With Montenegro and North Macedonia not yet returning to Eurovision, and Bosnia under a long-term absence, we’re still down to just the trio of Balkan/former Yugoslav countries at the contest – and Serbia has been the most successful and consistent of all those countries. As Serbia and Montenegro, they had two top 10 finishes (including a runners-up spot), and as Serbia alone, they won on their debut and have since been a nearly perennial fixture of the grand final, with just three non-qualifications. Last year’s 24th place was their weakest grand final placing, so can Teya Dora push Serbia back up the placings (provided she qualifies!)?

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Teya Dora is a singer, songwriter and producer who having attended music school in Belgrade, gained a scholarship to study music at the Berklee College of Music Boston. After graduating, she worked in New York as a songwriter. She returned to Serbia in 2018, and has spent them time as quite a prolific songwriter and composer, as well as releasing several singles of her own, including one that went viral on TikTok. That song was the most streamed song in the Balkans at the time, and she has also been the most streamed artist on Spotify in that region. She won the Serbian national final with “Ramonda”, for which she is both co-writer and co-composer, winning the jury vote and coming second in the public vote.

“Ramonda” is a beautiful and haunting ballad, one of only a handful in this year’s contest. It’s all in Serbian but I don’t think you need to know the lyrics to get the feel of the song – melancholic, reflective, but with a sense of hope. The titular “Ramonda” is actually a flower (Natalie’s ramonda) that is deeply resonant to Serbians. It’s native to the region and has a remarkable power to recover from the harshest of conditions. It’s used as a remembrance symbol for the loss and resilience of Serbia in the First World War, where they lost a greater proportion of their military personnel and civilians than any other country, and the rebirth of the country in the aftermath. Teya has said that it’s not necessarily connected with that patriotic remembrance (though it could be) but that it could cover remembrance and recovery from a personal loss or trauma.

This has scored well in the overall Eurovision scoreboard app, keeping a firm place in the top 15, and the same applies if you look at the semi-final option only. So all looks good for qualifying from that aspect; however Serbia have (yet again) been given a tough running order draw and the betting odds I think reflect that concern – though still suggests qualification. Certainly, when Serbia have not qualified before, it’s still been close with 11th places.

They can rely on some neighbour votes (Croatia, Slovenia) and some diaspora votes (Australia, rest of the world) and they are separated from the other artistic, haunting ballad in this semi – Portugal, which is the penultimate song. Yet, there’s a risk that ballad lovers might have Portugal fresher in their minds given that voting for the semis still begins after all the songs have performed. I still don’t think that all four of those first four running order songs can qualify – but I think Serbia stands at least as good a chance as two of other three.

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Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest