September 27, 2016 Comments Off on 3 Songs from Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest That Will Make You Feel Nostalgic Views: 3114 Music, Nostalgia

Yugoslavia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 27 times in total. The debut of the once Eastern European utopia country was in 1961 when Ljiljana Petrović made as the first contest entrant and placed fourth in the finals.

Some of the songs are long-forgotten, but some are still remembered as they echo the generations before and after the fall of the communist country.

Everybody still loves to listen Daniel’s Džuli

And why not? It’s a happy song, performed by Daniel Popovic, a.k.a Daniel. The 1983 entrance of Yugoslavia has been a rather memorable one. Daniel finished fourth, receiving 124 points in total. His single became a huge hit throughout Europe, and it was even covered by artists such as the Swedish dansband, Wizex, on their 1983 album Julie.

The video for the song was filmed on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, with two lovely ladies, dressed in the typical Yugoslavia fashion of the 1980s. Scenes capture parts of the beautiful small islet Saint Stefan, close to Budva, Montenegro.

The song is also a reminder of golden ages of the country, for some even being the best one to represent Yugoslavia at the contest. It must have been an emotional and vivid Eurovision night back in 1983. Hard to imagine somebody not cheering for Daniel, but the winner would still be Luxembourg.

The only time Yugoslavia won

Observing the Eurovision contest in general, it is hard to put out the competition off its political context. A general reoccurring feeling is that the contest largely sometimes function in the form of popular political showing off or providing a subtle diplomatic response.

Such political context might be considered even for Yugoslavia’s victory in 1989, just shortly before the violent break-up of the country. The seemingly long-wished-for victory came with the performance of the Croatian band Riva, but was that really the best song the country competed with overall? Or is it naive to think that the votes just worked out perfectly and it was a clean victory?

For people who have relieved the Yugoslavia times, a frequent comment would be that they would rather have Daniel won a few years back, or that the victory was given to Novi Fosili in 1987. But the euro-centered calculations estimated Riva to win. Zagreb hosted the show in 1990 in midst of escalating political crisis in Yugoslavia. The night was taken by the victory of Italian Toto Cutugno’s “Insieme:1992”. His song with a strong and loud message for United Europe contrasted the events of 1992, when a war finally broke on the territory of Yugoslavia and Europe did not look that much “united”.

The last doll

“Brazil” was the last song representing Yugoslavia as a whole. It was performed by Serbo-Croatian musician Bebi Dol, in Rome. Bebi Dol took only one point during the competition and finished second-last. Despite the low ranking at Eurovision, the song went on to become a huge hit in Yugoslavia. The copyright was sold to Italy, Greece, as well as the Benelux countries.

I sometimes wonder how did the song sound like once the war knocked on doors. Did it fulfill an entertainment function of the pop culture; was it a song to distract people from stressful days ahead and rising tensions? Or it’s just my over-imagining of the last echo, the last point of Yugoslavia?

Bebi Dol was eventually succeeded by Extra Nena in 1992, but as Belgrade sent her already during an official time of war, Serbia was later banned participating the contest for the next ten years (official Eurovision rules had been that no country at war can join the contest).

It still happens some nights – a DJ will play Bebi Dol’s 1981 hit “Mustafa” at some bar or club downtown Skopje. It’s usually the last song of the evening, a song to say goodbye and close the night with. The sense of nostalgia lingers. The immediate association with “Brazil” is there, as well as the feeling of times that my generation never really relieved. It’s like a vivid Yugoslavia loop downtown the capital that was just until recently counted as the most Yugo-nostalgic one of all capitals under the once glorious country.

You might be also interested: Skopje – the City of Solidarity

Tags: Europe, Eurovision song contest, Nostalgia, pop culture, Yugoslavia