Vladana Vučinić, the executive producer of Montesong 2026, shared some updates about the festival.
During her appearance as a guest on the show Dobro jutro Crna Goro, Vladana Vučinić, Montenegro’s 2022 representative and Executive Producer of the festival, revealed details about the national selection for Montenegro 2026.
“We will try to make the Montesong festival even better than last year. There are some changes, such as hosting the festival in RTCG’s large studio this year and involving more RTCG staff to help with the production. We are also giving artists more creative freedom by allowing them to sing in any language they want. Last year, all songs had to have at least 51% of their lyrics in Montenegrin. This year, we want artists to be even more creative.”
She also spoke about the number of participants expected in the festival and encouraged artists to be innovative and original.
“We will select a maximum of 16 artists for the festival. We cannot guarantee it will be exactly that number, as the expert jury will have the final word. However, we want to see more musical innovation. Eurovision demands creativity these days, so please put your maximum into those three minutes.”
Joining Vučinić in the studio was Asja Džogović, Montenegro’s representative at this year’s Junior Eurovision. Vučinić, the head of Montenegro’s delegation at Junior Eurovision, emphasised the importance of country’s participation in both editions of Eurovision and organization of festivals like Montesong.
“Junior Eurovision is a platform for children to grow. In five or six years, Asja might be standing on the main Eurovision stage. She already has a clear goal in life: to pursue what she excels at—singing. Regarding Montesong, there is always a portion of the population that opposes both the festival and our Eurovision participation. However, the public never questions our investment in sports, even when we don’t achieve outstanding results. So why should we stop kids like Asja by taking away opportunities to create, perform, and grow into strong performers? We cannot expect to have an amazing song every year or always qualify for the final, but we can support young singers through festivals like Montesong. This helps us gradually develop strong talent.”
Vladana Vučinić also addressed concerns about funding, stressing that Montesong and Eurovision participation are not a waste of money.
“In reality, only a small percentage of RTCG’s overall budget is spent on Eurovision. We are really trying to achieve the most with the least money spent.”
Nina Žižić represented Montenegro at Eurovision 2025 with the song “Dobrodošli”. She placed last in Semi-Final Two, scoring 12 points, all of which came from the Serbian televote.
Image source: EBU (Nathan Reinds) | Source: RTCG
Montenegro debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest as an independent country in 2007 and participated until 2010, when they withdrew for financial reasons, Montenegro returned to the contest in 2012. Montenegro failed to qualify for the grand final until 2014, Sergej Ćetković and his song “Moj svijet” placed 19th in the final. Their best result came a year later, when Knez performed “Adio” in Vienna and finished 13th in the final. Montenegro has participated intermittently between 2019 and 2025, with withdrawals from 2020 to 2021 and from 2023 to 2024.
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Posted by:Tamara Vecic
Tamara is originally from Slovenia but currently lives in The Netherlands. She became a Eurovoix member in February 2025. She has been actively following the Eurovision Song Contest since 2007 and gained interest for national selections in 2018. She closely follows the Balkan music scene and enjoys covering the region in her work.