Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026
| Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 2026 | ||||
| Participating broadcaster | Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) | |||
| Country | Serbia | |||
| Selection process | Pesma za Evroviziju '26 | |||
| Selection date | 28 February 2026 | |||
| Competing entry | ||||
| Song | "Kraj mene" | |||
| Artist | Lavina | |||
| Songwriters |
| |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
| ||||
Serbia is set to be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 with the song "Kraj mene", written by Andrija Cvetanović, Bojan Ilić, Ivan Jegdić, Luka Aranđelović, Nikola Petrović, Pavle Aranđelović and Pavle Samardžić, and performed by the band Lavina. The Serbian participating broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), organised the national final Pesma za Evroviziju '26 in order to select its entry for the contest.
Background
Prior to the 2026 contest, Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Serbia seventeen times since its first entry in 2007, winning the contest with its debut entry "Molitva" performed by Marija Šerifović. Since then, 13 out of the 17 total Serbian entries have featured in the final with RTS failing to qualify in 2009, 2013, 2017, and most recently in 2025, when "Mila" performed by Princ placed 14th in its semi-final, Serbia's worst result to date.[1]
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, RTS organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster has used both internal selections and national finals to determine its entries throughout the years. Between 2007 and 2009, RTS used the Beovizija national final, but after its 2009 entry failed to qualify to the final, the broadcaster shifted its selection strategy to selecting specific composers to create songs for artists. After a successful internal selection in 2012, in 2013 RTS returned to an open national final format, titled Beosong, but it failed to qualify to the final. After reverting to internal selection in 2016 and 2017, it returned to use the Beovizija national final between 2018 and 2020, managing to qualify to the final in both 2018 and 2019, with Eurovision having been cancelled in 2020. In 2022, RTS returned to organising a national final under the name Pesma za Evroviziju '22, with this format being used every year since.
On 27 May 2025, RTS confirmed its commitment to not withdraw from the contest.[2] On 15 September 2025, RTS announced its intention to select its entry through Pesma za Evroviziju '26.[3]
Before Eurovision
Pesma za Evroviziju '26
The fifth edition of Pesma za Evroviziju was organised by RTS in order to select its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.[3] It marked the first edition of the format without the involvement of Olivera Kovačević, who was removed from the role of supervisor after she allowed participants of the 2025 edition to make statements supporting the Serbian anti-corruption protests during the shows;[4] she was replaced by Uroš Marković.[5]
Semi-finals
- The first semi-final took place on 24 February 2026. "Unseen" performed by Lores, "Jugoslavija" performed by Zejna, "Srušio si sve" performed by Yanx, "Zavoli me" performed by Ana Mašulović, "Sve je u redu" performed by Kosmos trip, "Omaja" performed by Mirna and "Otkrivam sebe" performed by Iva Grujin advanced to the final, while "Klaber" performed by Eegor, "Daj nam svet" performed by Makao, "Svaki dan" performed by Manivi, "Trampolina" performed by Bella and "Moma mala" performed by Đurđica were eliminated from the contest.[6]
- The second semi-final took place on 26 February 2026. "Metar sreće" performed by Geminni, "Fräulein" performed by Brat Pelin, "Čairi" performed by Zona, "Veruj" performed by Lu-Ka, "Kraj mene" performed by Lavina, "Adrenalin" performed by Jack Lupino and "Bom bom" performed by Harem Girls and Ivana advanced to the final, while "Sudbina" performed by Aleksandar, "Svima vama treba mama" performed by Milica Burazer, "Ko me proba" performed by Sanja Aleksić, "Jabuka" performed by Avgust and "Kule" performed by Aleksandra Sekulić were eliminated from the contest.[7]
Final
The final took place on 28 February 2026. The winner was selected based on the 50/50 combination of votes from five jurors and from a public televote. The winner was "Kraj mene", written by Andrija Cvetanović, Bojan Ilić, Ivan Jegdić, Luka Aranđelović, Nikola Petrović, Pavle Aranđelović and Pavle Samardžić and performed by Lavina.[8]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brat Pelin | "Fräulein" | 4 | 10 | 14 | 4 |
| 2 | Lores | "Unseen" | 6 | 2 | 8 | 6 |
| 3 | Jack Lupino | "Adrenalin" | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| 4 | Ana Mašulović | "Zavoli me" | 2 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| 5 | Harem Girls and Ivana | "Bom bom" | 7 | 8 | 15 | 3 |
| 6 | Iva Grujin | "Otkrivam sebe" | 0 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 7 | Kosmos trip | "Sve je u redu" | 0 | 5 | 5 | 8 |
| 8 | Zejna | "Jugoslavija" | 10 | 6 | 16 | 2 |
| 9 | Geminni | "Metar sreće" | 0 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| 10 | Lu-Ka | "Veruj" | 5 | 0 | 5 | 9 |
| 11 | Lavina | "Kraj mene" | 12 | 12 | 24 | 1 |
| 12 | Yanx | "Srušio si sve" | 8 | 0 | 8 | 7 |
| 13 | Zona | "Čairi" | 3 | 7 | 10 | 5 |
| 14 | Mirna | "Omaja" | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 will take place at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, and consist of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 12 and 14 May and the final on 16 May 2026. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Italy 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 will progress to the final. On 12 January 2026, an allocation draw was held to determine which of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show, each country will perform in; the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.[10] Serbia was scheduled for the second half of the first semi-final.[11]
References
- ^ "Serbia". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Retrieved 25 August 2024.
- ^ "Душка Вучинић: Србија се не повлачи са „Песме Евровизије"" [Duška Vučinić: Serbia is not withdrawing from the Eurovision Song Contest] (in Serbian (Cyrillic script)). RTS. 26 May 2025. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
- ^ a b "Radio-televizija Srbije raspisuje javni konkurs za izbor kompozicije za Pesmu za Evroviziju 2026". RTS (in Serbian (Latin script)). 15 September 2025. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
- ^ "Olivera Kovačević o smenjivanju s mesta urednice Pesme za Evroviziju: Nisam želela da cenzurišem bilo koga na festivalu". Danas (in Serbian). 31 July 2025. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
- ^ Ljuština, Stevan (2 November 2025). "PzE26 | Uroš Marković novi supervizor". Evrovizija.rs. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
- ^ "Poznati prvi finalisti Pesme za Evroviziju". RTS (in Serbian). RTS.rs. 24 February 2026. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
- ^ "Poznati svi finalisti Pesme za Evroviziju". RTS.rs (in Serbian). RTS. 26 February 2026. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
- ^ "Grupa „Lavina" i pesma „Kraj mene" predstavljaće Srbiju na Pesmi Evrovizije". RTS.rs (in Serbian (Latin script)). 28 February 2026. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
- ^ "Detaljni glasovi publike i žirija na festivalu „Pesma za Evroviziju 2026"". rts.rs. Radio Television of Serbia. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
- ^ "The Semi-Final Draw for Vienna 2026: All you need to know". Eurovision.com. EBU. 6 January 2026. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
- ^ "Vienna 2026: Semi-Final Draw results". Eurovision.com. EBU. 12 January 2026. Retrieved 12 January 2026.