Molitva

"Molitva" ( sr-Cyrl, Молитва; "Prayer") is a song with music by Vladimir Graić, lyrics by Saša Milošević Mare, and sung by Serbian singer Marija Šerifović. It was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, performed for . The song marked the country's Eurovision debut as an independent nation, the having dissolved in June 2006. The song was released as a CD single in nine different versions on 27 July 2007 by Connective Records.

"Molitva" also won the semi-final in the 2007 competition, collecting 298 points, which was the highest number of points ever gained in the semi final under the single semi final format of the contest (2004–2007).

It was succeeded as the Serbian Representative by "Oro" by Jelena Tomašević and as the winning song by "Believe" by Dima Bilan from Russia.

Background

Molitva was the first song containing no English language lyrics to win since Dana International's win for in with "Diva". Molitva was the last entirely non-English song to win the contest until the 2017 edition, where 's Salvador Sobral won with "Amar pelos dois", as well as being the first time a ballad had won since televoting became the standard and the first one of the so-called " Balkan ballads" that came to prominence since the late 1990s to win the contest. The song is also notable for its stage presentation because it lacked dance routines, revealing or showy costumes, pyrotechnics and other gimmicks. The Eurovision Song Contest is often accused of concentrating on these things instead of the music itself. Many elements of "Molitva" contrasted with the previous winner, "Hard Rock Hallelujah".

Šerifović's performance was complemented by the notable presence of the five backing singers, who joined together afterwards to form Beauty Queens. They later joined her with a Serbian flag at the end.

Other versions

The English version is titled "Destiny", the Russian version is titled "" (Molitva), and the Finnish version is called ""; these were performed by the Beauty Queens, without Šerifović. The song has also been released as a dance remix and a remix named "Jovan Radomir mix" by Swedish TV-presenter Jovan Radomir, who also wrote the English lyrics. An instrumental version has also been released as well as a karaoke version. The UK oompah band Oompah Brass recorded an instrumental version of "Molitva" on their album ''Oompocalypse Now'' (2008), premiered at the 2007 Belgrade Beer Festival.

Use of the song

Molitva has been often played for many successes Serbia has had in the year 2007. It was played at a welcome party for Serbia's tennis players after their French Open successes.

During Wimbledon 2007, Molitva was often used during clips displaying the courts and players on the BBC
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