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Almost ready to move on to our last ex-Yugoslav nation of this year’s reviews, but we must look back at what #YOU thought of Belgium first!

mauve (Forum) – “I really love this song, but her voice is still needs practice. But loved the idea with the bells ringing.”

Phoenix (Forum) – “This is my favorite song on the contest, I love everything about it. This sounds more Lana-esque than City Lights where I didn’t get the comparison at all.”

VikingTiger (Forum) – “Sennek is doing better and better it seems. The scene, lightening etc in Amsterdam is also in the direction I would like her to go in Lisboa. But she NEEDS to really nail the vocals for her song to stand out. Still in my top 5, though.. I think.”

Belgium’s final ‘televote’ score is 69 points. Will Belgium be up towards the top when this is added to their excellent jury score? We shall see later on!

40. MONTENEGRO – Vanja Radovanovic – Inje

9 points

Calvin – “Montenegro is a really classy, well-made, sleek entry. I love how it takes its time with the first two parts of the song; the verse and first chorus let me get fully comfortable with them before moving on. Once it goes big at the end, though, it goes by very quickly, allowing for the climax to have maximum impact once it arrives. Guiding the song through its build is a very strong performance from Vanja Radovanovic, who ably uses dynamics to get the point of the song across. Great work.”

Christian – “I love Balkan ballads and this is no exception at all. At first maybe not as strong as previous years but it is definitely up there after a few spins. I love that they so confidently sends one man after another with voices out of this world and since 2017 was out of place they are back to their well known formula. I loved Slavko, but they are back to what they do best. A dramatic ballad with all the right Eurovision ingredients.”

Robert – “I’m delighted that Montenegro was inspired by our host city this year with a song about hoarfrost!! Totally what we all associate with Lisbon… Putting this slight disconnect to one side for a moment, this is an incredible little song. It wasn’t even my favourite from its national final, but it has an incredible build whilst also being full of emotion. Vanja’s voice is the glue that holds it together and he utterly slays it live. The song really comes alive in the second half and I have to admit that we wait a little bit too long for it to show off its strength, but the final minute makes the wait worthwhile.”

8 points

Matt – “It’s a Balkan ballad so of course I’m loving it. It’s not the best one we have ever had but also not the worst one. A good singer, a fantastic arrangement (thanks to the revamp) and with the right staging, this may fare better than a lot of people and polls predict.”

Stefan – “Another Balkan ballad from Montenegro. Are they playing it safe after two years of experimenting? I’m not sure if it will qualify, but for sure I would like to see that happening.”

6 points

Sean – “I am really glad that this song is taking part this year as it just wouldn’t be Eurovision without a swooping and dramatic Balkan ballad. Having said that, it is not the strongest example of the genre, although Vanja sells himself and the song well and there is a degree of excitement and drama towards the end of the song that may give Montenegro an outsider’s chance at the final. And why not – stranger things have happened!”

5 points

Efe – “I think if the song “Inje” belonged to Zeljko (2004-2012) or Hari (2006), it would absolutely qualify. The song has a beautiful ethnic chemistry and melody. I really like the song nowadays. I hope Montenegro will be in the grand final this year although I don’t think so… Good luck Montenegro!”

Zack – “This year’s Balkan ballad.  And while I’m usually a huge fan of the offering each and every year, there is something missing in this year’s offering.  I cannot point my finger on what it is.  But it does not give me the chills that Lane Moje or Adio did on first and repeated listens.”

4 points

Connor – “Vanja has a lovely voice, but I feel that this song isn’t going to stand out in Lisbon unless they really bring it to life on the Lisbon stage. The revamp has really added some dimensionality to the song, and I really do appreciate that, but it needs a bit more from a live performance standpoint. I’m really hoping that he can pull it out and bring Montenegro into the final.”

3 points

David – “We’re slowly approaching the end, and luckily for Montenegro, we saved it until this late. The song has a very dark tone throughout the song, and that makes it really hard for you as a listener, to open up and listen to the song. I feel that I’ve managed to do that, and now I’m listening to a very well composed ballad, with some local touch over it. One of ‘em so-called “Balkan ballads” that we all like. Considering the effort it took, then it’s looking just as dark as how the song sounds.”

