Skopje Fest ( mk, Скопје фест) or Festival na zabavni melodii Skopje (Фестивал на забавни мелодии Скопје) is one of the main musical events in
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
.
SkopjeFest began in 1968 in the Universal Hall in
Skopje
Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre.
The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...
, and continued until 1980. In this short time, the festival became one of the biggest music events in
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
. Skopjefest was the place where famous Macedonian singers such as
Slave Dimitrov, Zafir Hadzimanov, Nina Spirova made their performances together with eminent
Yugoslav performers. Audiences enjoyed over 50 songs.
After Macedonia gained its independence peacefully from
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, SkopjeFest was revived in 1994, and has since taken over from
MakFest MakFest ( mk, МакФест) founded in 1986, is the largest festival of Macedonian popular music. It is held every year in November, in Štip, Republic of North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before Febr ...
as North Macedonia's premier music festival.
The show involves some of North Macedonia's finest performers, singing original tracks submitted to MRT (Makedonska Radio Televizija), usually accompanied by the orchestra of MRT (excluding some of its latest editions).
It has also been used as the Macedonian national selections for the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
, since the late 1990s. The first Macedonian representative in Eurovision, was Macedonian singer
Vlado Janevski
Vladimir Vlado Janevski ( mk, Владимир Владо Јаневски ) is a popular Macedonian singer. He was North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic ...
who won SkopjeFest 1998 with the song "Ne Zori Zoro", for the
Eurovision Song Contest 1998
The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcas ...
. This was Macedonia's first participation in the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
. Ever since, SkopjeFest has been shadowed by many controversial debates regarding the strategies behind the song selections and the lack of transparence concerning the winner. Such allegations are not new to this contest. However, they intensified as the Eurovision participation became a factor. After the decision to make SkopjeFest the National Pre-Selection round for Macedonia's representative to Eurovision, the traditional point award ceremony was eliminated and replaced by the controversial announcement of only the Top 3 places. Neither the points of the jury nor the televoting results are made public.
Up until 2002, SkopjeFest used to be the biggest musical activity in the country. However, it faced financial problems. In 2003, the festival wasn't held in order to save money for the next year when Macedonia was going to particate in the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
. In the meantime, MRT made new criteria for the national selection for the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
, the festival returned in 2004 only to celebrate the 60th anniversary of MRT. After that, financial problems increased and it wasn't organised until 2008, again as an ESC national final.
After the first details about selecting the Macedonian participant for the
Eurovision Song Contest 2012
The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song " Running Scared" by the duo Ell & Nikki. It was the first time Azerb ...
were revealed, it was announced that Skopje Fest will continue being held as an independent event without being involved in the Macedonian selection process for the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
.
On 15 July 2014, it was announced that Skopje Fest will return as the Macedonian national final for the
Eurovision Song Contest 2015
The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst. Organised by the European Broa ...
.
Winners
References
External links
Профил страна за Скопје фест на ВБУ Музички регистар.
{{Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest selection events
North Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
Music festivals established in 1968
Pop music festivals
Rock festivals in North Macedonia
Festivals in Skopje
Music festivals in Yugoslavia
1968 establishments in Yugoslavia