Drama in Serbia: The band Buč Kesidi which was chosen to participate in the Serbian Eurovision pre-selection, “Pesma Za Evroviziju 2025”, has been disqualified by the National Broadcaster and will not compete in the selection process!

Recently, the Serbian National Broadcaster, RTS, revealed the 30 contestants expected to participate in the Serbian Eurovision pre-selection “Pesma Za Evroviziju 2025”, and today it was announced that one of the contestants has been disqualified! The band Buč Kesidi with their song “Tužne ljubavi” (in English: “Sad Love”) have been disqualified and will not compete to represent Serbia at Eurovision 2025.

The Serbian National Broadcaster determined, after a conversation with the band Buč Kesidi, that their song was disqualified from the Eurovision 2025 race due to a performance of the song at the “Sea Star” festival in Umag, Croatia at the end of May 2024, which is against Eurovision rules. A similar case occurred after the Montenegrin Eurovision pre-selection, where the winning band performed at a local festival before September 1st and their participation in the competition was in question until they decided to withdraw voluntarily.

Buč Kesidi has been replaced by the band Maršali. Maršali is a young band from the city of Bečej, formed in early 2023. They are musically influenced by local pop bands, but also by bands like Rebel Star and Oasis. The band consists of Strahinja Tanasijin – lead vocals and guitar, Katarina Pivnički – guitar and backing vocals, Nemanja Radosavljević – drums and backing vocals, Dušan Ivanović – bass guitar and Mateja Stražmešterov – keyboards. The lead singer explains that the band’s name comes from the “Marshall” amplifier brand, but also from a song of the same name by the band Idoli.

Full Participants List

• Maršali – Po policema sajjanja
• Igor Simić – Ne mogu
• Tropico band – AI
• Tam – Durum durum
• Džet Vega – Rolerkoster
• Mila – Gaia
• Dušan Kurtić – Boginja
• Harem Girls – Aladin
• Mimi Mercedez – Turbo žurka
• Dram – Vanja
• Ivana Štrbac – La La La
• Milan Nikolić i banda – Storia del amor
• Bojana x David – Šesto čulo
• Iskaz – Trendseter
• Tanja Banjanin – Ja sam bolja
• Princ – Mila
• Biber – Da mi se vratiš
• Nataša Kojić – Up and Down
• Kruz Roudi – Sve i odmah
• SEDLAR – Oči boje zemlje
• Jelena Pajić – Kameleon
• Nikola Antonijević Anton – U grad
• AltCtrl – Mamurna jutra
• Filarri – Meet and Greet
• GIFTS & ROSES – Do kraja vremena
• Maja Nikolić – Žali srce moje
• Ohajo – MaMa
• Ana & The Changes – Brinem
• Vukayla – MASK
• Vampiri – Tebi treba neko kao ja

Familiar Faces Return to the National Selection

Among the contestants are several familiar names:

• Filarri – Competed in last year’s Serbian national selection, finishing ninth in the semi-final with his song “Ko je ta žena“.
• Bojana x David – Competed in last year’s Serbian national selection and finished seventh in the final with their song “No No No“.
• Dušan Kurtić – Competed in last year’s Serbian national selection and finished sixth in the final with his song “Zbog tebe živim“.
• Princ – Competed in the 2023 Serbian national selection with his song “Cvet sa Istoka” and finished second in the final.
• Jelena Pajić – Competed in the 2022 Serbian national selection with her song “Pogledi” and finished 11th in the semi-final.
• Biber – Competed in the 2022 Serbian national selection with their song “Dve godine i šes’ dana” and finished 15th in the final, and in 2018 with their song “Stanovi“, reaching fourth place.
• Igor Simić – Competed in the 2022 Serbian national selection with his song “To Nisam Ja” and finished 12th in the semi-final, and in 2020 with his song “Ples Za Rastanak“, finishing third.
• Maja Nikolic – Competed in the 2018 Serbian national selection with her song “Zemlja čuda” and reached tenth place.

Competition Structure and Dates

“Pesma za Evroviziju ’25” will consist of two semi-finals and a final:

• First Semi-Final: February 25th, 2025
• Second Semi-Final: February 27th, 2025
• Grand Final: March 1st, 2025

The competition will be held at RTS Studio 8 Košutnjak in Belgrade. Results will be determined by a combination of professional jury and public voting. 15 songs will compete in each semi-final, and the top 8 will qualify for the grand finale which will include 16 songs in total.

Serbia in Eurovision 2024

Source: RTS.

Eurovision 2025: This will be Serbia’s 17th participation in Eurovision. Serbia joined the contest in 2007 and achieved its best result in the same year when singer Marija Šerifović won first place with the song “Molitva”.