Yugoslavia participated 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 ...

27 times, debuting in 1961 and competing every year until its last appearance in 1992, with the exceptions of 1977–1980 and 1985. Yugoslavia won the 1989 contest and hosted the contest.

Ljiljana Petrović Ljiljana Petrović ( sr-cyr, Љиљана Петровић; 1939 – 4 February 2020) was a Serbian singer. She was born in Bosanski Brod, but was brought up in Novi Sad. She began to sing at local clubs and restaurants, and performed at a festiva ...

was Yugoslavia's first entrant in the contest in and placed eighth. In ,

Lola Novaković Zorana "Lola" Novaković (25 April 1935 – 3 April 2016) was a Serbian singer, hugely popular during the 1960s and to a lesser degree the 1970s. She was born in Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia. She represented FPR Yugoslavia at the Eurovision ...

gave the country its first top five result, finishing fourth. This would remain Yugoslavia's only top five result until , when

Danijel Danijel is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Danijel Aleksić (born 1991), Serbian footballer * Danijel Alibabić (born 1988), Montenegrin singer and songwriter * Danijel Brezič (born 1976), Slovenian football midfielder * D ...

finished fourth with the song "

Džuli "Džuli" ( sh-Cyrl, Џули; English version: "Julie") was the entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1983, performed in Serbo-Croatian by Montenegrin singer Daniel. It was performed 12th on the night, following the ' Bernadette with " Sing Me a ...

". Novi Fosili also finished fourth in with " Ja sam za ples". In 1989, the country achieved its only victory in the contest, when Riva won with the song " Rock Me".

History

1961–1991: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Eurovision Song Contest 1965 - Vice Vukov

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in along with Spain and Finland. The national pre-selection organized by the Yugoslav broadcaster

Yugoslav Radio Television Yugoslav Radio Television (''Jugoslavenska radiotelevizija''/Југославенска радиотелевизија or ''Jugoslavenska radio-televizija''/Југославенска радио-телевизија; JRT/ЈРТ) was the national ...

(JRT) was '' Jugovizija'', and it featured entries submitted by the

subnational Subnational or sub-national may refer to: * Administrative division, all administrative divisions are under the national level * Subnational legislature, a type of regional legislature, under the national level * Subnational state, a type of state, ...

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 The Socialist Republic of Macedonia ( mk, Социјалистичка Република Македонија, Socijalistička Republika Makedonija), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia or Yugoslav Macedonia, was ...

( RTV Skopje),

SR Montenegro The Socialist Republic of Montenegro ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Crna Gora, Социјалистичка Република Црна Гора), commonly referred to as Socialist Montenegro or simply Montenegro, was ...

( RTV Titograd), SR Serbia (

RTV Belgrade Radio Television of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, Радио-телевизија Србије, sr-Lat, Radio-televizija Srbije, italics=yes; abbr. RTS/PTC) is Serbia's public broadcaster. It broadcasts and produces news, drama, and sports programming thro ...

) and

SR Slovenia The Socialist Republic of Slovenia ( sl, Socialistična republika Slovenija, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Slovenija, Социјалистичка Република Словенија), commonly referred to as Sociali ...

(

RTV Ljubljana Radiotelevizija Slovenija ( en, Radio-Television of Slovenia) – usually abbreviated to RTV Slovenija (or simply RTV within Slovenia) – is Slovenia's national public broadcasting organization. Based in Ljubljana, it has regional broadcastin ...

) and also the broadcasting services of the

autonomous provinces Autonomous province is a term for a type of province that has administrative autonomy.Collins Dictionar ...

within SR Serbia: SAP Kosovo ( RTV Priština) and SAP Vojvodina ( RTV Novi Sad).Jugovizija statistics by year
, ''Eurodalmatia'' official ESC

fan club A fans club is an organized group of fans, generally of a celebrity. Most fans clubs are run by fans who devote considerable time and resources to support them. There are also "official" fan clubs that are run by someone associated with the per ...

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

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

1992: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

During the

breakup of Yugoslavia The breakup of Yugoslavia occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the early 1990s. After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

in 1991, the former constituent republics of Croatia, Slovenia and

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

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 Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

. 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.Alma Čardžić Bio – Official Site
The winner of that pre-selection was " Ljubim te pesmama" performed by Extra Nena (Snežana Berić) from Serbia.Extra Nena Bio – Official Site
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 . 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 proclaimed independence. The once subnational public radio and TV stations changed to national but under new names, including:

RTVSLO Radiotelevizija Slovenija ( en, Radio-Television of Slovenia) – usually abbreviated to RTV Slovenija (or simply RTV within Slovenia) – is Slovenia's national public broadcasting organization. Based in Ljubljana, it has regional broadcastin ...

, HRT, RTS, MRT and so on. Since joining the EBU respectively, all of the ex-Yugoslav countries have independently participated in the Eurovision Song Contest: , , , , and (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, (as a union) and Bosnia and Herzegovina have enjoyed high scores in the 2000s, and North Macedonia has secured a top 10 result and made it through to the final each year until

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, in which, even though they came 10th, they didn't qualify to the final. In , Serbia and Montenegro debuted and came in 2nd. In , Serbia and Montenegro entered the contest as independent nations, with Montenegro failing to qualify for the final and Serbia going on to win. In , 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.

Participation overview

The following lists the 27 contestants that won the local competition and went on to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. Yugoslavia is one of the few countries that have sent all the songs in one of the official languages, which were Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian, and

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...

. 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 made it to the contest, illustrating a cultural marginalisation of the poorest parts of the country. National selections from 1978 to 1980 and 1985 also took place, but with no intention of sending a representative to the contest.

Hostings

Conductors

Related involvement

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.

Notes

References

External links

Points to and from Yugoslavia
''eurovisioncovers.co.uk'' {{Authority control Former countries in the Eurovision Song Contest Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest