Montenegro's first two Grand Final appearances came in 2014 and 2015. Can they keep the momentum rolling in Stockholm?
Country: Montenegro
Song Title: "Real Thing"
Artist: Highway
First Semi-Final: Position #15
Last year's entry: "Adio (Goodbye)" - Knez (13th Place)
Montenegro has only qualified twice for the Grand final since it began participating as an independent state in 2007. Unfortunately, neither of those qualifications were in 2012 or 2013, two years in which I really appreciated their entries as the pinnacle of Eurovision kitsch. On the bright side, both of those Grand Final appearances have been the past two years, and last year's entry was legitimately good! Can Montenegro capitalize on the momentum in Stockholm?
This entry hasn't changed since it was first released, which is too bad BECAUSE IT'S TERRIBLE. For starters, Highway just does not play the kind of music that Eurovision fans appreciate; hard rock has won the contest before, but I think we can all agree that Lordi is the exception that proves the rule. Most of the team here actually ranks Montenegro as the worst song in the first semi-final, behind San Marino, who desperately added a disco track (!!!) to their entry to make it more palatable. But at least "I Didn't Know" is actually a song, and not just a collection of choruses, bridges, and hooks with a dancing woman to distract you. (Iceland tried that last year, and it didn't work out so well for them, either.)
Speaking of Iceland, they perform right after Montenegro, followed by Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Malta to close out the semifinal. Those three acts should be enough to help viewers forget about "The Real Thing." Even if it's not? Voting-wise, Armenia is really the only friend Montenegro has in this semifinal, and I predict the vast majority of their votes will be taken up by Russia. The only real question left for Montenegro is: will they end up in last place?