Sanja Ilić & Balkanika to represent Serbia in Lisbon!

Beovizija 2018, the Serbian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, was produced by Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) and marked the first time in nine years that a national selection was held to determine the Serbian Eurovision entry.

During the jury voting the songs Nova deca performed by Sanja Ilić & Balkanika and Pesma za tebe performed by Saška Janks were regularly fighting for first place. In the end though, it was Nova deca that emerged victorious after the public votes were announced. 

The top five of 'Beovizija 2018'

• 1) Sanja Ilić & Balkanika - Nova deca
• 2) Saška Janks - Pesma za tebe 
• 3) Dušan Svilar - Pod krošnjom bagrema 
• 4) Lord - Samo nek se okreće 
• 5) Biber & DJ Niko Bravo - Svatovi   

About Sanja Ilić & Balkanika

Sanja Ilić & Balkanika have experienced increasing popularity as a band recently but have also sought to further the popularity of Balkan music over the last few years. 

Lead composer Aleksandar Sanja Ilić ensures that the group assembles musicians who play old instruments from the Balkans, trying to blend them into a modern pop-rock sound. 

The musical style of Balkanika can be described as an original sound combined with the elements of the world music. The group have performed around the world and their entry for Eurovision 2018, Nova deca, translates as 'New Children'.

About the show

From a total of 75 participants applied for the show and the selection committee, consisting of RTS music editors and experts, narrowed the search down to the final 17 acts that appeared in the show. The final took place at the Sava Centre, in Belgrade. 

The finalists:

• SevdahBABY - Hajde da igramo sada 
• Rambo Amadeus & Beti Đorđević - Nema te  
• Maja Nikolić - Zemlja čuda 
• Srđan & Emil - Bar da znam 
• Ivan Kurtić - Ni sunca ni meseca 
• Sanja Ilić & Balkanika - Nova deca 
• Koktel Balkan - Zato 
• Boris Režak - Vila 
• Lana & Aldo - Jača od svih 
• Dušan Svilar - Pod krošnjom bagrema 
• Igor Lazarević - Beži od mene 
• Saška Janks - Pesma za tebe 
• Lord - Samo nek se okreće 
• Danijel Pavlović - Ruža sudbine 
• Raybass - Umoran 
• Osmi vazduh i drugari - Probudi se 
• Biber & DJ Niko Bravo - Svatovi  

The interval of the show featured several performances by previous Eurovision entries from Serbia as well as Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro. Tijana Bogićević who represented Serbia in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest with In Too Deep also performed during the show.

For more information about Beovizija visit the official Facebook page and follow the official accounts on Twitter and Instagram.

Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 

Serbia first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007. Previously Serbia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest as part of Yugoslavia as well as Serbia and Montenegro. The country won with its debut entry, Marija Šerifović, and her song Molitva in 2007 and hosted the competition in the capital Belgrade the following year. 

Serbia will participate in the Second Semi-Final of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon on Thursday 10th May.