Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026

Montenegro in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2026
Eurovision Song Contest 2026
Participating broadcasterRadio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG)
Country Montenegro
Selection processMontesong 2025
Selection date21 December 2025
Participation chronology
◄2025 2026

Montenegro is set to be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 which will be held in Vienna Austria. The Montenegrin participating broadcaster, Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG), will organise the national final Montesong 2025 to select its entry for the contest.

Background

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Prior to the 2026 contest, Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG) has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Montenegro as an independent country thirteen times since its first entry in 2007.[1] Its best placing in the contest was thirteenth position, which it achieved in 2015 with the song "Adio" performed by Knez. In 2014, Montenegro qualified to the final for the first time since it began participating, and have since featured in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest one more time in 2015. RTCG opted not to participate in 2010, 2011, 2021, 2023, and 2024, citing "modest results" and/or financial difficulties as the reason for its absences.[2][3] In 2025, Montenegro failed to qualify for the final with the song "Dobrodošli" performed by Nina Žižić, finishing last in its semi-final.

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, RTCG organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. On 26 August 2025, RTCG confirmed its participation, with Montesong returning as the national selection.[4] RTCG had used various methods to select the Montenegrin entry in the past, such as internal selections and televised national finals to choose the performer, song or both to compete at Eurovision.

Before Eurovision

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Montesong 2025

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Montesong 2025 will be the national final format organised by RTCG to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. The competition will consist of a final on 21 December 2025, which will take place at the RTCG Grand Studio in Podgorica.[5][6]

Competing entries

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On 3 September 2025, RTCG opened a submission platform for interested artists and composers to submit their entries until 3 October 2025. Performers were required to be citizens of Montenegro, while songwriters may be of any nationality. Unlike the 2024 edition, there were no requirements on the language of the entries. RTCG received 37 submissions at the closing of the deadline.[7] The selection jury consisted of Andrijana Božović, Dražen Bauković, Stefan Bjeletić, Jovo Vukčević and Antonela Martinović reviewed the submissions and selected the top fifteen songs for the competition. Each juror judged each song using a points system, giving a maximum of 50 points for composition, 30 points for lyrics and 20 points for production, meaning each song can earn a maximum of 100 points. However, songs had to achieve at least 75 points in this process in order to reach the competition stage.[8][9] The selected entries were announced on 14 October 2025 during the RTCG morning show Dobro jutro, Crno Goro, broadcast on TVCG 1,[10] and released on 27 November 2025.[11] Among the competing artists is Andrea Demirović, who represented Montenegro in 2009.[12]

Montesong 2025 contestants[9][10][13]
Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Andrea Demirović "I Believe"
  • Aidan O'Connor
  • Andrea Demirović
  • Casey McQuillen
Baryak "Minerva" (Минерва)
  • Luka Perazić
  • Mišo Vukčević
  • Rade Vukčević
Dolce Hera "Casanova 91"
Đurđa "Dominos"
Krstinja Matanović "Oli, oli" (Оли, оли)
Lana Lopičić "Doline" (Долине)
  • Ljubomir Stanišić
  • Momčilo Zeković Zeko
  • Rade Đurđevac
Lana [sr] x Đorđe "Temperatura" (Температура)
Lara Baltić "Rhythm Boy" Nemanja Antonić
Luka Radović "Pjevaj, vilo" (Пјевај, вило)
  • Luka Radović
  • Miloš Mihajlović Blaze
  • Petar Šćepović
Majda Božović "Ipak smo ljudi" (Ипак смо људи)
Mila Nikić "Kao varnica" (Као варница)
Neno Murić [bs] "Ako čuješ glas" (Ако чујеш глас)
  • Dejan Božović
  • Natalija Pavićević
Stefan "Nedekodirana" (Недекодирана) Dejan Dedović
Tamara Živković "Nova zora" (Нова зора) Boris Subotić
Tina Džankić "Shadows"
  • Ben Pyne
  • David Hutchinson
  • Niels Sakko
  • Stefan Celar
  • Tina Džankić

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "Montenegro Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
  2. ^ Hondal, Victor (17 November 2009). "Montenegro withdraws from Eurovision 2010". ESCToday. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
  3. ^ Hondal, Victor (23 December 2010). "Montenegro officially out of Eurovision 2011". ESCToday. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
  4. ^ Granger, Anthony (26 August 2025). "Montenegro: Eurovision 2026 Participation Confirmed as 'Montesong 2025' Rules Released". Eurovoix. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  5. ^ "Montenegro: New Details About Montesong 2026 Revealed". Eurovoix. 5 September 2025. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  6. ^ "MONTESONG 2025: Finale 21. decembra u Velikom studiju RTCG". RTCG (in Montenegrin). Retrieved 2025-10-14.
  7. ^ Hajnić, Nikolina (2025-10-14). "Objavljeni natjecatelji Montesonga 2025.!". eurosong.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2025-10-14.
  8. ^ "Montesong 2025: Konkurs otvoren do 3. oktobra". Radio Television of Montenegro. 3 September 2025. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  9. ^ a b "Montesong 2025: Selekciona komisija saopštila imena 15 finalista". RTCG (in Montenegrin). Retrieved 2025-10-14.
  10. ^ a b "Montenegro: Montesong 2025 Participants Revealed". Eurovoix. 2025-10-14. Retrieved 2025-10-14.
  11. ^ Vesković, Đorđe (27 November 2025). "Montesong 2025 | Pesme su u etru!" [Montesong 2025 | The songs are on air!]. Evrovizija.rs (in Serbian (Latin script)). Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  12. ^ Reçi, Nag (2025-10-14). "Montesong 2025: Montenegro reveals 15 national final participants". wiwibloggs. Retrieved 2025-10-14.
  13. ^ Granger, Anthony (2025-10-24). "🇲🇪 Montenegro: RTCG Reveals Teams Behind the Montesong 2025 Songs". Eurovoix. Retrieved 2025-10-24.