Nova Deca by Sanja Ilić and Balkanika
It’s a return to Eurovision for Serbian composer Sanja Ilić, having been behind Yugoslavia’s 1982 entry Halo Halo. Two more different songs you’d be unlikely to find. He’s now with his group Balkanika, whose mission is, as affirmed by Ilić, to preserve, revitalize and modernize Serbian medieval and byzantine music traditions. I suppose you could say it’s mission accomplished with this entry which does blend traditional and modern elements of the unmistakeable Balkan sound. What’s missing, however, is a mission statement aiming to make that music competitive on an international TV show.
I refer you, dear reader, back to Montenegro, where I stated I think the time for this kind of thing has passed. It’s a full 10 years since we went to Belgrade after what felt an inevitable win for a Balkan ballad given a period of Eurovision success for the genre. This is more up-tempo, once it gets going, but I’m going to call it that Eurovision has reached saturation point with Balkan wailing. In its favour is being in the second semi-final, from which I’m struggling to whittle it up to 10 qualifiers.
My marks: 5 points
Will it qualify? Maybe, by virtue of which semi-final it’s been drawn in