Pesma za Euroviziju 2025

Sadly, the Serbian NF is considerably weaker than it usually is, but for understandable reasons. Still, let’s see what they have for us in store.

Semi-Final 1

Bojana x David – Šesto čulo

Qualified

Igor Simić – Ne mogu

While it started as a very pleasant ballad, it got going in the second half, which excited me quite a bit. Combined with the dramatic staging, it made for a very enjoyable overall package.

Vampiri – Tebi treba neko kao ja

The song itself is cute and fun, but I wish the singing was a lot more powerful. I’m always down for some 70s vibes, so it’s disappointing that they didn’t deliver live.

Nataša Kojić – Up and Down

There’s some potential here, but it’s weirdly energy-less. The vocals are good, but don’t convey the energy needed for something this boppy and the staging is too weird to be enjoyable. The LED backdrop alternates between people dancing and stock videos, which doesn’t fit the vibes of the song at all. But I’ll have to check out the studio version: I suspect it’s a lot better.

Tropico – AI

While it was a pleasant little ditty, it’s also pretty forgettable. It just went into one ear and out of the other. Still, it didn’t irritate me at all. Though I will knock points off for AI backdrop.

Jelena Pajić – Kameleon

It’s just disjointed. I don’t think it’s bad, but it was just too anonymous, despite the video effects being used.

Filarri – Meet and Greet

Qualified

Kruz Roudi – Sve i odmah

Qualified

Milan Nikolić feat. Caka – Storia del amor

Qualified

Ana & the Changes – Brinem

Qualified

Iskaz – Trendseter

Qualified

Harem Girls – Aladin

Qualified

Biber – Da mi se vratiš

Qualified

Mila – Gaia

This was certainly enjoyable, but I wouldn’t say it managed to stand out too much. Still, it was a good attempt, she sang well and the song stuck in my mind for a little bit.

Nikola Antonijević Anton – U grad

A little repetitive, but not bad overall. It was a good performance and the melody was quite enjoyable too. It was definitely a good effort, even if it isn’t my absolute favourite.

Semi-Final 2

This semi-final got delayed by about 15 minutes, but at least it started at all.

Ivana Štrbac – La la la

I didn’t think this was a bad song, but it was quite generic. Still, she performed well and it’s a bit boppy, so I think it’s nice.

Džet Vega – Rolerkoster

The AI generated lady looked terrible, ugh. At least the song was simply unremarkable, not outright bad.

Princ – Mila

Qualified

Maršali – Po policama sećanja

Qualified

Dušan Kurtić – Boginja

I really like the swing vibes and his voice. It’s also very catchy, which is a huge positive in Eurovision. Overall, a good song plus a good performance equals something good.

Tanja Banjanin – Ja sam bolja

I like the smooth jazzy 70s vibes, I like her voice and I like the song. It’s just more nice chill vibes that I appreciate so much. I’m happy this is here, even though it’s unlikely to do anything in the competition.

Tam – Durum durum

Qualified

Gifts & Roses – Do kraja vremena

Ouch. I respect the bravery needed to go out and perform this on live television, but I can’t say I appreciate anything else. Ok, the instrumental is a bit nice, but the vocal is downright headache-inducing. I’ll be happy if I never have to revisit this again.

Lensy – Hvala ti

Qualified

Sedlar – Oči boje zemlje

Qualified

Maja Nikolić – Žali srce moje

Despite having a broken leg, she managed to sell the song really well. I objectively can’t criticise someone with a broken leg for not dancing - most artists withdraw because of less. And sure, the song is a little repetitive, but it’s also very catchy and I like it.

Mimi Mercedez – Turbo žurka

Qualified

Ohajo – MaMa

Qualified

Vukayla – Mask

Qualifed

AltCtrl – Mamurna jutra

And we’re ending on a high note, thankfully. This was really enjoyable too. They’re good performers with lovely rock song. There’s really nothing wrong here at all and I hope they can at least qualify for the final.

Final

Ohajo – MaMa

This is a very “me” kind of song. It’s interesting and artistic, has a very intriguing stage performance and attracts me musically. I will always appreicate this kind of indie rock, though I’m a little put off by the staging with the smoke. I’m sure it’s artistic and it does capture my attention, but I don’t like the way it looks.

Mimi Mercedez – Turbo žurka

This was a little fun, but very disjointed. Overall, it gave a poor impression because of how in-your-face it was - but I’ve also had more than enough in-your-face entries already, so I hope this doesn’t win. But at least it’s better than some other songs selected, so it wouldn’t be completely at the bottom for me.

Vukayla – Mask

This was a total slay. I really liked her vocals - they fit the song really well. I also think the staging looked really cool. However, I think the song would flow better in English because it feels like it was only translated into Serbian because the rules require it to be at at least 51% in Serbian. The costuming is also cool.

Ana & the Changes – Brinem

Yeah, this is something I could consider listening to in my free time. It’s very down to earth and enjoyable, despite also feeling a little artistic. There are some slight jazz influences that lift this up even more and I’d say it comes closer to sounding like blues than a straightforward ballad. I really like the crativity here, basically.

