Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest
Yugoslavia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 27 times, debuting in 1961 and competing every year until its last appearance in 1992, with the exceptions of 1977–1980, and 1985. The Yugoslavian participating broadcaster in the contest was Yugoslav Radio Television, which usually selected its entrant with a national final. Yugoslavia won the and hosted the.
"Neke davne zvezde" performed by Ljiljana Petrović was Yugoslavia's first entrant in the and placed eighth. In, "Ne pali svetla u sumrak" by Lola Novaković gave the country its first top five result, finishing fourth. This would remain Yugoslavia's only top five result until, when "Džuli" by Danijel finished fourth. "Ja sam za ples" by Novi Fosili also finished fourth in. In 1989, the country achieved its only victory in the contest, when "Rock Me" by Riva won.
History
1961–1991: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Yugoslav Radio Television was a founding member of the European Broadcasting Union in 1950 and therefore eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, representing the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, since the first contest in 1956. However, despite joining the Eurovision network in 1956, JRT didn't broadcast the contest until it debuted in 1961.Yugoslavia's first stretch of participations from 1961 until 1976 were mostly unsuccessful, with only one top five placing – fourth in 1962 – which would remain its best result until 1983. It also got its only last place in 1964. From 1969 until 1976, it consistently placed outside the top ten – with the exception of a ninth place in 1972 – ultimately coming second to last in 1976.
After a meeting on 4 July 1976, JRT announced its withdrawal from the 1977 contest, citing its low results. Its withdrawal continued into 1978 but JRT held a referendum among the readers of its RTV magazines on if it should return at the 1979 contest. Over 100,000 people voted in favour of returning to the contest, against just over 2,000 votes for staying out of the contest. However, JRT did not return in 1979 as the broadcaster and all its sub-national stations unanimously agreed against participating in Jerusalem – the host city that year – as they believed it to be illegally occupied and Yugoslavia did not have diplomatic relations with Israel at the time. JRT also did not broadcast the contest, despite doing so in 1977 and 1978. It did not participate in, or broadcast, the 1980 contest either for unknown reasons.
JRT returned to the contest in 1981 and participated four more times before withdrawing again. It continued to place outside the top ten in this period with the exception of 1983, where it matched its previous best result of fourth from 1962. After withdrawing in 1985, due to the contest colliding with a national holiday, it returned in 1986. It saw more success after its return, once again getting fourth place in 1987, followed by a sixth place in 1988.
As Yugoslavia won the with the song "Rock Me" by the group Riva, the took place in Zagreb, hosted by RTV Zagreb on behalf of JRT, as the entry came from them. JRT participated in 1991 for the last time representing SFR Yugoslavia.
1992: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
During the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, the former constituent republics of Croatia, Slovenia, and Macedonia declared secession and hence withdrew from the, while the then-leaderships of Serbia and Montenegro agreed to maintain a close alliance. On 28 March 1992, the broadcasters from the republics that still constituted the fading and shrunken former Yugoslav federation took part in the selection held in Belgrade. It included artists not only from Serbia and Montenegro, but also from Bosnia and Herzegovina, although the latter declared independence on 1 March of that year. Among its candidates was Alma Čardžić. The winner of that pre-selection was "Ljubim te pesmama" performed by Extra Nena from Serbia. Before that year's contest took place, on 28 April, a new federal state was formed, consisting of Serbia and Montenegro and called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which was represented by the previously mentioned "Ljubim te pesmama" by Extra Nena in the.Only a few weeks after the 1992 contest, FR Yugoslavia was banned from participating in Eurovision due to UN sanctions during the Yugoslav Wars. However, the contest was still broadcast even under the sanctions except in 1999 due to the NATO bombing of RTS headquarters.
