Tonight Serbia Chooses it’s song for Malmo 2013. Last night 5 songs were chosen from the Beosong Semi-final for tonight’s contest in Belgrade hosted by Maja Nikolić. The songs, artists and the running order are as follows

1) Duga u tvojim očima – Saška Janković

2) Magija – SKY’s

3) Spas – Dušan Svilar

4) Halo – Marija Mihajlović

5) Ljubav je svuda – Mirna Radulović, Nevena Božović, Sara Jovanović

I will bring you coverage of the performances as they unfold and as always – sit back, relax and may the best song win……………………………………………………..

Below we have last night’s performances so you can follow the live blog along

We start off tonight with a brass band playing a very traditional version of Te Deum – I like it

Now the LaLuna Dream Team dancers perform to Euphoria – ah well as Loreen out at Sydney Mardi Gras they are the next best thing huh??? Think they are a Serbian Diversity type dance group – without the lovely Ashley Banjo of course

The piano music in between breaks is not going to be remotely annoying for me luckily!?!?!?!?!?!?

Duga u tvojim očima – Saška Janković

Now we are talking Serbia – u can never go wrong with a postcard featuring Djokovic to introduce the first song and it is Duga u tvojim očima sung by Saška Janković

A strong female ballad (yes another) but it is a good one. It has a nice melody to it and the flame haired singer puts in a good performance although her suit could have done with and iron and did she really sing about “Soup in a Glass”???

Magija – SKY’s

This is a good up tempo number. A girl group that can sing – a bit of a novelty at Eurovision. They remind me a bit of Bewitched – all jumpy and full of energy with a catchy song. Won’t be the best song in the competition but this is fun and I liked it.

Spas – Dušan Svilar

Song number 3 and bring on the Serbian Roman Lobb – Spas by Dušan Svilar

Dušan definitely makes good viewing. This punchy number has some ethinic melodies during the instrumental and the vocal is strong. I like a bit of rock/folk fusion if it is done in the right way and this works well in my opinion. Being easy on the eye is never a bad thing at Eurovision either. A good strong entry for Malmo

Halo – Marija Mihajlović

Song number 4 and Halo sung by Marija Mihajlovi. She reminds me of Kalioppi from Macedonia last year. A big strong lady with a big strong voice – it has a jazzy feel to it and is a very sophisticated performance of a quality song. It builds dramatically the fades towards then end. Quality shines through.

Ljubav je svuda – Mirna Radulović, Nevena Božović, Sara Jovanović

All very quickly we have the last song of the final Ljubav je svuda – by Mirna Radulović, Nevena Božović and Sara Jovanović. It is all a bit Moulin Rouge with a devil an angel and someone in a golden outfit with short dresses and fishnets on show. I find it a bit shouty. There is the makings of a good song here but it feels like they are trying too hard to be something they are not – like me thinking I’m a size 12 I suppose.

As the voting commences we start our interval act and of course she is here – Marija with Molitva. I must say she could have dressed up for the occasion – great song and great vocal but looks like she about to clean out the attic or the garage in that gear

Someone tells me the t-shirt reads “Music Above Corruption” – surely not a political message at Eurovision?!?!?!?!

Now the brass band play Lane Moje – beautiful!!!!!!!!

Ok now this seems a bit strange – we now have a group of ballet dancers on stage dancing to Viva La Vida – Cold Play which then fuses into That’s Why The Lady is a Tramp!!!!!

I was on the nightshift last night and perhaps I have not yet gotten over my jet lag but I think I am actually witnessing this correctly

Now a young girl comes on and sings the rest of the contestants off the park then a guy in a UK t-shirt does some football skills – certainly throwing everything at this interval

It turns out we are being treated to the Serbia’s Got Talented Finalists which now makes a bit more sense. I got a mouth organ for Christmas, so with a bit of practice Simon Cowell might push his red button for me one day.

After the interval acts then came the voting. The results were as follows

Author Elaine Dove

Source RTS and Eurovision Ireland

Photograph courtesy of RTS and YouTube Video Owners embedded in the video clips