With an amazing show hosted in the RTS studio in Košutnjak and several long months in the making, Serbia has finally chosen their Eurovision 2023 representative – and it’s TBA!
As in the previous two semi final nights, we were entertained by the lovely hosting duo Dragana Kosjerina and Milan Marić, who ensured that the show went by with no hiccups, with Kristina Radenković and Stefan Popović bringing us all the fun from the green room!
Before we get to the nitty gritty, this is how the PZE23 grand final went down!
The show opened with the hosts performing a cover of the iconic Making Your Mind Up by Bucks Feez (United Kingdom in Eurovision, 1981). What a colorful throwback to get everyone dancing!
After a little bit of an recap of the previous Eurovision years with some special focus on Eurovision 2008 in Serbia, that also introduced the three-night show format in Eurovision (that is also standard today), we were ready for the show to begin!
- Stefan Shy kicked off the show with the familiar sound of Balkan trumpets and intricate lyrics with Od jastuka do jastuka!
- Boris Subotić was up next, reminding us of his fantastic semi final all-white staging and beautiful echoing notes of Nedostupan.
- Nadia was back on stage (this time with no technical glitches) with Devojka tvog dečka, bringing us the pop rock vibes we know and love!
- Duo Grand celebrated life again with Viva la vida and definitely justified the title of the song!
- Nađa, one of the youngest performers in the grand final, brought us back into the gentle notes of Moj prvi ožiljak na duši, melting even the coldest of hearts.
- The iconic Frajle brought back the old Balkan towny vibes and made us boogie with Neka, neka!
- Hurricane jolted us right into Hurriland next, and the frenzied Zumi zimi zami rhythm kept us on our feet!
- CHEGI & Braća bluz bend jogged our memory in what it means to really party on stage, as Svadba ili kavga was a real party starter!
- It was time for Dzipsii next, with his immaculate use of lights and colors staging-wise. Greh is a real masterpiece!
- Luke Black catapulted us into a dystopian world of video games with fantastic visuals of Samo mi se spava, sending a serious message while outperforming himself.
- Filip Baloš graced the stage with Novi san, drugi plan, a real electro pop hit of the season, with subtle choreography and impeccable stage presence!
- Princ sang his heart out with Cvet sa juga, bringing that lion energy to the stage!
- Filarri, with his well choreographed performance and yellow & blue vibes, owned the stage with Posle mene!
- Gift were back with the amazing rock vibes! Liberta is a real rock’n’roll blaze!
- Empathy Soul Project were equally as fiery with Indigo and a perfect penultimate performer!
- Finally, Zejna closed the show with the red-hot Rumba, lighting the whole stage on fire with her memorable dance moves and strong vocals!
VOTING: As in previous years, voting was done via both a public vote and a jury vote, with a 50% weighting given to each, to decide the winner.
THE JURY: The jury consisted of Serbian musical professionals – Lena Kovačević, Dragan Đorđević Suzuki, Nevena Božović Ivanović, Slobodan Veljković Coby and Aleksandar Saša Loknar.
INTERVAL ACT: We were graced with a wonderful cover of Yesterday by the iconic Beatles, performed by Iva Lorens and later on Naiva.
Then we swiftly moved on with the Beatles medley by a Serbian Beatles cover band, called The Bestbeat!
Finally, the hosts joined the medley cover group with a beautiful rendition of Let It Be and All You Need is Love!
As the voting sequence ended, we were ready for the results as the nerves became apparent both on social media and in the green room! Our aforementioned jurors tuned in live to deliver their votes, and the jury vote victory fell into the lap of NAĐA, followed closely by Luke Black and Filip Baloš.
Televote was next, and after an intense voting sequence, the final victory belongs to LUKE BLACK, with SAMO MI SE SPAVA!
Konstrakta was soon out to congratulate the winner and hand over the crown:
Congratulations, LUKE BLACK!
The broadcast was made available by RTS via RTS1, RTS Planeta platform, the official RTS Youtube channel and the official RTS internet portal.
What do #YOU think of Serbia’s choice for Liverpool? Do you think they will qualify for the grand final and manage to repeat Konstrakta’s good result? Let us know on social media @ESCUnited, on our Discord, or on our forum page!
