# North Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest

North Macedonia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 21 times since its official debut in 1998. The country had attempted to participate in 1996, but failed to qualify from the audio-only qualifying round. The Macedonian participant broadcaster in the contest is the Macedonian Radio Television (MRT).
Prior to 2019, North Macedonia's best result was a twelfth place finish with "Ninanajna" performed by Elena Risteska in 2006. Having qualified from the semi-final round only once in ten of the previous eleven contests (2008–18), North Macedonia achieved its best result to date in 2019, when "Proud" by Tamara Todevska qualified and finished in seventh place in the final after winning the jury vote. Following a further two non-qualifications, MRT withdrew from the 2023 contest in Liverpool and North Macedonia is yet to return.

## Participation

The Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) is a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 1 January 1993, thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest since then. It has participated in the contest representing North Macedonia since its 43rd edition in 1998.
Before the country's independence in 1991 from SFR Yugoslavia, RTV Skopje –Yugoslav Radio Television's (JRT) affiliate in SR Macedonia, and MRT's predecessor– participated in the Yugoslav pre-selection called among the JRT affiliates from the other Yugoslav federal units. Also, Macedonian composers wrote songs for candidates from other parts of Yugoslavia. However, the only Macedonian win in the Yugoslav competition, "Vraćam se" by Maja Odžaklievska in 1980, did not compete in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 due to JRT's decision not to participate that year. SR Macedonia was the only Yugoslav federal state that never sent a Yugoslav entry to the Eurovision Song Contest.

## History

MRT submitted its first entry, "Samo ti" (Само ти) sung by Kaliopi, for the 1996 contest. However, the country failed to qualify through the non-broadcast pre-selection round. Its efforts to enter the contest were again hindered in 1997, when another new system was introduced where countries with the lowest average scores over the previous four years were excluded from participating. The country made its debut in 1998, with "Ne zori, zoro" by Vlado Janevski.
The country's best result before 2019 (and the best result with its old name) was in 2006, with "Ninanajna" (Нинанајна) by Elena Risteska in Athens, who came 12th. It is the only country to have qualified from every semi-final from 2004 to 2007 (other countries have qualified for every final but due to them finishing in the top 10 the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-final). Despite never finishing in the top 10, their record of qualifying for every final was broken in 2008, when the jury vote used in the semi-final chose Sweden as a finalist, despite Tamara, Vrčak and Adrian having come 10th in the televote.
MRT has intermittently used the Skopje Fest to select the national entry since the country's debut, although it made several changes in the national final format, so the 2004, 2005, and 2006 national finals were organised outside the Skopje Fest.
For 2019, the country competed for the first time under the name North Macedonia. MRT selected "Proud" by Tamara Todevska as their act of choice. The song managed to qualify through the second semi-final, and reached seventh place in the final, winning the jury vote. This is the first top ten placing as well as the highest placing ever for North Macedonia in the history of the contest.
Following two non-qualifications in 2021 and 2022, MRT confirmed its absence in the 2023 contest, citing financial constraints. However, MRT still broadcast the 2023 contest with a view to return in 2024. The broadcaster's intention to return was stated in a budget plan published in September 2023. However, in late October 2023, the programme planning chair of MRT, Smilka Janeska Sarkanjac, clarified that a decision was yet to be made and the plan was still awaiting the approval of the government. North Macedonia ultimately did not appear on the final list of participants.

## Participation overview

| Year | Artist | Song | Language | Final | Points | Semi | Points |
| 1996 | Kaliopi | "Samo ti" (Само ти) | Macedonian | Failed to qualify X | Failed to qualify X | 26 | 14 |
| 1998 | Vlado Janevski | "Ne zori, zoro" (Не зори, зоро) | Macedonian | 19 | 16 | No semi-finals | No semi-finals |
| 2000 | XXL | "100% te ljubam" (100% те љубам) | Macedonian, English | 15 | 29 | No semi-finals | No semi-finals |
| 2002 | Karolina | "Od nas zavisi" (Од нас зависи) | Macedonian | 19 | 25 | No semi-finals | No semi-finals |
| 2004 | Toše Proeski | "Life" | English | 14 | 47 | 10 | 71 |
| 2005 | Martin Vučić | "Make My Day" | English | 17 | 52 | 9 | 97 |
| 2006 | Elena Risteska | "Ninanajna" (Нинанајна) | English, Macedonian | 12 | 56 | 10 | 76 |
| 2007 | Karolina | "Mojot svet" (Мојот свет) | Macedonian, English | 14 | 73 | 9 | 97 |
| 2008 | Tamara, Vrčak and Adrijan | "Let Me Love You" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 10 | 64 |
| 2009 | Next Time | "Nešto što kje ostane" (Нешто што ќе остане) | Macedonian | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 10 | 45 |
| 2010 | Gjoko Taneski | "Jas ja imam silata" (Јас ја имам силата) | Macedonian | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 15 | 37 |
| 2011 | Vlatko Ilievski | "Rusinka" (Русинкa) | Macedonian, English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 16 | 36 |
| 2012 | Kaliopi | "Crno i belo" (Црно и бело) | Macedonian | 13 | 71 | 9 | 53 |
| 2013 | Esma and Lozano | "Pred da se razdeni" (Пред да се раздени) | Macedonian, Romani | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 16 | 28 |
| 2014 | Tijana | "To the Sky" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 13 | 33 |
| 2015 | Daniel Kajmakoski | "Autumn Leaves" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 15 | 28 |
| 2016 | Kaliopi | "Dona" (Дона) | Macedonian | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 11 | 88 |
| 2017 | Jana Burčeska | "Dance Alone" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 15 | 69 |
| 2018 | Eye Cue | "Lost and Found" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 18 | 24 |
| 2019 | Tamara Todevska | "Proud" | English | 7 | 305 | 2 | 239 |
| 2020 | Vasil | "You" | English | Contest cancelled X | Contest cancelled X | Contest cancelled X | Contest cancelled X |
| 2021 | Vasil | "Here I Stand" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 15 | 23 |
| 2022 | Andrea | "Circles" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 11 | 76 |

