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About Serbia & Montenegro...
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2004 Result
Points in Semi Final: 263
Position in Semi Final: 1st
Points in Final: 263
Position in Final: 2nd
2005 Contest: Directly qualified to Final
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History (1956 to 2003)
Serbia & Montenegro's previous appearances: 0 year(s) out of 48
Years participated: None
Best result: N/A
Serbia & Montenegro makes its first appearance at Eurovision this year, becoming the last of the former Yugoslav republics to do so - Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia have been taking part since 1993, with Macedonia joining them in 1998. As a newcomer, the country must first participate in this year's Semi Final.
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This year's entry
Position in Semi Final draw: 20
Position in Final draw: 5
What I said prior to the Semi Final:
"For their first appearance, Serbia & Montenegro have chosen a typical Balkan ballad, performed in Serbian by Željko Joksimović. 'Lane moje' is a gentle, pleasant song, building up to a big finish; the instrumental sections are rather beautiful, the pipes and violins recalling Norway's 1995 winner 'Nocturne'. The song is surprisingly highly regarded - most of the fan polls seem to place it top five, and the bookmakers regard it as a realistic challenger. Can Serbia & Montenegro manage what no country has yet achieved by winning Eurovision at its first attempt?"
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What I predicted...
My prediction for Semi Final: 11th to 15th
My prediction for Final: Unlikely to qualify
What I predicted prior to the Semi Final:
"I do like this song, and it's growing on me, but I have to confess I'm puzzled at why it is quite so popular. It's nice, but I certainly don't think it's distinctive or special enough to be a serious challenger for victory. As I note under my review of the Croatian entry, there is also the problem that east European men singing sombre ballads have never done very well at Eurovision, and there's no reason to suggest that this is going to change. Sandwiched between the lively Danish entry, and Deen's sexy dancefloor number for Bosnia, there is also the issue that Serbia & Montenegro's song might not stand out. Fan feedback and the bookies' odds would have this as a cert for the Final, but I'm not so sure. The standard of songs in the Semi Final is quite high, many of which - such as Cyprus, Belarus, Ukraine and Malta - are memorable and distinctive. I think Serbia & Montenegro's failure to qualify for the Final could well be one of the surprises of Semi Final night."
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What you thought...
Final Poll Ranking: out of 36 ()
(Updated 15 May 2004; change refers to movement over final week)
In the run up to the Contest, over 5,000 visitors to this site voted for their favourite song in the Soult.com Eurovision Poll.
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What actually happened
Coming after the ridiculous Danish performance, Serbia & Montenegro brought a touch of class to the Semi Final. I know I had been sceptical about this song prior to the Contest, but I will admit I was wrong. On the night, Željko shone as a great singer among many mediocre ones, giving an understated but completely polished and professional performance. Complemented by his Ad Hoc Orchestra, the song came across as something of haunting beauty. What else is there to say? It was excellent.
Qualifying for the Final with ease, Saturday's performance understandably avoided messing with a successful formula, with the same staging and another faultless vocal from Željko.
My prediction, of course, was wrong. Very wrong. In the Final, Serbia & Montenegro's 2nd place finish equalled Poland's 1994 result as the best Eurovision début ever. Interestingly, subsequent publication of the Semi Final results - purposely held back until after the Final - showed that Serbia & Montenegro had in fact won the Semi Final, scoring 263 points to Ukraine's 256. By coincidence, Serbia & Montenegro gained an identical number of points in the Final, but with Ukraine now scoring 280, the country had to be content with the runner up's position.
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What the bookies thought...
 | Serbia & Montenegro to win: | 15/05/04 (prior to Final) | 10-1 |
| | 13/05/04 (after Semi Final) | 10-1 |
| | 11/05/04 | 12-1 |
| | 08/05/04 | 12-1 |
| | 06/05/04 | 12-1 |
| | 04/05/04 | 16-1 |
| | 31/04/04 | 16-1 |
| | 24/04/04 | 16-1 |
| | 17/04/04 | 16-1 |
| | 07/04/04 | 16-1 |
| | 24/03/04 | 16-1 |
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The bookies rated this highly before and after the Semi Final, and their optimism was justified by Željko Joksimović's excellent result.
(Odds quoted here were those offered by Coral.co.uk. 'F' indicates favourite, 'JF' joint favourite.)
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Links
 http://www.zeljkojoksimovic.com/
 http://www.rts.co.yu/euro/
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Notes (see 'History' above)
- The 1956 Contest (where each country had two songs) is counted as a single appearance;
- Countries eliminated in the 1993 preliminary heat (EE, HU, RO, SK) ARE NOT counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest;
- Countries eliminated in the 1996 preliminary heat (DE, DK, HU, IL, MK, RO, RU) ARE NOT counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest;
- Countries eliminated in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 Semi Finals ARE counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest.
