Tonight it was the turn of Serbia to choose its entry for Oslo with a new and interesting format. After a show with three acts handpicked by the legendary composer Goran Bregović, Milan Stanković won with the song Ovo je Balkan.
Serbian broadcaster RTS decided this year to change the format of how they choose their entry, replacing the traditional and very popular show, Beovizija. The reasoning behind this was what RTS described as the financial constraints involved in hosting such a large-scale event. Nevertheless, Serbia were determined to soldier on with finding a quality act to represent them at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Oslo in May.
This year RTS enlisted the help of popular composer and artists Goran Bregović, who is famous all over the Balkan region. His job was to compose three songs for three acts, which he himself picked from a list of budding singers and entertainers. The artists have been known for some time but the songtitles were first revealed tonight and were as follows:
- Emina Jahović - Ti kvariigro
- Milan Stanković - Ovo je Balkan
- Oliver Katić & Jelena Marković - Predsedniče halo
The show involved each artist performing one of the songs twice followed by SMS voting to reveal who had won the ticket to Oslo in May.
Despite a change in format, RTS managed to produce an exciting show with a spectacular finish when a huge majority of the public decided that Milan Stanković would represent his native Serbia with a song entitled Ovo je Balkan.
In 2009 Serbia failed to qualify for the final reaching tenth place in the second semi-final in Oslo, making it the first time that Serbia had not qualified since they first entered as an independent country.
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