Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015
Montenegro participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Adio", written by Željko Joksimović, Marina Tucaković and Dejan Ivanović. The song was performed by Knez, who was selected by Montenegrin broadcaster Radio i televizija Crne Gore (RTCG) in October 2014 to represent the nation at the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. The song "Adio" was later presented to the public in March 2015. In the second of the Eurovision semi-finals "Adio" placed ninth out of the 17 participating countries, securing its place among the 27 other songs in the final . In Montenegro's seventh Eurovision appearance on 23 May, "Adio" finished in thirteenth place, receiving 44 points. This was, and still is as of 2021, Montenegro's best placing in the contest. Background. Prior to the 2015 contest, Montenegro had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest as an independent nation six times since its first entry in its own right in 2007. Its best placing in the contest was nineteenth, which it achieved in 2014 with the song "Moj svijet" performed by Sergej Ćetković. In 2014, Montenegro qualified to the final for the first time since they began participating. The  nation briefly withdrew from the competition in 2010 and 2011 citing financial difficulties as the reason for their absence. The Montenegrin broadcaster for the 2015 contest, who broadcasts the event in Montenegro and organises the selection process for its entry, was Radio i televizija Crne Gore (RTCG). Since 2009, the Montenegrin broadcaster has internally selected both the artists and song that would represent Montenegro at the Eurovision Song Contest. On 9 September 2014, RTCG confirmed that Montenegro would participate at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. Later on 2 October 2014, the broadcaster revealed that the Montenegrin entry would be selected  via an internal selection. Before Eurovision. Internal selection. On 31 October 2014, RTCG announced at a press conference at RTCG Headquarters in Podgorica that Knez would represent Montenegro in Vienna. Knez previously attempted to represent Montenegro at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008 where he placed third in the artist selection. Knez also attempted to represent Serbia and Montenegro in 2004 where he placed seventeenth in their national final with the song "Navika". In regards to his selection at the Montenegrin artist, Knez stated: "I'll do my best and invest all my experience and knowledge. At the same time  I'm hoping to have a perfect song which will represent Montenegro in the best possible way." On 18 February 2015, RTCG announced that the Montenegrin song would be composed by Serbian singer-songwriter Željko Joksimović. Joksimović had previously represented Serbia and Montenegro at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004 and Serbia in 2012 where he placed second and third at the contests with the songs "Lane moje" and "Nije ljubav stvar", respectively. Joksimović had also previously composed the Bosnian and Serbian songs in 2006 and 2008, respectively. In response to preparations surrounding the song, Knez stated: "I am very  pleased with the composition which will represent our country and I can say that the reactions of those who had the opportunity to hear it are positive on first listen, as we inspire optimism that we will achieve a good result in Vienna." The song, "Adio", written by Joksimović, Marina Tucaković and Dejan Ivanović, was presented on 17 March 2015 via the official Eurovision Song Contest website "eurovision.tv" with the official music video being released on 18 March 2015. Preparation. In the lead up to the contest, Knez released English and French language versions of "Adio" on 29 April 2015 . The English version had lyrics written by Nicole Rodriguez, Tami Rodriguez, Dunja Vujadinović and Milica Fajgelj while lyrics for the French version were written by Rob Wolfson. At Eurovision. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. In the 2015 contest, Australia also competed directly in the final as an invited guest nation. The  European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into five different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 26 January 2015, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Montenegro was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 21 May 2015, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2015 contest  had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Montenegro was set to perform in position 4, following the entry from San Marino and before the entry from Malta. All three shows were broadcast in Montenegro on TVCG 2, with commentary by Dražen Bauković and Tamara Ivanković. The Montenegrin spokesperson, who announced the Montenegrin votes during the final, was 2009 Eurovision entrant Andrea Demirović. Semi-final. Knez took part in technical rehearsals on 13 and 16 May , followed by dress rehearsals on 20 and 21 May. This included the jury final where professional juries of each country, responsible for 50 percent of each country's vote, watched and voted on the competing entries. The stage show featured Knez in a black suit joined by five female backing vocalists dressed in black and green outfits. The clothing worn by all six performers was designed by Boško Jakovljević, while jewellery worn by the female backing vocalists was designed by Katarina Zlajić. In regards to the staging, the Montenegrin stage director, Marko Novaković, stated: "Considering that the song written by  Željko Joksiković has some modern, but also some traditional, ethnic elements, the visual elements needs to follow the story of a song. What you will see during the performance on the LED floor and background is: the mountains, Adriatic sea, but also traditional Montenegrin dances". The five female backing vocalists that joined Knez on stage were Dunja Vujadinović, Lena Kuzmanović, Ivana Vlahović, Jelena Pajić and his daughter, Ksenija Knežević. At the end of the show, Montenegro was announced as having finished in the top ten and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that the Montenegro placed  ninth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 57 points. Final. Shortly after the second semi-final, a winner's press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries were announced during the semi-final. Montenegro was drawn to compete in the second half. Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for  the semi-finals. Montenegro was subsequently placed to perform in position 16, following the entry from Greece and before the entry from Germany. Knez once again took part in dress rehearsals on 22 and 23 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Knez performed a repeat of his semi-final performance during the final on 23 May. At the conclusion of the voting, Montenegro placed thirteenth with 44 points. Voting. Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury  deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member were released shortly after the grand  final. In the second semi-final, Montenegro's vote was based on 100 percent jury voting, which was implemented due to either technical issues with the televoting or an insufficient number of votes. In the final, Montenegro's vote was based on 100 percent televoting after the EBU announced that it had disqualified the Montenegrin jury results in the final due to irregularities. The exclusion of the votes was decided upon in consultation with the contest's independent voting observer, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and based upon the decision of the Executive Supervisor and the Chairman of the Reference Group. Following the release  of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Montenegro had placed eighteenth with the public televote and twelfth with the jury vote in the final. In the public vote, Montenegro scored 34 points, while with the jury vote, Montenegro scored 44 points. In the second semi-final, Montenegro placed ninth with the public televote with 58 points and eleventh with the jury vote, scoring 47 points. Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Montenegro and awarded by Montenegro in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest , and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows: Detailed voting results. The following members comprised the Montenegrin jury: