Prior to the 2021 contest, North Macedonia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest nineteen times since its first entry in as F.Y.R. Macedonia. The nation's best result in the contest to this point was twelfth, which it achieved in 2006 with the song "Ninanajna" performed by Elena Risteska. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the , Macedonia had featured in only five finals. In 2019, Tamara Todevska managed to qualify for the final with her song "Proud", marking the nation's first appearance in the final since 2012, and subsequently achieving the nation's first ever top 10 result.