Serbia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Cipela", written by Aleksandar Kobac, Marko Kon, and Milan Nikolić, and performed by Marko Kon and Milaan. The Serbian participating broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), organised the national final Beovizija 2009 in order to select its entry for the contest. The national final consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final on 7 and 8 March 2009, respectively. Twenty entries competed in the semi-final where eleven qualified to the final following the combination of votes from a three-member jury panel and a public televote. The eleven qualifiers competed in the final which resulted in "Cipela" performed by Marko Kon and Milaan as the winner following the combination of votes from a three-member jury panel and a public televote.
Serbia was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 14 May 2009. Performing during the show in position 4, "Cipela" was not announced among the 10 qualifying entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. This marked the first time that Serbia failed to qualify to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest from a semi-final since its first entry in . It was later revealed that Serbia placed tenth out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 60 points.
Background
Prior to the 2009 contest, Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Serbia as an independent nation twice since its first entry , winning the contest with their debut entry "Molitva" performed by Marija Šerifović. Since then, all two of Serbia's entries have featured in the final. In , "Oro" performed by Jelena Tomašević placed sixth in the final as the host country.
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 confirmed its intentions to participate at the 2009 contest on 29 November 2008. Since 2007, RTS used the Beovizija national final in order to select its entry and along with its participation confirmation, the broadcaster announced the organization of Beovizija 2009 in order to select its 2009 entry.
Before Eurovision
Beovizija 2009 Beovizija 2009 was the seventh edition of the Beovizija national final organised by RTS in order to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. The selection consisted of a semi-final featuring twenty songs and a final featuring eleven songs to be held on 7 and 8 March 2009, respectively, at the Sava Centar in Belgrade. Both shows were hosted by Jovana Janković, Milena Vasić and Srđan Timarov.Jovana Janković vodi „Beoviziju” Blic. Accessed 28 February 2009. The two shows were broadcast on RTS 1, RTS Sat, in Bosnia and Herzegovina on RTRS, via radio on Radio Belgrade as well as streamed online via the broadcaster's website rts.rs.
Competing entries Artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries between 24 December 2008 and 24 January 2009. Both artists and songwriters were required to be Serb citizens, while songs were required to be submitted in Serbian. At the closing of the deadline, 90 submissions were received. A selection committee reviewed the submissions and selected twenty entries to proceed to the national final. The selection committee consisted of RTS music editors Jelena Ilić, Ana Milićević and Jelena Vlahović. The selected competing entries were announced on 30 January 2009. On 11 February 2009, Nataša Bekvalac announced her withdrawal from the national final due to scheduled performances and private obligations. Her song "Bili smo najlepši" was performed by Ana Nikolić instead. Artist Song Songwriter(s) Ana Nikolić "Bili smo najlepši" () Marina Tucaković, Aleksandar Perišić Romario Andrej Ilić "Nemam te" () Dušan Alagić Danijel and Milica "H8ER" Marina Tucaković, Aleksandar Perišić Romario, Marko Kon Dušan Zrnić "Tvoje drugo ime je greh" () Andrej Babić Etar "Sanjaj me" () Boban Janković, Katarina Popović, Etar Ivana Selakov "Moje odbrane" () Aleksandra Milutinović, Goran Radinović Lejla Hot "Čekajući princa" () Lejla Hot, Ognjen Cvekić Marko Kon and Milan Nikolić "Cipela" () Aleksandar Kobac, Marko Kon, Milan Nikolić Minja Samardžić "Petak uveče" () Marina Tucaković, Aleksandar Perišić Romario