Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Montenegro participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Space" written by Momcilo Zekovic. The song was performed by Slavko Kalezić, who was internally selected by the Montenegrin broadcaster Radio i televizija Crne Gore (RTCG) to represent the nation at the 2017 contest in Kiev, Ukraine. Slavko Kalezić was announced as the Montenegrin representatives on 29 December 2016, while his song, "Space", was presented to the public on 10 March 2017.

Eurovision Song Contest 2017
Country Montenegro
National selection
Selection processInternal Selection
Selection date(s)Artist: 29 December 2016
Song: 10 March 2017
Selected entrantSlavko Kalezić
Selected song"Space"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Adis Eminić
  • Iva Boršić
  • Momčilo Zeković
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (16th, 56 points)
Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2016 • 2017 • 2018►

Montenegro was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 2017. Performing during the show in position 6, "Space" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final.

Background
Main article: Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2017 Contest, Montenegro had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest as an independent nation eight times since its first entry in its own right in 2007.[1] The nation's best placing in the contest was thirteenth, which they achieved in 2015 with the song "Adio" performed by Knez. In 2014, Montenegro qualified to the final for the first time since they began participating and have since featured in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest two times up to this point. The nation briefly withdrew from the competition between 2010 and 2011 citing financial difficulties as the reason for their absence.[2][3] Since 2009, the broadcaster has opted to internally select both the artist and song that would represent Montenegro, a procedure that continued for the selection of the 2017 entry.

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

On 29 December 2016, RTCG announced that Slavko Kalezić would represent Montenegro in Kiev.[4] His song, "Space", was written by Momčilo Zeković and Stefan Örn, and it was presented on 10 March 2017.[5]

Promotion

Slavko Kalezić made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Space" as the Montenegrin Eurovision entry. On 2 April, he performed during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Nicki French. Between 3 and 6 April, Kalezić took part in promotional activities in Tel Aviv, Israel where he performed during the Israel Calling event held at the Ha'teatron venue.[6][7] On 8 April, Slavko Kalezić performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Selma Björnsdóttir.[8] On 15 April, Kalezić performed during the Eurovision Spain Pre-Party, which was held at the Sala La Riviera venue in Madrid, Spain.[9]

At Eurovision
Slavko Kalezić during a press meet and greet

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.[10] On 31 January 2017, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Montenegro was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 9 May 2017, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[11]

Once all the competing songs for the 2017 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Montenegro was set to perform in position 6, following the entry from Belgium and before the entry from Finland.[12]

Semi-final

Slavko Kalezić took part in technical rehearsals on 30 April and 4 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 8 and 9 May.[13] This included the jury show on 8 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.

At the end of the show, Montenegro was not announced among the top 10 entries in the first semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Montenegro placed sixteenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 56 points: 39 points from the televoting and 17 points from the juries.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Montenegro and awarded by Montenegro in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:[14][15]

Points awarded to Montenegro
Points awarded to Montenegro (Semi-final 1)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Montenegro

Split voting results

The following five members will comprise the Montenegrin jury: [16]

  • Anita Popović – Chairperson – musician (only semi-final)
  • Božo Bulatović – musician, radio DJ
  • Branislav Nedović – singer, musician
  • Ivana Pekić – solo singing professor
  • Draško Djurović - TV and movie director
  • Dragan Bulajić - music manager (only final)
Split voting results from Montenegro (Semi-final 1)
Draw Country Jury Televote
B. Bulatović B. Nedović I. Pekić D. Djurović A. Popović Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Sweden21413265683
02 Georgia143151081216
03 Australia1710101283101
04 Albania171810210112
05 Belgium741414151392
06 Montenegro
07 Finland5171615161717
08 Azerbaijan11541154756
09 Portugal1592677447
10 Greece8185111274
11 Poland131317991613
12 Moldova96127465210
13 Iceland102717131111
14 Czech Republic315513119215
15 Cyprus1211316141465
16 Armenia41211433814
17 Slovenia168931210138
18 Latvia616612171512
Split voting results from Montenegro (final)
Draw Country Jury Televote
B. Bulatović B. Nedović I. Pekić D. Djurović D. Bulajić Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Israel2624256262616
02 Poland13112018121623
03 Belarus21251623192513
04 Austria1212626710121
05 Armenia82641267420
06 Netherlands2423525142126
07 Moldova199101981283
08 Hungary20171711252047
09 Italy2524438210
10 Denmark17162621132218
11 Portugal183914201138
12 Azerbaijan2220820101765
13 Croatia581172465112
14 Australia23181210111514
15 Greece4412111219
16 Spain15211422232425
17 Norway14191817171924
18 United Kingdom1101913221317
19 Cyprus161521241823101
20 Romania3133321011
21 Germany9222215161822
22 Ukraine251424921415
23 Belgium7715855674
24 Sweden6675154712
25 Bulgaria112231699256
26 France1013131218392

References
  1. "Montenegro Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  2. Hondal, Victor (17 November 2009). "Montenegro withdraws from Eurovision 2010". ESCToday. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  3. Hondal, Victor (23 December 2010). "Montenegro officially out of Eurovision 2011". ESCToday. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  4. Mercereau, Damien (20 February 2017). "Eurovision 2017 : Slavko Kalezic, le spectaculaire Monténégrin" (in French). Le Figaro. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  5. Adams, William Lee (10 March 2017). "MONTENEGRO'S SLAVKO KALEZIC IS READY TO BLOW IN HIS EUROVISION 2017 SONG "SPACE"". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs.
  6. Kavaler, Ron (22 March 2017). "ISRAEL CALLING! EUROVISION PROMO EVENT SET FOR APRIL 3 TO 6". wiwibloggs.com. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  7. Laufer, Gil (5 April 2017). "Tonight: Israel Calling 2017 to be held with 28 participating countries". esctoday.com. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  8. Jordan, Paul (29 March 2017). "Eurovision in Concert sets a new record with 33 acts". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  9. Fuster, Luis (1 April 2017). "MADRID CALLING! 19 ACTS WILL TAKE PART IN EUROVISION SPAIN PRE-PARTY". wiwibloggs.com. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  10. Jordan, Paul (25 January 2017). "Semi-Final Allocation draw to take place in Kyiv". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  11. Jordan, Paul (31 January 2017). "Results of the Semi-Final Allocation Draw". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  12. Jordan, Paul (31 March 2017). "Semi-Final running order for Eurovision 2017 revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  13. "Press". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  14. "Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 First Semi-Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  15. "Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 Grand Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  16. Jordan, Paul (29 April 2017). "Who will be the expert jurors for Eurovision 2017?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
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