Before the country became independent on 3 June 2006, entries from Montenegro had participated in the contest as part of Yugoslavia and later Serbia and Montenegro. Entries from the former SR Montenegro placed 4th in 1983 and 18th in 1984 as part of Yugoslavia, and an entry from the Republic of Montenegro placed 7th in 2005 as part of Serbia and Montenegro.
History
RTCG organised the national final MontenegroSong to select the country's entries in 2007 and 2008, and internally selected the entry in 2009.
Montenegro failed to qualify for the final on its debut in 2007, as well as its appearances in 2008 and 2009. The country placed 11th in the first semi-final in 2009, its best result at the time, with "Just Get Out of My Life" performed by Andrea Demirović. In November 2009, RTCG announced that Montenegro would not participate in 2010 due to financial difficulties.[1] RTCG applied to participate in the 2011 contest, but with the caveat that the potential representative would have to find sponsors themselves to fund their participation.[2] As that did not come to fruition, in December 2010, Montenegro decided to not participate in the contest on financial grounds.[3]
On 20 November 2011, the head of RTCG revealed that Montenegro would participate in the 2012 contest in Baku.[4] The country internally selected its entry, "Euro Neuro" performed by Rambo Amadeus, which failed to qualify from the first semi-final. In 2013, Montenegro internally selected Who See and Nina Žižić with the song "Igranka", which failed to qualify. In 2014, Montenegro qualified for the final for the first time in its history with Sergej Ćetković's "Moj svijet". In 2015, Montenegro again qualified for the final with "Adio", performed by Knez and composed by Željko Joksimović. The song achieved the best Montenegrin result to date, finishing in 13th place. In 2016, RTCG selected Highway and their song "The Real Thing" internally. They performed in the first semi-final but failed to qualify, placing 13th with 60 points. In 2017, RTCG selected Slavko Kalezić and his song "Space" internally. The song failed to qualify, placing 16th. In 2018, RTCG organised the national final Montevizija to select their entry,[5] which was won by "Inje" performed by Vanja Radovanović.[6] The song failed to qualify from the second semi-final, placing 16th with 40 points. In 2019, RTCG again selected its representative through Montevizija,[7] which was won by "Heaven" performed by D mol.[8] The song failed to qualify from the first semi-final, placing 16th with 46 points.
Despite initially confirming its participation in the 2020 contest and aiming to expand Montevizija,[9][10] Montenegro ultimately did not enter the contest, which was later cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] RTCG later stated that the reason was due to "modest results" and financial issues.[12] Montenegro also did not participate in the 2021 contest, but returned in 2022, having internally selected Vladana to represent the country with the song "Breathe".[13][14] Once again, Montenegro failed to qualify for the final, finishing 17th in a field of 18 with 33 points in the second semi-final. Following another two-year absence,[15][16] Montenegro is set to return in 2025, with plans to hold a new national final format, Montesong 2024, in order to determine its entry.[17][18] On 31 October 2024, Boris Raonić, Director-General of RTCG, and Danijel Alibabić, President of the Association of Variety Performers of Montenegro, signed a formal cooperation agreement to establish Montesong as a common project, with Alibabić hinting at future editions of the festival.[19] The first edition of Montesong was won by Neonoen with "Clickbait", however, the band was discovered to have performed the song prior to the cut-off date, leading to their withdrawal and runner-up Nina Žižić with "Dobrodošli" subsequently being chosen as the Montenegrin entrant in Basel.[20]
Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the performers, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others.[23]
For the show's broadcast on RTCG, various commentators have provided commentary on the contest in the Montenegrin language. At the Eurovision Song Contest after all points are calculated, the presenters of the show call upon each voting country to invite each respective spokesperson to announce the results of their vote on-screen.[26]
^ abVučinić, Nada (14 May 2013). "Večernji program" [Evening program] (in Montenegrin). RTCG. Archived from the original on 2 May 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
