featured entries submitted by the subnational public broadcasting centers based in the capitals of each of the constituent republics of the Yugoslav federation: SR Bosnia and Herzegovina (RTV Sarajevo), SR Croatia (RTV Zagreb and RTV Split), SR Macedonia (RTV Skopje), SR Montenegro (RTV Titograd), SR Serbia (RTV Belgrade) and SR Slovenia (RTV Ljubljana) and also the broadcasting services of the autonomous provinces within SR Serbia: SAP Kosovo (RTV Priština) and SAP Vojvodina (RTV Novi Sad). The first to compete in 1961 were Belgrade, Ljubljana and Zagreb, while the others joined in the following years.

Yugoslavia was represented by a variety of artists from five of the eight Yugoslav federal units. These artists were from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia, with Macedonia, Vojvodina, and Kosovo never passing the national pre-selection. Croatia was the most successful constituent republic, as its performers won the national contest 13 out of the 26 times SFR Yugoslavia took part in the contest. From 1977 to 1980, and in 1985, Yugoslavia did not participate in the contest, however national finals still took place.

Yugoslavia won the 1989 contest with the song "Rock Me" by the group Riva. In accordance with the rules, the 1990 contest took place in Zagreb, as the entry came from Croatia.

1992: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

During the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, the former constituent republics of Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia declared secession and hence withdrew from Jugovizija, while the then-leaderships of Serbia and Montenegro agreed to maintain a close alliance. On 28 March 1992, the republics that still (at least formally) constituted the fading and shrunken former Yugoslav federation took part in 1992's Jugovizija held in Belgrade. It included artists not only from Serbia and Montenegro, but also from Bosnia and Herzegovina, although the latter declared independence on 1 March of that year. Among its candidates was Alma Čardžić. The winner of that pre-selection was "Ljubim te pesmama" performed by Extra Nena (Snežana Berić) from Serbia. Before that year's contest took place, on 28 April, a new federal state was formed, consisting of Serbia and Montenegro and called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which was represented by the previously mentioned Extra Nena in the 1992 contest. Yugoslavia was banned from participating in the contest until 2001 due to UN sanctions during the Yugoslav Wars. The sanctions went into effect only a few weeks after the 1992 contest.

1993–present: After the breakup

After the breakup of Yugoslavia, its former constituent republics declared independence. The formerly sub-national public radio and TV stations of Yugoslavia changed to national but under new names, including: RTVSLO, HRT, RTS, MRT, BHRT and RTCG. Since joining the EBU respectively, all of the ex-Yugoslav countries have independently participated in the Eurovision Song Contest: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and North Macedonia (until 2018 designated as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia).

Overall, the results of the new republics have been mixed: Croatia had some top 10 finishes in the late 1990s, Serbia and Montenegro (as a union) and Bosnia and Herzegovina have enjoyed high placings in the 2000s, and North Macedonia has secured a top 10 result and made it through to the final each year until 2008, in which, even though it came 10th in its semi-final, it did not qualify for the final. In 2004, Serbia and Montenegro debuted and came in second place. In 2007, Montenegro and Serbia entered the contest as independent nations, with Montenegro failing to qualify for the final and Serbia securing its only first place to date, and the only of any former Yugoslav republic. In 2013, no ex-Yugoslav country secured a spot in the final, as Bosnia and Herzegovina withdrew before the contest began; Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia all failed to qualify in the first semi-final; and North Macedonia failed to qualify in the second semi-final. 2023 was the first time that all participating ex-Yugoslav countries qualified to the final, with Croatia finishing 13th, Slovenia 21st and Serbia 24th.

The following lists the 27 contestants that won the local competition and went on to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest.

22 out of the 26 Yugoslav entries in the contest between 1961 and 1991 were in Serbo-Croatian and the rest in Slovenian. The majority of entries, 11, came from Croatia, where Yugoslavia's pop music industry was centered. No entry from Macedonia or Kosovo ever made it to the contest, illustrating a cultural marginalisation of the poorest parts of the country.

National contests also took place between 1978 and 1980 and in 1985, but with no intention of sending a representative to the contest.

Conductors

Year	Conductor	Musical director	Notes	Ref.
1961	Jože Privšek	N/A
1962
1963	Miljenko Prohaska
1964	Radivoje Spasić
1965
1966	Mojmir Sepe
1967	Mario Rijavec
1968	Miljenko Prohaska
1969
1970	Mojmir Sepe
1971	Miljenko Prohaska
1972	Nikica Kalogjera
1973	Esad Arnautalić
1974	Zvonimir Skerl
1975	Mario Rijavec
1976	Esad Arnautalić
1981	Ranko Rihtman
1982	Zvonimir Skerl
1983	Radovan Papović
1984	Mato Došen
1986	Nikica Kalogjera
1987
1988
1989
1990	Stjepan Mihajlineć	Igor Kuljerić
1991	Slobodan Marković	N/A
1992	Anders Berglund

Commentators and spokespeople

• Due to Croatia and Slovenia becoming independent countries in the breakup of Yugoslavia, in 1992 there was no Croatian or Slovene commentator.

• Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Young Dancers
• Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Young Musicians
• Yugoslav pop and rock scene

Participation of successor states in Eurovision

Participation of successor states in Junior Eurovision