Country Serbia Selection date(s) 13 March 2010 Selected song "Ovo je Balkan" | Selection process Tri pa jedan za Oslo Selected entrant Milan Stanković | |
Semi-final result Qualified (5th, 79 points) | ||
Serbia entered the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, held in Oslo, Norway in May 2010, with Milan Stanković's "Ovo je Balkan" (This Is The Balkans).
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Selection
In November it was revealed that RTS was in discussions regarding the current selection method for the country's participation at Eurovision. Since the country's first participation in 2004 (as part of Serbia and Montenegro) the Beovizija song contest has been used to select the Serbian entries for the Evropesma contest, and later for the Eurovision proper.
However after much controversy regarding the contest, which included corrupt judging in Evropesma by both Serbian and Montenegrin juries, and later in Beovizija 2009, when rightful semi-finalists were incorrectly eliminated, and the public's favourite act in the final failing to win due to the juries, RTS confirmed that another method of selection might be used to select the Serbian entry for the 2010 Contest, which could be an internal choice by RTS, as was found in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary and Montenegro for the 2009 Contest.
It had been speculated that, in the case of an internal choice, the broadcaster would approach pop-rock band Negative, eliminated in Beovizija twice, to represent Serbia. The band's lead singer Ivana Peters had said that the band would not participate in Beovizija again after two failed attempts, but would represent Serbia if a different method of selection was used.
On 29 December RTS confirmed its new selection process: an internally selected composer would write a number of songs to be sung by singers of their choosing, which would be made public in January 2010 and compete in a televised program, with viewers selecting the winner by SMS voting. On 19 January RTS revealed that they had approached well-known musician Goran Bregović to write the Serbian entry. Bregović would write three songs for three different singers. Just four days later RTS confirmed that Marina Tucaković would write the lyrics for each of the three songs.
On 25 February RTS announced the three singers who would compete in the national final: A shortlist of 10 artists was announced by RTS on 19 February, who took part in preliminary auditions. These 10 artists were reduced to three by Bregović and a RTS committee. The final three artists were announced on 25 February: Emina Jahović, Milan Stanković, and Oliver Katic with Jelena Markovic.
A number of guest artists performed during the national final, including Jelena Tomašević (Serbia 2008), Marija Šerifović (Serbia 2007), Marko Kon (Serbia 2009), Zdravko Čolić (Yugoslavia 1973), Severina (Croatia 2006), and Regina (Bosnia and Herzegovina 2009).
At Eurovision
Serbia competed in the first semi-final of the contest, on 25 May.