Drama Pursues Drama in Montenegro: Vladana Vučinić, Montenegro’s 2022 Eurovision Representative, Resigned as the Artistic Director of Montesong!
Vladana Vučinić, Montenegro’s 2022 Eurovision Representative with the song “Breathe“, unexpectedly announced her resignation from her position as the artistic director of Montenegro’s Eurovision pre-selection, Montesong. This announcement, made via a story on the singer’s private Instagram account, comes just days after the competition, during which serious questions were raised about the management of the process and the musical selections.
NeonoeN band, which was selected to represent Montenegro in Eurovision 2025 after winning the Montenegrin Eurovision pre-selection “Montesong 2024” held last week, has withdrawn from the competition. The withdrawal occurred following a scandal involving the band, where it was found that they performed a different version of their song “Clickbait” well before September 1st, 2024, which is against the competition rules.
In the Montesong 2024 pre-selection held last week, the rock band NeonoeN surprisingly won with their song “Clickbait“. However, just days later, a video revealed showing the song performed at a music festival back in 2023, raising questions about the band’s eligibility to participate in Eurovision.
According to the competition rules, any song whose official release date is from SeLe diffuseur national monténégrin, RTCG, n’a pas encore répondu aux déclarations de Vladana, mais la demande de transparence et d’amélioration des processus organisationnels suscite déjà un large discours public sur les réseaux sociaux. Le temps dira si le Monténégro pourra se remettre de cette crise et garantir une participation respectable à l’Eurovision 2025ptember 1st, 2024, is eligible to participate in the current Eurovision competition (2025) and so on each year. When a song is performed in a public place, like the mentioned festival, it still gathers an audience similar to its exposure on social media. Following the controversy, the band NeonoeN chose to withdraw from participating in Eurovision, leaving the Montenegrin national broadcaster, RTCG, with a complex decision regarding the selection of the next representative.
Vladana revealed that she announced her resignation the day after the conclusion of the Eurovision pre-selection she hosted, claiming she felt a “moral obligation.” She emphasized in her story that the broadcasting authority is obligated to disclose details about the management of the competition and demanded answers to several key questions:
- How and in what manner was the competition funded?
- Who were the parties that presented the project to RTCG?
- Did anyone receive special payments?
- What were the broadcasting authority’s commitments regarding aspects such as scripting, production and hosting?
- What mistakes were made and will steps be taken to prevent them in the future?
Vladana called for transparency and stated:
“when things are done transparently, there is no need to hide them. Such concealment harms musicians and brings Eurovision back into a negative context.”
While hinting at a cloud of corruption and economic and ethical issues.
Despite the criticism, Vladana expressed support for the participants and called for not turning the affair into unnecessary drama. She expressed regret over the withdrawal of the band NeonoeN but praised the move as a “fair step.” Vladana also highlighted a positive point in the events:
“At least for a short time, politicians and politics were pushed aside, and we have a platform that deserves more space.”
The Montenegrin national broadcaster, RTCG, has yet to respond to Vladana’s statements, but the demand for transparency and improvement in organizational processes is already sparking widespread public discourse on social media. Time will tell if Montenegro can recover from the crisis and ensure a respectable participation in Eurovision 2025.
Montenegro in Eurovision 2022
“Breathe” is the name of the song performed by singer Vladana Vučinić, who represented Montenegro in the second semi-final of Eurovision 2022. The song was written by Vladana herself along with Darko Dimitrov, who has composed 11 songs for the competition over the years for Albania, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro. Dimitrov’s most successful entry is “Proud,” which represented North Macedonia in Eurovision 2019 and reached seventh place. “Breathe” was performed in English and Italian and was dedicated to Vladana’s mother, who had passed away a year earlier from COVID-19. Vladana only reached 17th place (second to last) in the second semi-final with just 33 points. This is one of the most disappointing results Montenegro has experienced in the competition.
NeonoeN – Who Are You?
The band NeonoeN was formed in 2012 under the name Neon. The members are Marko Vukčević, the lead vocalist; Ilija Pejović, the songwriter and guitarist; Filip Vulanović, the bassist; and Milan Vujović, the drummer.
Despite years of activity, their first original single, “Ti i ja solo,” was only released in 2018. In 2023, a decade after their formation, the band decided to change their name to NeonoeN to avoid confusion with other bands sharing the same name.
Currently, the band is working on a new album, having already released two tracks from it: “Dok Ne Udahnem Te u” and “Dječak Sa Vjetrom U Kosi.”
Source: Instagram.
Eurovision 2025: This will be Montenegro’s 13th participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. Montenegro joined the competition in 2007 and achieved its best result in Eurovision Song Contest 2015 when singer Knez reached 13th place with the song “Adio”.