Oskar and Beauty Queens feat. Đorđe Marjanović "Superstar" () Ognjen Amidžić, Saša Milošević Mare ОТ Band "Blagoslov za kraj" () Snežana Vukomanović, E. Owen Pozitivan Haos "Glorija" () Marina Tucaković, Ljilja Jorgovanović, Aleksandar Radulović Saška Janković "Nauči me" () Violeta Mihajlovska, Bojan Jeremić SevdahBaby and Miki Element "Previše reči" () Milan Stanković, Oliver Katić Sonja Bakić "Ništa novo" () Snežana Vukomanović, Mirko Vukomanović Tijana Bogićević "Pazi šta radiš" () Đorđe Miljenović Trio Passage and Katarina Sotirović "Zauvek" () Bojan Jeremić Vanja Mijatović "Led i žar" () Nadica Janković, Miša Mijatović Zbogom Brus Li "Ha ha ha" () Slavko Matić, Branislav Smuk, Kosta Sivački Zemlja Gruva "Svejedno je" () Zemlja Gruva
Shows
Semi-final The semi-final took place on 7 March 2009 where twenty songs competed. The ten qualifiers for the final were decided by a combination of votes from a jury panel consisting of Jelena Jovičić (actress), Jovan Maljoković (musician and composer) and Ivan Ivačković (rock critic), and the Serbian public via SMS voting. Eurovision contestants Regina, Igor Cukrov and Andrea, Next Time, Andrea Demirović, and Quartissimo and Martina, which would represent Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovenia in 2009, respectively, were featured as guest performers during the show.
Following the semi-final, RTS announced that Ana Nikolić and Ivana Selakov, who were both originally announced as non-qualifiers during the show, would be reinstated to the final due to technical errors in the public vote, where only votes cast during the first five minutes of the 10 minute voting period were counted. Only Selakov ultimately agreed to participate in the final.
+ Semi-final7 March 2009Резултати гласања — полуфинале и финале. Радио-телевизија Србије, 9 March 2009. Приступљено Artist SongJury Televote Total Place Votes Points Votes Points 1 SevdahBaby and Miki Element "Previše reči" 7 2 360 0 2 12 2 Zbogom Brus Li "Ha ha ha"5 0 511 0 0 15 3 Trio Passage and Katarina Sotirović "Zauvek"0 0 262 0 0 20 4 Vanja Mijatović "Led i žar"0 0 418 0 0 18 5 Sonja Bakić "Ništa novo" 6 0 662 2 2 13 6 Marko Kon and Milan Nikolić "Cipela"7 1 1,289 7 8 6 7 Andrej Ilić "Nemam te" 11 4 371 0 4 9 8 Etar "Sanjaj me"3 0 658 1 1 14 9 Lejla Hot "Čekajući princa" 10 3 301 0 3 11 10 Dušan Zrnić "Tvoje drugo ime je greh" 16 6 314 0 6 7 11 Minja Samardžić "Petak uveče" 0 0 366 0 0 19 12 Oskar and Beauty Queens feat. Đorđe Marjanović "Superstar"18 8 3,495 10 18 2 13 Ana Nikolić "Bili smo najlepši"0 0 818 5 5 8 14 Ivana Selakov "Moje odbrane" 0 0 803 4 4 10 15 Pozitivan Haos "Glorija" 16 7 2,065 8 15 4 16 Danijel and Milica "H8ER" 23 10 1,215 6 16 3 17 Zemlja Gruva "Svejedno je"5 0 589 0 0 16 18 Saška Janković "Nauči me"15 5 761 3 8 5 19 ОТ Band "Blagoslov za kraj"32 12 12,328 12 24 1 20 Tijana Bogićević "Pazi šta radiš" 0 0 430 0 0 17 + Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total 1 "Previše reči" 7 7 2 "Ha ha ha" 5 5 3 "Zauvek" 0 4 "Led i žar" 0 5 "Ništa novo" 6 6 6 "Cipela" 6 1 7 7 "Nemam te" 5 6 11 8 "Sanjaj me" 3 3 9 "Čekajući princa" 3 7 10 10 "Tvoje drugo ime je greh" 7 5 4 16 11 "Petak uveče" 0 12 "Superstar" 2 8 8 18 13 "Bili smo najlepši" 0 14 "Moje odbrane" 0 15 "Glorija" 12 4 16 16 "H8ER" 10 10 3 23 17 "Svejedno je" 1 2 2 5 18 "Nauči me" 4 1 10 15 19 "Blagoslov za kraj" 8 12 12 32 20 "Pazi šta radiš" 0
Final The final took place on 8 March 2009. The winner, "Cipela" performed by Marko Kon and Milan Nikolić, was decided by a combination of votes from a jury panel consisting of Željko Joksimović (represented Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004), Kornelije Kovač (musician and composer) and Biljana Krstić (musician), and the Serbian public via SMS voting. Former Eurovision contestants Sirusho, who represented Armenia in 2008, Boaz Ma'uda, who represented Israel in 2008, and Jelena Tomašević, who represented Serbia in 2008, were featured as guest performers during the show, performing together "Time to Pray", composed by Israeli President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres.Svetska premijera na „Beoviziji“ OGAE Serbia. Accessed 02 March 2009.