Biber – Da mi se vratiš

This is a very cool song. The live performance is very coherent and enjoyable, the vocals are all very strong and it looks good too. This is a song designed to leave a positive impression right away, which is what counts in Eurovision. Although I’m not very sure about its televote potential since it isn’t super catchy.

Bojana x David – Šesto čulo

This is a fine song, as in it isn’t offensive, but it’s also pretty uninteresting. It feels like this song is made out of 90% chorus with them repeating the same two lines over and over. At least the performance is energetic and makes up for that somewhat.

Maršali – Po policama sećanja

This is just some cute jazz, nothing more and nothing less. It’s simply very lovely and flows really well. I’ll always be down for something like this.

Princ – Mila

Here’s the most handsome man of the NF season (so far? I doubt that anyone will outdo him in the next couple weeks). The song is cool as well. It’s a sorta nostalgic rock ballad, which doesn’t make it outstanding, but does make it quite pleasant to listen to.

Sedlar – Oči boje zemlje

The flute was a little unpleasant at first, but I quickly got over it due to the rest of the song being gorgeous. He also has that kind of voice that can easily sell any song and he succeeded at selling it to me.

Lensy – Hvala ti

This is very typical for a Balkan NF, but that doesn’t make it bad at all. It feels very complete, every part comes together and leaves a very strong positive impression. Except for that dress, which I didn’t like at all.

Milan Nikolić feat. Caka – Storia del amor

This is certainly one of the worst outfits of the whole 2025 NF season, but the song is the strongest one we’ve heard so far. The instrumentation is cute and catchy, while the performance is strong. I really enjoyed it.

Harem Girls – Aladin

This just annoyed me. I mean, I get the idea and I’m happy that people liked it, but I just found this incredibly annoying. It’s very messy and in-your-face, but it seems like this is exactly what the song wants to be.

Tam – Durum durum

While the song is pretty cool, I was a bit underwhelmed by the live performance because it looked too static. Vocally, she was good, which is probably why it looked static - she avoided moving to preserve her vocals. It also lacks some kind of climax for me to be entirely sold on it. Still, not bad at all.

Filarri – Meet and Greet

Well, this was distinct, which is exactly what I expect from Filarri. I also expected this overuse of video effects, although he’s one of the few people I trust to use them in a good way. More than that, the song was pretty catchy, so I don’t mind this.

Iskaz – Trendseter

This had the right kind of energy to sweep me away. I’ve always had a bit of a weak spot for ska music, so some ska sung in a native language certainly can’t do amiss for me. I also think that they managed to maintain a good vocal performance while being energetic, which is certainly impressive.

Kruz Roudi – Sve i odmah

This was certainly a song. The cosmic backdrop was by far the most interesting thing about this. Even two minutes later, I can’t remember the song at all.

General thoughts

This was a fine national final by this year’s standards, but it was a huge downgrade for PzE for very understandable reasons. The reuse of recordings of old interval acts is just laughable, for example. And there were generally a lot fewer top-tier songs this year, but I get why good artists wanted nothing to do with PzE this year (and they’re right for this, btw).

Results

  1. Ana & the Changes – Brinem
  2. Iskaz – Trendseter
  3. Ohajo – MaMa
  4. Sedlar – Oči boje zemlje
  5. Vukayla – Mask
  6. Princ – Mila
  7. Biber – Da mi se vratiš
  8. AltCtrl – Mamurna jutra
  9. Milan Nikolić feat. Caka – Storia del amor
  10. Filarri – Meet and Greet
  11. Maršali – Po policama sećanja
  12. Lensy – Hvala ti
  13. Dušan Kurtić – Boginja
  14. Igor Simić – Ne mogu
  15. Bojana x David – Šesto čulo
  16. Mila – Gaia
  17. Tanja Banjanin – Ja sam bolja
  18. Tam – Durum durum
  19. Jelena Pajić – Kameleon
  20. Nikola Antonijević Anton – U grad
  21. Ivana Štrbac – La la la
  22. Nataša Kojić – Up and Down
  23. Maja Nikolić – Žali srce moje
  24. Mimi Mercedez – Turbo žurka
  25. Vampiri – Tebi treba neko kao ja
  26. Kruz Roudi – Sve i odmah
  27. Džet Vega – Rolerkoster
  28. Harem Girls – Aladin
  29. Tropico – AI
  30. Gifts & Roses – Do kraja vremena

2025 winners

  1. Albania – Zjerm
  2. Armenia – Survivor
  3. Belgium – Perfectly Imperfect
  4. Estonia – Külm
  5. Finland – Aina
  6. Greece – Sirens
  7. Iceland – Aðeins lengur
  8. Ireland – Fire
  9. Italy – Anema e core
  10. Latvia – Sadzejot
  11. Lithuania – Tavo akys
  12. Luxembourg – Stronger
  13. Malta – LalaRataTakeke LalaRataKabum
  14. Montenegro – To ljubav je
  15. Norway – Human Fire
  16. Poland – Lusterka
  17. Serbia – Brinem
  18. Slovenia – Frederick’s Dead
  19. Spain – Raggio di Sole
  20. Ukraine – Sil'