Beovizija 2003 was the first edition of

Beovizija ''Beovizija'' ( sr, Беовизија) was a music festival established in 2003. Since 2007 it was the national selection for Serbia's representative at the Eurovision Song Contest. ''Beovizija'' is organised and broadcast live each year by RTS1 ...

. It was held from April 12 to April 14, 2003. Unlike the other editions of Beovizija, this wasn't involved in choosing the Serbo-Montenegrin entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. Serbia and Montenegro made their debut

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Lane Moje "Lane moje" ( sr-cyr, Лане моје, ; literally "My Fawn", figuratively "My Darling") is the name of the song performed by Serbian musician Željko Joksimović at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 for , in which it finished second. Inspired ...

". The festival was supposed to take place from March 23 - 25, 2003 but was delayed due to emergency rule in-force at the time in the country due to the assassination of the prime minister of Serbia

Zoran Đinđić Zoran Đinđić ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран Ђинђић, ; 1 August 1952 – 12 March 2003) was a Serbian politician who served as the prime minister of Serbia from 2001 until his assassination in 2003. He was the mayor of Belgrade in 1997. Đinđi� ...

. This Beovizija was planned to be the "rehearsal" for next years Eurovision selection. Beovizija 2003 was very different from the other ones that would follow. From 200 songs submitted to participate at the festival only 28 were chosen. They were sung over 2 night April 12 and 13, when the voting was conducted and the Serbian music awards handed out. On April 14 the "Winners review" show was broadcast where the best songs from the previous two nights were performed. The night was hosted by model Katarina Rebrača, television host Milica Gacin and actor

Feđa Stojanović Feđa Stojanović (31 January 1948 – 5 May 2021) was a Serbian actor. He appeared in more than eighty films since 1962. In 2017, Feđa Stojanović signed the Declaration on the Common Language of the Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks and Montenegrins.

. It was the only time a 3 people team hosted Beovizija, The interval act was performed by Vlado Georgiev and Dejan Najdanović Najda while the turn out of the public to the

Sava Centar Sava Centar ( sr, Сава центар) is an international congress, cultural and business centre of various multi-functional activities located in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is the largest audience hall in the country and entire forme ...

, where the event was hosted was noticeably low. The event (broadcast and produced by national television network

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) was the most watched light-entertainment programme of the year in Serbia in term of ratings. The jury was composed of Sanja Ilić (president), Slobodan Kovačević and Dragan Brajović (composers), Ivana Pavlović, Tanja Banjanin and Leo Martin (musicians), Bogomir Mijatović (singer) and Svetlana Đurašević and Aleksandar Filipović (music critics).

Winners, losers and the extravagant

With 75 points

Toše Proeski Todor "Toše" Proeski ( mk, Тодор "Тоше" Проески, ; 25 January 1981 – 16 October 2007) was a Macedonian multi-genre singer and songwriter. Considered a top act of the local Macedonian and Balkan music scene, Proeski's music wa ...

was the first winner of Beovizija with the song ''Čija si''("To Whom Do You Belong?"), composed by Leontina Vukomanović (who received an award of RSD300,000 ( £2,700)). This song became a huge hit in Macedonia and the other former Yugoslav republics. This song was due to represent Serbia and Montenegro in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2003 The Eurovision Song Contest 2003 was the 48th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Riga, Latvia, following the country's victory at the with the song " I Wanna" by Marie N. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) a ...

but the EBU stated that too many countries wanted to enter in that year and so some would be forced to withdraw. Serbia and Montenegro (who participated as one country at the time) were one of them. Null points were awarded to Tempo Slavija, Pasaž trio, Danijela Vranić, Husa, and Jellena by both the jury and public. The most extravagant performance of the evening was performed last. The extremely popular

turbo-folk Turbo-folk (sometimes referred as pop-folk or popular folk) is subgenre of contemporary pop music with its origins in Serbia, that initially developed during the 1980s and 1990s, with similar music styles in Bulgaria (chalga), Romania (manele ...

singer

Jelena Karleuša Jelena Karleuša ( sr-cyr, Јелена Карлеуша; born 17 August 1978) is a Serbian singer and media personality. Born and raised in Belgrade, she rose to prominence upon the release of her debut album ''Ogledalce'' in 1995, which was su ...

descended from the ceiling of Sava Centar. She performed her song "Manijak" in Madonna's unique style. During her performance a large bed was brought on to the stage by a group of nearly naked young men whom Karleuša danced with. She then jumped on the bed and started a pillow fight therefore ending Beovizija with feathers and confetti flying everywhere.

Results

{{Beovizija 2003 in Serbian television