A crowd of children, ramonda flowers, Serbian and Swedish flags at the send-off of singer Teodora Pavlovska to the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö.
“I’m happy, it’s a nice feeling, I think the word happiness describes everything.”
“I’m excited and it’s a great honor and responsibility,” Teja Dora said briefly (Teya Dora) for the BBC in Serbian in the hall of RTS in the center of Belgrade.
She will represent Serbia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden in May with a song Ramonda.
“Ramonda is a flower that is vulnerable, ordinary at first glance, but actually very rare and strong.”
“The specific thing about this plant is that, when it is completely dehydrated, just one drop of water can bring it back to life.” Ramonda actually represents hope,” Teja Dora explained after winning the Serbian competition for the biggest European music competition.
At this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, apart from Serbia, from the countries of the former Yugoslavia, Croatia will also participate, which will be represented by the singer under the stage name Baby Lasagna (song Rome Team Dougie Dim), and Slovenia, for which Sara Briški Cirman will perform with a song Veronica.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia are not participating this year either for financial reasons.
Israel submitted a somewhat modified song, as the original was rejected for violating the contest’s political neutrality rules.
Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating this year due to the war in Ukraine, which entered its third year.
‘We should never stop hoping’
On Wednesday, April 24, the send-off of the representative of Serbia at the Eurovision Song Contest was organized in the RTS building.
In a black dress with a ramonda flower on the lapel, Teja Dora sang the winning number, and then signed autographs for many children.
Previously, the ambassador of Sweden in Serbia, Anika Ben David, presented her with the country’s flag, saying that “in addition to her own country, she will support Serbia as well.”
The last days of preparation are tiring, but Teja Dora says that “nothing is difficult when you love something and enjoy everything.”
“We did everything to make it perfect and we hope you will like it and be proud of us,” she said in the RTS lobby before leaving for Sweden.
Radio-television of Serbia is a member of the European Broadcasting Agency (EBU), the organizer of the Eurovision Song Contest.
“It’s a nice energy, we’re honest in what we do, and I think that’s the most important thing.”
“The selection is varied, but I think we stand out – both the song and the performance stand out,” said the singer.
She added that she also likes songs from Croatia, Ukraine, Slovenia and Italy.
Who is Teodora Pavlovska or Teja Dora?
This 32-year-old is a versatile musician, with a degree from the famous American Berklee College of Music.
She was born in Bor, a city in eastern Serbia, and has festival experience and a number of awards behind her.
Her song Janum, recorded in 2023 for a popular domestic serial South wind: At the border in one month, one million people listened to it on the Spotify streaming service.
According to the music recognition application Shazam, last year, that track was in second place in the number of searches.
In an interview, Teja Dora stated that at the age of five, before she learned to write, she asked her parents to enroll her in a music school to play the piano.
“I always wanted to create music.” My songs are my personal language that I use to communicate, my feelings and my thoughts, everything that happens inside me,” she said in an interview for Blic, in September 2023.
After being selected as the Serbian representative at the Eurovision Song Contest, she said that she plans to “create a spectacle” in Malmö.
What is the Eurovision Song Contest and which countries are participating?
37 performers are participating in the 2024 competition, chosen by broadcasters, members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), to represent their country.
Songs must be original and no longer than three minutes.
Most of the participating countries are European countries, but since 2015, Australia has also participated.
This distant island country cannot host.
If he wins, he will have to propose a European country to organize the competition on his behalf.
Other non-European countries, including Israel, are allowed to participate because they are members of the EBU.
Where is the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 taking place?
The 2024 competition is being held in Sweden after Lauryn won in 2023 with Tatu (Tattoo).
She became the first woman to win the competition twice, after triumphing in 2012 with the song Euphoria (Euphoria).
This is the third time that Malmö has hosted Eurovision, and the seventh time that the competition has been held in Sweden.
Since this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Swedish group ABBA’s first victory at Eurovision with the song Waterloo (Waterloo), it was speculated that they would also appear.
But Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, members of the group Abba, told the BBC that they would neither perform in the final nor compose a song for Sweden.
When is the final?
The grand final will be held in the arena in Malmö on Saturday, May 11.
Before that, there will be two semi-final nights – on Tuesday 7th and Thursday 9th May.
The representative of Serbia, performs second, in the first semi-final evening.
“I wanted to be at the beginning and I think number two is phenomenal.”
“There is nervousness and I prefer that I perform right at the beginning and then sit down and enjoy the rest of the program,” Pavlovska told reporters before leaving for Sweden.
How do you vote?
In the semi-finals, only the audience in the participating countries and other parts of the world vote.
In the final, each country that places among the best is awarded two sets of points: one by a jury of experts and one by the audience.
They can vote for 10 songs, except for the representative of their own country.
The highest number of points per song is 12, the second favorite gets 10, the third choice eight, then seven points, and so on to one point for their tenth favorite.
Eurovision was one of the first televised competitions to allow viewers to vote.
Viewers in Austria, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and Great Britain began voting by telephone in 1997.
The rest of the world is allowed to vote in 2023, with points awarded to the 10 most popular songs in the world.
How much does Eurovision cost?
Each broadcaster pays a participation fee to the EBU.
France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom pay the most, although the BBC does not disclose the amount.
The BBC was told that other countries were asked to pay more after Russia’s suspension, and as a result, some countries withdrew from the competition, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, and Slovakia.
Luxembourg will return to the competition for the first time since 1993, but there will be no Bulgaria, Hungary, Montenegro, Andorra…
It is thought to have cost the BBC between £8m and £17m (between €9.3m and €20m) to host the 2023 event in Liverpool.
The UK government pledged 10 million pounds (11.7 million euros) for operational costs, while local authorities in Liverpool set aside four million pounds (around 4.6 million euros).
See what the Eurovision Song Contest is and why it’s so popular
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