Country Serbia and Montenegro Selection date(s) 21 February 2004 Selected song "Lane Moje" | Selection process Evropesma 2004 Selected entrant Željko Joksimović | |
Semi-final result Qualified (1st, 263 points) | ||
Serbia and Montenegro returned to the Eurovision Song Contest after a 12-year absence, previously as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Contents
Serbia and Montenegro decided their entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 through Evropesma 2004, where it was decided, through the use of 8 judges (4 from Montenegro and 4 from Serbia) and televoting, that Željko Joksimović, with the song "Lane moje", would sing for Serbia and Montenegro at Eurovision 2004.
There was some controversy in the national final, in that the Serbian judges did not give a single point to the Montenegrin songs. However, it was agreed on both sides that Joksimović's song was the best.
Evropesma 2004
The national final, Evropesma 2004, was held on 21 February 2004 in the Sava Center, Belgrade. Four songs from the Serbian preselection Beovizija 2004, plus 20 pre-selected songs competed to represent Serbia and Montenegro at the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul.
At Eurovision
As of 2004, the Eurovision Song Contest included a semi-final to select 10 countries to progress to the final. Joksimović sang at the semi-final on 12 May 2004, singing 20th, following Denmark and preceding Bosnia and Herzegovina. The song came first in the semi-final, with 263 points, and progressed to the final.
At the final on 15 May, Joksimović sang 5th, following France and preceding Malta. The song came 2nd, behind Ruslana of the Ukraine, with 263 points, meaning that Serbia and Montenegro automatically qualified for the final in the 2005 contest.