Eurovision occasionally brings us some very avant garde songs that are more akin to performance art than your run-of-the-mill pop track. The class of 2022 has brought us one of these songs and it’s Serbia and Konstrakta that are bringing it to Turin. It’s often very difficult to gauge how these entries will do at the contest – they can sometimes be complete flops, not understood by juries or the public, or they can fly and do far better than initially expected. Which will Serbia’s be?

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Konstrakta is the professional name of singer-songwriter Ana Đurić, who was in an indie band for over a decade before going solo in 2019. Her song “In corpore sano” is part of a trio of songs she released as a project, entitled “Triptih” (triptych) and she entered one of the songs to the Serbian national selection. Very much an underdog, she unexpectedly qualified for the final and her performance won both jury and public vote to make her the Serbian entry for Eurovision, much to her own shock and surprise.

How can one go about describing what this is all about? Well, it’s a performance piece really, an avant-garde piece of art pop. While some have interpreted the song as being a critique of the provision if healthcare in Serbia, Konstrakta has indicated it has more meanings and interpretations than that – there is mention of pressure/expectation of women on how they look (the reference to Megan Markle), the focus on physical over mental health, the impact of the pandemic etc.

It’s undoubtedly a mesmerising performance and remarkably catchy as well – it’s one that you will remember, both for the hooks and the stage performance. It’s been a tricky one to place as well – it’s a performance and effort I do appreciate, while at same time isn’t something I’d casually listen to outside of a live stage performance. I’m pleased to see though that it is getting more and more appreciation within the fandom though – and rightly so.

As I said earlier, these art pop entries are very difficult to call in how they will do. With this song being in Serbian (and a bit of Latin of course) it could well end up being totally confusing to the wider public (and jurors too) and pass them by. On the other hand, the interesting performance and catchy elements of it might strike a chord. I personally think that the latter is more likely and that this will qualify. Once in the final, it’s guaranteed to get at least a chunk of public vote from Serbia’s neighbours (it’s number one already in the Croatian charts) and possibly (and deservedly) more besides.

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Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest