The association of Pop Artists and Performers of Montenegro has called on RTCG to return to the Eurovision Song Contest.
The local music industry in Montenegro is calling on the broadcaster to return to the Eurovision Song Contest, having withdrawn from competing following the 2019 contest. The Pop Artists and Performers of Montenegro released a statement on the matter following comments from RTCG council member Bojana Jokić who said that ‘Let me make you happy before the media, we will not be embarrassed at Eurovision in 2021 either’, implying the broadcaster is not competing in 2021.
The statement from the association of local musicians criticises the comments made by the council member adding that:
Musicians who have spread the fame of their country by winning awards at numerous festivals, who have produced performers and composers who have created works recognizable in the region and beyond. So we wonder who are we musicians blaming? If we talk about Eurovision we have never been embarrassed, because as one small country in the last ten years we have been in the finals twice and we have never been the last.
The group went on to list the success of Montenegrin artists at the competition both as an independent nation and as part of Serbia & Montenegro and Yugoslavia.
RTCG has yet to comment on whether they will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam.
Image Source: Eurovision.tv – Andres Putting / Source: RTCG
Montenegro debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest as an independent country in 2007, and participated until 2010 when they withdrew for financial reasons. They returned to the contest in 2012, and since then have always chosen their entry internally. Montenegro failed to qualify for the grand final until 2014, when Sergej Ćetković and his song “Moj svijet” placed 19th in the final. Their best result came a year later, when Knez performed “Adio” in Vienna. They have never reached the top 10, with Knez reaching 13th out of 27 countries.