+ Final8 March 2009 Artist SongJury Televote Total Place Votes Points Votes Points 1 Oskar and Beauty Queens feat. Đorđe Marjanović "Superstar" 7 2 7,696 10 12 5 2 Danijel and Milica "H8ER" 4 1 2,630 6 7 8 3 Sonja Bakić "Ništa novo" 0 0 672 1 1 11 4 Saška Janković "Nauči me" 11 3 1,014 3 6 10 5 Dušan Zrnić "Tvoje drugo ime je greh" 24 8 944 2 10 7 6 Marko Kon and Milan Nikolić "Cipela"30 12 3,955 7 19 1 7 OT Bend "Blagoslov za kraj" 18 5 28,521 12 17 2 8 Andrej Ilić "Nemam te" 19 6 614 0 6 9 9 Etar "Sanjaj me" 28 10 1,156 5 15 3 10 Pozitivan Haos "Glorija" 12 4 5,215 8 12 4 11 Ivana Selakov "Moje odbrane" 21 7 1,133 4 11 6 + Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total 1 "Superstar" 2 1 4 7 2 "H8ER" 1 2 1 4 3"Ništa novo" 0 4 "Nauči me" 3 5 3 11 5 "Tvoje drugo ime je greh" 6 12 6 24 6 "Cipela" 12 6 12 30 7 "Blagoslov za kraj" 4 7 7 18 8 "Nemam te" 10 4 5 19 9 "Sanjaj me" 8 10 10 28 10 "Glorija" 7 3 2 12 11 "Moje odbrane" 5 8 8 21
Controversy Following the final of Beovizija 2009, controversy arose as the televoters' favourite, OT Bend, only came second despite taking in more votes than all ten remaining finalists combined. The announcement of Marko Kon and Milan Nikolić as the winners was met with booing by the audience in the venue, while OGAE Serbia published an online letter after the competition in which they questioned the "almost diametrically opposed" jury results between the semi-final and final, alongside the votes of final juror Željko Joksimović who awarded the least points to OT Bend in comparison with the other two members. Joksimović subsequently responded that he had voted, according to his conscience, in favour of a song that "no one lobbied for", adding that people have different tastes and that performers have their fans (the members of OT Bend consisted of contestants from the reality talent show Operacija trijumf).
At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top nine songs from each semi-final as determined by televoting progress to the final, and a tenth was determined by back-up juries. 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. On 30 January 2009, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals. Serbia was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2009. The running order for the semi-finals was decided through another draw on 16 March 2009 and Serbia was set to perform in position 4, following the entry from Latvia and before the entry from Poland.
The two semi-finals and the final were broadcast in Serbia on RTS 1 and RTS Sat with commentary for the first semi-final by Dragan Ilić and commentary for the second semi-final and final by Duška Vučinić-Lučić. RTS appointed Jovana Janković, who co-presented the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, as its spokesperson to announce the Serbian votes during the final.
Semi-final