Country Macedonia Selected entrant Esma and Lozano | Selection process Internal Selection Selected song "Pred da se razdeni" | |
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Selection date(s) Artist: 29 December 2012
Song: 15 March 2013 Semi-final result Failed to qualify (16th, 28 points) | ||
Macedonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden. The Macedonian entry was selected through an internal selection, organised by the Macedonian broadcaster MRT. Esma and Lozano represented Macedonia with the song "Pred da se razdeni", which failed to qualify from the second semi-final of the competition, placing 16th and scoring 28 points.
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Internal selection
On 11 December 2012, it was reported that MRT would opt for an internal selection once again, previously having done so in 2004 and 2012. On 29 December 2012, MRT announced that Esma Redzepova and Vlatko Lozanoski would represent the nation together with a song that would also be internally selected. On 19 February it was revealed that the title of the song would be "Imperija" (Empire), with music by Simeon Atanasov and lyrics by Borče Nečovski.
MRT aired a special presentation show on 27 February from MRT Studios in Skopje, hosted by Dimitar Atanasovski. Esma and Vlatko performed songs from their respective repertoires and 2012 representative Kaliopi returned to reprise "Crno i belo". The program concluded with the presentation of the music video for "Imperija".
Song change
On 8 March, several Macedonian media outlets reported that the song "Imperija" would be withdrawn and replaced with a new song. The head of the delegation, Ljupco Mirkovski, cited that the change was due to dissatisfaction with the song and complaints from the Macedonian public. On 15 March, MRT presented "Pred da se razdeni", the new Macedonian entry with music composed by Darko Dimitrov, Lazar Cvetkovski and Simeon Atanasov, and lyrics by Magdalena Cvetkoska.
At Eurovision
Macedonia was allocated to compete in the second semi-final on 16 May for a place in the final on 18 May. In the second semifinal, the producers of the show decided that Macedonia would perform 3rd, following San Marino and preceding Azerbaijan. On stage, Esma and Lozano were joined by two backing vocalists: Nina Janeva and Eleonora Mustafovska. The Macedonian delegation contemplated several changes to their entry in Malmö, which included adding English language lyrics and changing the song title to "If I Could Change the World". Ultimately, the delegation decided to perform the entry in its original languages under the Macedonian language title of the song.
Macedonia failed to qualify from the second semi-final of the competition, placing 16th and scoring 28 points.