## Awards
### Barbara Dex Award

| Year | Performer | Host city | Ref. |
| 2005 | Martin Vučić | Kyiv | |
| 2018 | Eye Cue | Lisbon | |

## Related involvement
### Delegation members

Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the performers, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others.

#### Heads of delegation

| Year | Head of delegation | Ref. |
| 2005 | Ivan Mircevski | |
| 2012–2021 | Meri Popova | |

#### Heads of press

| Year | Head of press | Ref. |
| 2019 | Toni Cifrovski | |

### Commentators and spokespersons

For the show's broadcast on MRT, various commentators have provided commentary on the contest in the Macedonian language. At the Eurovision Song Contest after all points are calculated, the presenters of the show call upon each voting country to invite each respective spokesperson to announce the results of their vote on-screen.
From 1961 until 1991, SR Macedonia was part of Yugoslavia and JRT's affiliate RTV Skopje broadcast the contest there with Macedonian commentary.
| Year | Channel | Commentator(s) | Spokesperson | Ref. |
| 1998 | MTV | Unknown | Evgenija Teodosievska | |
| 1999 | MTV | Unknown | Did not participate | |
| 2000 | MTV | Unknown | Sandra Todorovska | |
| 2001 | MTV | Unknown | Did not participate | |
| 2002 | MTV | Unknown | Biljana Debarlieva | |
| 2003 | MTV | Unknown | Did not participate | |
| 2004 | MTV | Unknown | Karolina Petkovska | |
| 2005 | MTV | Unknown | Karolina Gočeva | |
| 2006 | MTV | Karolina Petkovska | Martin Vučić | |
| 2007 | MTV 1 (all shows) | Unknown | Elena Risteska | |
| 2008 | MRT (all shows) | Unknown | Ognen Janeski | |
| 2009 | MRT (all shows) | Karolina Petkovska and Aleksandra Jovanovska | Frosina Josifovska | |
| 2010 | MRT (all shows) | Karolina Petkovska | Milica Roštikjl | |
| 2011 | MTV 1 (all shows) | Eli Tanaskovska | Kristina Talevska | |
| 2012 | MRT 1 (all shows) | Karolina Petkovska | Kristina Talevska | |
| 2013 | MRT 1 (all shows) | Karolina Petkovska | Dimitar Atanasovski | |
| 2014 | MRT 1, MRT SAT, Radio Skopje (all shows) | Karolina Petkovska | Marko Mark | |
| 2015 | MRT 1, MRT SAT, Radio Skopje, MRT 2, MRT 2 SAT (all shows) | Karolina Petkovska | Marko Mark | |
| 2016 | MRT 1 (all shows) | Karolina Petkovska | Dijana Gogova | |
| 2017 | MRT 1 (all shows) | Karolina Petkovska | Ilija Grujoski | |
| 2018 | MRT 1, MRT 2, Radio Skopje (all shows) | Karolina Petkovska | Jana Burčeska | |
| 2019 | MRT 1 (all shows) | Toni Cifrovski | Nikola Trajkovski | |
| 2020 | Not announced before cancellation | Not announced before cancellation | Not announced before cancellation | N/A |
| 2021 | MRT 1, MRT 2 (all shows) | Eli Tanaskovska | Vane Markoski | |
| 2022 | MRT 1, MRT 2 (all shows) | Eli Tanaskovska | Jana Burčeska | |
| 2023 | MRT 1, MRT 2, Radio Skopje (all shows) | Aleksandra Jovanovska and Eli Tanaskovska | Did not participate | |
| 2024 | MRT 1, Radio Skopje (all shows) | Aleksandra Jovanovska | Did not participate | |
| 2025 | TBA | TBA | Did not participate | |

#### Other shows

| Show | Commentator | Channel | Ref. |
| Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light | Aleksandra Jovanovska | MRT 1 | |

## Photo gallery

* Toše Proeski in Istanbul (2004)
* Karolina Gočeva in Helsinki (2007)
* Tamara, Vrčak and Adrian in Belgrade (2008)
* Next Time in Moscow (2009)
* Vlatko Ilievski in Düsseldorf (2011)
* Esma Redžepova and Vlatko Lozanoski in Malmö (2013)
* Tijana in Copenhagen (2014)
* Daniel Kajmakoski in Vienna (2015)
* Kaliopi in Stockholm (2016)
* Jana Burčeska in Kyiv (2017)
* Eye Cue in Lisbon (2018)
* Tamara Todevska in Tel Aviv (2019)
* Vasil in Rotterdam (2021)
* Andrea in Turin (2022)