S01E53 - The 53rd Eurovision Song Contest (Serbia)
Synopsis
Serbia's debut entry as an independent nation, the ballad "Molitva" by Marija Šerifović, won the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, receiving 268 points. Serbia became the first country that won with debut entry after Switzerland's win at the first edition. After this, they were the host of the 2008 contest in the Serbian capital of Belgrade.
The second Serbian entry, performed in Belgrade was written by past entrant for Serbia as part of Serbia and Montenegro and contest host Željko Joksimović. The song "Oro", an ethnic ballad, performed by Jelena Tomašević came 6th and received 160 points in the overall rankings.
In 2009 Serbia selected Marko Kon and Milaan to represent them in the second semi-final on 14 May. The duo failed to qualify for the final for the first time in Serbia's history in the contest.
In 2010, Milan Stanković was selected to represent the country in the contest with Ovo je Balkan, an upbeat song with ethno elements, and is about a love story set in Belgrade. It qualified for the final and in the end achieved 13th place with 72 points.
In 2011 Nina was selected with her 60's inspired song, Čaroban. She was accompanied with three other singers who would be dancing throughout the performance. In the semi-finals She performed 6th and qualified for the final. In the final, she performed 24th and achieved 14th place.
The latest entry of Serbia was with Željko Joksimović. He was representing Serbia in the 2012 in the Azerbaijan, Baku with the song Nije ljubav stvar. On the second semi-finals he took second place, while he finished third in the final, below second-placed Russia and the winner, Sweden.
For now, Serbia is one of twelve countries whose representatives have performed all the songs (totally or partially) in an official, regional or national language. The other eleven countries are Portugal, Israel, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Ireland, Andorra, Luxembourg, Morocco and Monaco.