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Your comments (266)
From Ulku, SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
Added 18:14:9 2004-5-19
I HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH THE TALENT OF ZELJKO!!!!HIS BEATIFUL SONG IS ALWAYS ON MY MIND EVER SINCE I HAVE FIRST HEARD! I WISH SOMEONE COULD HELP ME HOW TO GET IN TOUCH WITH HIM ....AND MAYBE EVEN TO SEND HIM SOME OF MY SONG LYRICS...I STILL AM AMAZED TO THINK THE DIGNIFIED WAY HE HAD ON THE STAGE AND THE DEEP MELODY HE HAS CREATED....THANK U ZELJKO! THANK YOU SERBIA!!!!
From christine, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 19:9:56 2004-5-16
This one got my vote, good music in my opinion.Well done
From Mirko, SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
Added 18:48:57 2004-5-16
MA ZELJO BIO SI NAJBOLJI A KAKVI ONI INDIJANCI IZ UKRAINE!!!POZZ ZA SVE VAS!!!
From Hanna, NORWAY
Added 18:41:56 2004-5-16
Jonny.... being half serb I think and I hope and belive that the past can be left behind. too many horrible things have happened, and it can't get any worse. so it has to get better, right? Maybe music can bring Serbia and Albania closer to eachother :) Who knows, music is the only completely good and non evil thing on this planet. Music is pure love and harmony without borders!
From Hanna, NORWAY
Added 18:24:14 2004-5-16
For the specially interested ones; read the new article on ESCtoday.com called "Voting formats"
From Hanna, NORWAY
Added 18:19:36 2004-5-16
UNSYMPATHETIC I mean
From Hanna, NORWAY
Added 18:14:47 2004-5-16
Well, I don't want to think that thought, Malena. You said that Croatia voted for Serbia just because they want to get into the EU. Well that may be, but I won't think that. I'd like to think that not all croats think politics, and that they really liked this song, that's a much more plesant thought :) and Eugenia, Ruslana was my second favorite, so I'm not sad they won ;) and well.. Estonia Lithuania Latvia Russia.. and others. all of them voted for Ruslana! So Good neighbours are great to have!! But the balkan countries supported eachother too, but the best balkan song got most points so it's not THAT wrong. just as Ruslana was best from the Eastern european countries :)The estonian guy was a bad looser and called it jugovision, and an englishman said that it was undeserved that Zeljko landed on 2'nd. That's what I meant, not that it was bad that neighbours support! Just wanted to say that Serbia was not the only country who got support from neighbours. noone mentioned Ukraine and I thought that was stranfe. Zeljko DID come first in the quali , because poland an russia did not vote! It's the truth and we can't pretend that it isnt. What worries me though, is that the qualisongs got most points because we had seen them before. and people remember them, so the countries that are directly qualified have smaller chances. That was not the point with the qualiround! hmmm it worries me. PS, I LOVE THAT NORWAY GOT ONLY 3 POINTS, IT WAS THE WORST SONG, AND THE MOST UNSYMPATHIC GUY!!! YES!!
From Nida, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 18:6:4 2004-5-16
Malena probably last night you had one pint too many. Greece got 12 points from Albania not YOU!
From moni, SWITZERLAND
Added 18:5:21 2004-5-16
beeeest soooong!!!
From Bojana, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Added 18:2:35 2004-5-16
Dragi Zeljko, pisem iz BANJALUKE i sta da kazem, nego mislim da smo zasluzili prvo mjesto. Neka mi oproste ostali sugradjani iz Bosne, ali moje srce mi je govorilo da si ti predstavnik moje zemlje, moje Srbije. Od prvog puta, svaki put kada cujem Lane moje sva se najezim. Nastup je bio fenomenalan. Glasala sam za tebe koliko sam mogla- ruka me je zaboljela od telefoniranja. Zelim ti sve najbolje. Lane moje je najbolja pjesma i ti to znas i mi svi to znamo. Dobro nam se vratio u Srbiju!!! Banjaluka te voli i ceka tvoje nastupe.
From Rima Saini, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 18:2:4 2004-5-16
I am so glad this entry did well -Zeljko heartfelt words as well as the beautiful violin and wooden flute brought me close to tears with this wonderful song staying close to its ethnic roots. Totally unpretentious and well performed last night.
From Jonny, UNITED STATES
Added 17:57:53 2004-5-16
I just wonder will we ever have a civilise conversation between the Serbs and the Albanians! Will there ever be a conversation where the topic of the past doesnt come up?! Both blame each other for crazy stuff. What is done is done and I just wonder CAN THE PAST BE PUT BEHIND?
PS: Lane moje was a very smooth song. Good Luck!
From petra, GERMANY
Added 17:47:14 2004-5-16
Lane moje is the best song. This is song forever and ever...
Srbia is winner for me!!!
From Alexander, SWEDEN
Added 17:32:0 2004-5-16
Hm...albanians! People, please take look down there at the signature Toni..he started with: o piggs....How civilized is that? I'm so dam tired on your's hypocrisy. Be nice to ewerybody and don't throw you life away with anger!
