Finally, what we have all been (im)patiently waiting for: Pesma za Evroviziju 2023 has kicked off with a fantastic Semi Final 1!
As a reminder, in each semi-final night, 16 contestants are presented, after which the best eight go to the final, during which they will try to secure their spot to represent Serbia at the 67th Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool.
Dragana Kosjerina and Milan Marić were our lovely hosts for the evening, and Kristina Radenković and Stefan Popović were live from the green room. With an incredible show brought to us from the RTS studio in Košutnjak, we have our first 8 finalists for PZE23! But before that, let’s see how it all went down!
The show opened with Konstrakta’s new song EVO, OBEĆAVAM, in a beautiful lilac suit with fresh vibes, reminding us just how much we loved her last year, and how much we continue to love her.
After the introductions of the participants, the show was set to officially begin!
- Mattia Zanatta & Angela Kassiani brought a mesh of genres with Novi svet. A little bit of opera, with curious instrumentals in the breakdown, it was a great start to the show!
- Adem Mehmedović put a smile to our eyes with Osmeh! A gorgeous piano r’n’b track with his husky voice on it, it was obvious he enjoyed the performance very much so, and took our hearts with him.
- Nadja sang about the first scar on her soul in a fairytale-like, Swift-esque performance. It was cute, it was adorable, a pleasure for the eyes and ears!
- Tijana Dapčević, one of the Balkan music scenes veterans, made us dance with Mamim! A funky pop beat made for an interesting viewing experience.
- Princ sang a lovely rendition of his song Cvet sa istoka, fusing oriental motives with the traditional Balkan music. His booming voice shook the studio!
- Filip Baloš performed with a phenomenal concept of meshing the red & blue light, subtle but effective choreography and served amazing vocals!
- Filip Žmaher brought that old school rock sound that we know and love with Čujemo se sutra!
- Luke Black transported us into an industrial, futuristic and dystopian staging concept with Samo mi se spava. Eerie and effective!
- Angellina wowed us with the fiery, scorpio eyes and lit a fire on stage with Lanac!
- Empathy Soul Project rocked the PZE stage in a frenzy of the classic rock beat with fantastic guitar riffs!
- Stefan Shy, despite being the newcomer to the music scene, delivered a stunning performance of Od jastuka do jastuka. Good job!
- Hercenšlus band graced us with a folk-rock sounding song Vremenska zona with an undertone of the traditional Balkan sound with violins in the breakdown!
- Savo Perović was as flamboyant and eccentric on stage as us seasoned Eurovision lovers would have wanted him to be! Presidente definitely got us dancing along!
- Igor Stanojević provided us with some much-needed respite with his beautiful ballad Iza duge.
- Boris Subotić delivered a gorgeous pop r’n’b track with flawless vocals. Nedostupan sounded heavenly both visually and vocally!
- CHEGI & Braća bluz bend closed the semi final with Svadba ili kavga, lifting everyone’s spirits again and stirring up a party in the studio!
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.
INTERVAL ACT: Konstrakta was back for the interval act in a slightly different arrangement! In Corpore Sano/Mekano mashup sounded absolutely amazing! She finished it off with a dreamy rendition of a poem by Stevan Raičković, named Život.
RESULTS: Finally, the following acts are the PZE23 finalists! The order in which they were announced (below) is not the reflection of the votes.
- Stefan Shy – Od jastuka do jastuka
- Princ – Cvet sa istoka
- CHEGI & Braća bluz bend – Svadba ili kavga
- Boris Subotić – Nedostupan
- Luke Black – Samo mi se spava
- Filip Baloš – Novi plan, drugi san
- Nadja – Moj prvi ožiljak na duši
- Empathy Soul Project – Indigo
Congratulations, everyone!
The broadcast was made available by RTS via RTS1, RTS Planeta platform, the official RTS Youtube channel and the official RTS internet portal. You can also watch the Semi Final 2 tomorrow, March 2, at 21:00 CET via these options.
What do #YOU think of Serbia’s choices for the PZE23 final so far? Let us know on social media @ESCUnited, on our Discord, or on our forum page!
