MONTENEGRO

The premiere of the Montenegrin entry was held on March 9th during a special RTCG broadcast from the Hotel Splendid, Podgorica. Back in November, Sergej Ćetković was internally selected to represent Montenegro. During the show it was revealed that he will be singing "Moj Svijet" (My World).

I watched the presentation show via the internet which was a lot of padding for a 3 minute song. They seemed to have everybody was anybody commenting on the song! Sergej has been a well known singer in the Balkans for a good 10 years or more so I cannot blame RTCG for making the show longer than it possibly should. They also inserted 'making of' clips of how they made the video for the song which were actually quite informative and interesting. 

The presentation was made in the form of the video clip, not a live performance which is a shame. This said the cinematography of the video is absolutely breath taking. If it hasn't been sponsored by the Montenegrin Tourist Board it should be. The views are quite staggering but most importantly it also fits with the style of the song. It does feel like Montenegro is being re-branded as Balkan Ireland! It would be worth them using some of the views from this as part of their video screen backdrop. This would look amazing on a wide shot.

The song is a slow Balkan ballad in the style of Željko Joksimović or Hari Mata Hari although the orchestration makes is sound very much more Celtic which is a welcome and unexpected mix. It has a long-ish introduction (by Eurovision standards) and starts with pipes and a violin, giving it that Irish feel. The first verse is quite slow and a little plain. After a minute the chorus starts which also signals a change of time signature in to a Viennese Waltz tempo 3/4 time which it stays in until the end.

There is so much about the entry that I like but there is one very large issue with the song. On further listens it becomes apparent that, with the long intro and a couple of long instrumentals, the song only consists of one verse, two choruses and an ending refrain. This just isn't enough for anybody to find a way into the song and find it memorable.
However, a few days later he released an English version of the song called "My Love" and although the Montenegrin version took precedence during the presentation, no final word has been given to the language he will be singing in at the contest. Both versions are below.

I've surprised myself by liking this song, especially as it is a ballad and nothing like "Euro Neuro" or "Igranka" which are two of my favourite songs. But Montenegro does not have a lot of luck on their side. Like Slovenia they have no Balkan neighbours to help them in the voting - or have Ireland or the UK voting either. Plus you have the history that Montenegro have NEVER qualified from a semi to the final.
I personally think that the English version will garner more votes, but the Montenegrin version sounds better. Sergej is not always able to make the 'th' sound which makes the English version sound a bit odd.
Although they probably deserve to qualify, I think this may just miss out. Again.

Artist - Sergej Ćetković

Song - Moj Svijet (My World)

Music - Sergej Ćetković

Lyrics - Sergej Ćetković, Emina Jahović