Vladana Vučinić, the Executive Producer of Montesong 2026 – their national selection for the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, in Vienna, has shared a number of updates.

Instead of Montesong 2025, it sounds like the Montenegrin national selection will now be held in the first months of 2026, with the new wording of Montesong 2026. Vladana Vučinić, who is also the Head of Delegation for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, had the following to say:

“We will try to make the Montesong festival even better than last year. There are some changes, such as hosting the festival in RTCG’s large studio this year and involving more RTCG staff to help with the production. We are also giving artists more creative freedom by allowing them to sing in any language they want. Last year, all songs had to have at least 51% of their lyrics in Montenegrin. This year, we want artists to be even more creative.

We will select a maximum of 16 artists for the festival. We cannot guarantee it will be exactly that number, as the expert jury will have the final word. However, we want to see more musical innovation. Eurovision demands creativity these days, so please put your maximum into those three minutes.

Junior Eurovision is a platform for children to grow. In five or six years, Asja might be standing on the main Eurovision stage. She already has a clear goal in life: to pursue what she excels at—singing. Regarding Montesong, there is always a portion of the population that opposes both the festival and our Eurovision participation. However, the public never questions our investment in sports, even when we don’t achieve outstanding results. So why should we stop kids like Asja by taking away opportunities to create, perform, and grow into strong performers? We cannot expect to have an amazing song every year or always qualify for the final, but we can support young singers through festivals like Montesong. This helps us gradually develop strong talent.

In reality, only a small percentage of RTCG’s overall budget is spent on Eurovision. We are really trying to achieve the most with the least money spent.”

Let us know what you think about Montenegro and the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest – either in the comments below or on our FACEBOOK, BLUESKY, TWITTER, YOUTUBE, INSTAGRAM and TIKTOK pages.

The Eurovision Community, which Eurovision Ireland are a part of, celebrates diversity through music. Please keep your comments respectful. We will not tolerate racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, body-shaming or any other derogatory or hostile language.

Author: Richard Taylor

Source: Eurovoix