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Montenegro’s final score from the ‘jury’ stands at an impressive 66 points! Let’s see how this may affect things…

  1. 🇮🇱 Israel – Netta – Toy (157)
  2. 🇫🇷 France – Madame Monsieur – Mercy (153)
  3. 🇦🇹 Austria – Cesár Sampson – Nobody But You (153)
  4. 🇧🇬 Bulgaria – Equinox – Bones (153)
  5. 🇲🇰 (FYR) Macedonia – Eye Cue – Lost and Found (153)
  6. 🇵🇹 Portugal – Cláudia Pascoal – O jardim (144)
  7. 🇮🇹 Italy – Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro – Non mi avete fatto niente (142)
  8. 🇫🇮 Finland – Saara Aalto – Monsters (142)
  9. 🇧🇪 Belgium – Sennek – A Matter of Time (139, higher televote score)
  10. 🇪🇪 Estonia – Elina Nechayeva – La Forza (139)
  11. 🇳🇱 Netherlands – Waylon – Outlaw in ’em (137)
  12. 🇨🇾 Cyprus – Eleni Foureira – Fuego (130)
  13. 🇦🇺 Australia – Jessica Mauboy – We Got Love (130)
  14. 🇨🇭 Switzerland – Zibbz – Stones (129)
  15. 🇭🇺 Hungary – AWS – Viszlát nyár (127)
  16. 🇷🇴 Romania – The Humans – Goodbye (127)
  17. 🇵🇱 Poland – Gromee ft. Lukas Meijer – Light Me Up (126)
  18. 🇨🇿 Czech Republic – Mikolas Josef – Lie to Me (120)
  19. 🇩🇪 Germany – Michael Schulte – You Let Me Walk Alone (120)
  20. 🇸🇪 Sweden – Benjamin Ingrosso – Dance You Off (118)
  21. 🇦🇲 Armenia – Sevak Khanagyan – Qami (116)
  22. 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan – Aisel – X My Heart (116)
  23. 🇦🇱 Albania – Eugent Bushpepa – Mall (115)
  24. 🇭🇷 Croatia – Franka – Crazy (113)
  25. 🇪🇸 Spain – Alfred & Amaia – Tu canción (112)
  26. 🇸🇮 Slovenia – Lea Sirk – Hvala, ne! (109)
  27. 🇷🇸 Serbia – Sanja Ilić & Balkanika – Nova deca (109)
  28. 🇲🇹 Malta – Christabelle – Taboo (107)
  29. 🇱🇻 Latvia – Laura Rizzotto – Funny Girl (107)
  30. 🇬🇧 United Kingdom – SuRie – Storm (104)
  31. 🇬🇪 Georgia – Iriao – For You (104)
  32. 🇮🇪 Ireland – Ryan O’Shaughnessy – Together (103)
  33. 🇱🇹 Lithuania – Ieva Zasimauskaite – When We’re Old (102)
  34. 🇧🇾 Belarus – Alekseev – Forever (96)
  35. 🇲🇩 Moldova – DoReDos – My Lucky Day (96)
  36. 🇳🇴 Norway – Alexander Rybak – That’s How You Write a Song (88)
  37. 🇮🇸 Iceland – Ari Ólafsson – Our Choice (81)
  38. 🇸🇲 San Marino – Jessika ft. Jenifer B – Who We Are (76)
  39. 🇷🇺 Russia – Yulia Samoylova – I Won’t Break (66)
  40. Montenegro – Vanja Radovanovic – Inje (66)

Belgium move up to joint 9th place overall with the jury and televote agreeing on the song. How will Montenegro shape up with the ‘televote’, and can anyone stop Israel? Not long now until we find out!

Now it’s over to #YOU! What are your thoughts on Montenegro’s entry this year? Share your thoughts with us on our forum HERE, on social media @escunited and below in the comments and we’ll reveal the best tomorrow! Make sure to vote in our poll below to help decide Montenegro’s final score!

Tomorrow we see our third last entry of this year’s “Expert” Panel, but what did our panel make of Greece’s “Oniro Mou”?

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