Successor states
Former JRT sub-national stations RTV Sarajevo in SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, RTV Zagreb in SR Croatia, RTV Skopje in SR Macedonia, and RTV Ljubljana in SR Slovenia became RTVBiH, HRT, MRT, and RTVSLO respectively in the new independent countries that emerged from the breakup of Yugoslavia, and were admitted into the EBU on 1 January 1993. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia made their debut in the, and North Macedonia made its debut in the, after having failed to progress from the qualifying round in the.Former JRT stations RTV Titograd in SR Montenegro, and RTV Belgrade and RTV Novi Sad in SR Serbia, formed UJRT, the public broadcasting service of Serbia and Montenegro, which joined the EBU in 2001 and made its debut in the. Following the 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Montenegro and Serbia debuted as independent countries in the, after their respective broadcasters RTCG and RTS joined the EBU. The Kosovan broadcaster, RTK – the successor to RTV Pristina, JRT sub-national station in SAP Kosovo – has been attempting to become a full member of the EBU since 2009 but has been unsuccessful.
Participation overview
27 entries had represented Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest. 22 out of the 26 entries between 1961 and 1991 were in Serbo-Croatian and the rest in Slovenian. No entry from Macedonia or Kosovo ever made it to the contest, illustrating a cultural marginalisation of the poorest parts of the country.| 1 | First place |
| ◁ | Last place |
| Year | Artist | Song | Language | Place | Points |
| Ljiljana Petrović | "Neke davne zvezde" | Serbo-Croatian | 8 | 9 | |
| Lola Novaković | "Ne pali svetla u sumrak" | Serbo-Croatian | 4 | 10 | |
| Vice Vukov | "Brodovi" | Serbo-Croatian | 11 | 3 | |
| Sabahudin Kurt | "Život je sklopio krug" | Serbo-Croatian | 13 ◁ | 0 | |
| Vice Vukov | "Čežnja " | Serbo-Croatian | 12 | 2 | |
| Berta Ambrož | "Brez besed" | Slovene | 7 | 9 | |
| Lado Leskovar | "Vse rože sveta" | Slovene | 8 | 7 | |
| Lući Kapurso and Hamo Hajdarhodžić | "Jedan dan" | Serbo-Croatian | 7 | 8 | |
| Ivan | "Pozdrav svijetu" | Serbo-Croatian | 13 | 5 | |
| Eva Sršen | "Pridi, dala ti bom cvet" | Slovene | 11 | 4 | |
| Krunoslav Slabinac | "Tvoj dječak je tužan" | Serbo-Croatian | 14 | 68 | |
| Tereza | "Muzika i ti" | Serbo-Croatian | 9 | 87 | |
| Zdravko Čolić | "Gori vatra" | Serbo-Croatian | 15 | 65 | |
| Korni Grupa | "Moja generacija" | Serbo-Croatian | 12 | 6 | |
| Pepel in kri | "Dan ljubezni" | Slovene | 13 | 22 | |
| Ambasadori | "Ne mogu skriti svoju bol" | Serbo-Croatian | 17 | 10 | |
| Seid Memić Vajta | "Lejla " | Serbo-Croatian | 15 | 35 | |
| Aska | "Halo, Halo" | Serbo-Croatian | 14 | 21 | |
| Daniel | "Džuli" | Serbo-Croatian | 4 | 125 | |
| Ida and Vlado | "Ciao, amore" | Serbo-Croatian | 18 | 26 | |
| Doris | "Željo moja" | Serbo-Croatian | 11 | 49 | |
| Novi fosili | "Ja sam za ples" | Serbo-Croatian | 4 | 92 | |
| Srebrna krila | "Mangup " | Serbo-Croatian | 6 | 87 | |
| Riva | "Rock Me" | Serbo-Croatian | 1 | 137 | |
| Tajči | "Hajde da ludujemo" | Serbo-Croatian | 7 | 81 | |
| Baby Doll | "Brazil" | Serbo-Croatian | 21 | 1 | |
| Extra Nena | "Ljubim te pesmama" | Serbian | 13 | 44 |