Country Bosnia and Herzegovina Selection date(s) 11 January 2010 | Selection process Internal selection Selected entrant Vukašin Brajić | |
Selected song "Thunder and Lightning" Semi-final result Qualified (8th, 59 points) | ||
Bosnia and Herzegovina selected its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 through an internal selection process. A public call for songs was held by the Bosnian national broadcaster Radiotelevizija Bosne i Hercegovine (BHRT), and Vukašin Brajić was selected by the broadcaster to represent the country with the song "Munja i grom". The song was premiered in a special programme to be broadcast on BHT1 television on 7 March 2010. It has since been confirmed that Brajić will perform the English version of the song, "Thunder and Lightning", at the Contest in May.
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Selection process
Once again BHRT has decided to select the Bosnian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest through an internal selection. A public call for songs has been made by BHRT, with interested parties invited to submit entries to BHRT until 20 December. The performing artists must have Bosnian citizenship, however the authors may be non-Bosnian.
Between 80 and 100 songs were received by BHRT for the contest, with the artist announced on 11 January. Vukašin Brajić, runner-up of Balkan talent contest Operacija trijumf in 2009 was selected by the broadcaster with the song "Munja i grom" (Thunder and lightning). The song will be presented on 14 March 2010, in a special presentation show broadcast by BHRT.
A number of guest performers from this year's Eurovision performed during the presentation show: Marcin Mroziński of Poland, maNga of Turkey, former Bosnian Eurovision entrant in 2005 Feminnem, now representing Croatia, Gjoko Taneski of Macedonia, Milan Stanković of Serbia, and Niamh Kavanagh of Ireland. The Bosnian entry for the 2009 Contest Regina, Eurovision 2009 winner Alexander Rybak, Macedonian entry for the 2002 and 2007 Contests Karolina Gočeva, and Croatian singer and Brajić's Operacija trijumf colleague Ana Bebić also performed during the show. The Bosnian 1994 singers Alma Čardžić and Dejan Lazarević were also present, as the guests of honour, and performed their 1994 Eurovision song "Ostani kraj mene".
Financial debt
It was revealed on 19 February 2010 that Bosnia and Herzegovina's participation in the Contest may be put in danger due to substantial debts owed to the EBU nearing 2.9 million Swiss francs (close to €2 million), with the EBU requesting a payment of 250,000CHF (€170,000) to be paid by 30 April or BHRT will not be allowed to take part at the contest. The Bosnian Head of Delegation Dejan Kukric has denied that there is a crisis with unpaid debt, and that Bosnia and Herzegovina's participation in the 2010 Contest will go ahead as planned.
At Eurovision
Bosnia and Herzegovina will compete in the first semi-final of the contest on 25 May, performing during the first half of the draw.
On 17 March it was confirmed that Brajić will perform "Munja i grom" in English, as "Thunder and Lightning", with lyrics by Ulvija Tanović and Brajić himself.