Montenegro: NeonoeN withdraws from Eurovision 2025
The band NeonoeN won Montesong, but has voluntarily decided to withdraw their representation for Montenegro at Eurovision 2025
UPDATE 8 December 2024
Nina Žižić to Eurovision 2025 with "Dobrodošli"
Montenegrin broadcaster RTCG has found the replacement for NeonoeN for Eurovision 2025: It will be Nina Žižić with the song "Dobrodošli."
One week after winning Montesong 2024, the band NeonoeN has decided not to represent Montenegro at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025.
The withdrawal comes after a video showed a snippet of their song "Clickbait" being performed at the music festival, Festival Kulture Zabjelo, in 2023.
The rules of the Eurovision Song Contest state that competing songs must be a new, original work. Songs that have been released or performed publicly before 1 September 2024 cannot compete in Eurovision.
Montenegrin broadcaster RTCG will now select another song to represent them on the Eurovision stage in Basel. It's currently unknown how they'll choose the artist and song to replace NeonoeN for Eurovision. One guess would be that they'll simply choose the song that came in second place at Montesong: Nina Žižić with "Dobrodošli."
Statement from NeonoeN
Dear,
In the best public interest, with the desire to end the uncertainty and once again contribute to the music that we are here for, we inform you that we are voluntarily withdrawing from participating in Eurovision. RTCG, in accordance with the regulations, will choose another representative, and we will be the first to wish him luck and provide full support.
The victory at Montesong brought us publicity whose type and scope we did not choose, nor could we control. We would like to point out, and the facts confirm this, that performing the working version of the song live neither jeopardized the process of the Montesong festival itself, nor could it have influenced its final outcome and our placement. The fact is that there have been many similar examples and that the EBU has always decided that these songs can participate (one even won at Eurovision), because they did not have a competitive advantage over the others, which is clear to everyone.
However, we simply do not want to be part of any stories outside of music, nor to promote our author’s work in this way.
Eurovision has never been a goal in itself for us. Expanding the field of our musical activity – it certainly is!
The Montesong Festival organized by the Association of Entertainers brought 16 new songs and that is its greatest value.
We would like to thank the management of RTCG for their good will and intention to give us space for other options. We believe that they will understand our decision to give up on Eurovision and we also thank them for that.
Special and immense gratitude for the support of fellow musicians, lovers of good music, friends, acquaintances, journalists and the general public from Montenegro and abroad, which gave us strength in the last days. Our families, together with us, have experienced all the splendor and despair of this process and now it is time to repay them and dedicate ourselves to them in the right way.
CLICKBAIT continues to live as a musical single, but we are also afraid of it as a contemporary social phenomenon.
Once again, thank you all. Now let’s all support Montenegro at Eurovision!
Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest
Montenegro, as an independent nation, has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 12 times since their debut in 2007.
They have qualified for the Grand Final 2 out of 12 times: in 2014 with the song "Moj Svijet" by Sergej Ćetković, and in 2015 with the song "Adio" by Knez. Knez finished 13th, which is also the best result for Montenegro.