Good Guy
From ak, CONGO, THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE
Added 17:30:2 2004-5-16
It was absolutely fantastic!!!
I am glad to see that all ex. Yug. republicks were supporting each other with good points !!! Great !!!I have never seen Zeljko before ( not even photo ) but have to say - he looks really good : - ))))
From Eugenia, UKRAINE
Added 17:1:38 2004-5-16
I don’t know if it’s plagiat or not, but it’s a wonderful song really, and a guy is very attractive too. Despite of all the accusations (hey, girl from Norway) re to Ukraine having “too many neighbours” who voted for it (you’ve probably forgotten about Israel, Turkey, Baltic Countrues and Iceland which can hardly be called Ukraine’s neighbours, but they still gave Ruslana 12 points), Ukraine itself gave 12 points to Serbia and Montenegro!!! And I bet it deserves it, all of Ukraine adores this magnificent melody!!! We all applaud you and we’ll be more than happy to welcome you in Kiev next year. Kisses from Ukraine.
From somebody, FINLAND
Added 16:45:22 2004-5-16
amila_bosanka DEEN GO!,
i suggest u to 'listen' to the music, and then tell something. Send ur Deen to Serbia, so Zeljko can learn him how to sing.
Fille,
Serbia either asked u to like this song. In any case we know Scandinavian countries dont like Serbia, about the Serbian music not even talk. Few like Serbia, but Serbia got used to it, so they either care about ur love towards them! I guess u spend a lot of energy in getting well with ur Scandinavian neighbours, like Finland..coz u're not very loved ppl in Finland, either Fins in Sweden. So..dont worry, u dont have to like 'lane moje'.
Congratulations to u even though, ur song sounded great in swedish!
Serbia, ur song was the real winner! Love u!:)))
From ZlatnaSuza, SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
Added 16:43:26 2004-5-16
Zeljko sacko moj trebo si na prvo mesto ali ebiga ;) drugi put ...ali bilo je jezivo Lane Moje ... ach ja und max war scheisse loool a ova ukrainka sto je pobedila jebacu joj sve samo se ukrala fazon od sertab mamu joj jebem naya wie auch immer cmok cmok cmok za zeljko :D
From toni, SWEDEN
Added 16:19:2 2004-5-16
o shkije. ja u qifsha nenën te gjithë juve dhe atyre shqiptarve qe ju shkruajn komplimente dhe votojnë per juve, mos tua harroj edhe motrat me ua qi
From malena, SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
Added 16:12:5 2004-5-16
SRBIJA, NAJBOLJA SI, I MORALNI POBEDNIK! Zeljko, u're the king, and we're proud of u! U made us feel so! Love you!
Hanna,
a small comment over ur statement. Yes, u're right, Serbia doesnt have in fact that much friends as it seems we have! U guess why we got from Croatia 12 points? Coz..Croatia wanna enter EU. U know why we got from Albania 12 points? Coz Albania wanted to show the world how great neighbours they are, and Serbs only that who cause problems.. Politics! We have few friends! Thanks anyway to Croatia and Albania... Without winning or with it, we were the best.
I think, if somebody should win the first place, then (not coz of it that im a Serb)but Serbia & Montenegro should, coz we were really good! ..or Greece! Maybe Sakis' voice was a bit weak, but he also was the king there, his performance... If i went to a shop to buy a cd, i'd much rather by Zeljko's one with "lane moje" or Sakis' one with "shake it" then ... "wild dance".
However, Serbia & Montenegro, love u, u were fantastic!
Zeljko ti si bio pravo SRCE!
:)))
From Hanna, NORWAY
Added 15:46:50 2004-5-16
Hey Serbia won the qualification!! and the press-award! yeeeii!! THATs cool! But we all know why, because Russia and Poland did not broadcast or vote on semiday. one more thing, I read everywhere that serbs got so much help from the neighbours, especially the englishmen say this, that they had the best song and that serbia came so high because of the neighbours. well are someone missing out on something here?!? what about Ukraine! hey they got seriously not kidding, 12 pont from THE WHOLE OF EASTERN EUROPE! Noone mentioned THAT!! that's even worse I think. all of the eastern and baltic states voted for her. So I guess serbia doesn't have as many neighbours as Ukraine has! :)
From Laura, LITHUANIA
Added 15:43:53 2004-5-16
Serbia is still the best, it's realy special song. PS: I hate my country, Lithuania gave just 2 pounds for Serbia!!!!!!!!
From Slađa, SLOVENIA
Added 15:23:8 2004-5-16
Cestitam - ostaješ morlani pobednik.
From aiste, LITHUANIA
Added 15:5:24 2004-5-16
interesting song. It is a pity that only turkish alternative was acceptable for europe. to my mind it is a brave choice and nice song
From James Bond, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 15:0:25 2004-5-16
Best song!
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Serbia & Montenegro
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