Yugoslavia Hosted Eurovision and Immediately Fell Apart

In 1990, Yugoslavia was on the brink of civil war, but the show must go on.
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"Roxette concert in Palau Sant Jordi.", Lala Lugo, CC BY-SA 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/b..., via Wikimedia Commons, URL:commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

[@sixtiessyl]

Just a note....Yugoslavia could not "emerge from behind the Iron Curtain" since it was never behind the Iron Curtain to begin with. It was a non-aligned country that said no to Stalin way back in 1948.

[@lgrcen2008]

Yeah if it was behind the curtain the country would not have been in Eurovision

[@overthinkingit]

Great point, will mention this in a corrections video later. -MB

[@sixtiessyl]

​​​​@@lgrcen2008​@lgrcen2008 among other things, yes ...the way it is worded really gives the wrong impression. They say "emerging from behind the Iron Curtain and ready for tourism, business and nude sunbathing"....as if it was only starting to happen in 1990. Yugoslavia opened the first commercial nudist camp in Europe way back in 1961, it was open to tourism and people were free to travel.

[@Ardnasper]

@@sixtiessylexactly. Also, Yugoslavian passport was one of the strongest in that time, as it allowed travel to most of the countries on the West and East without visa

[@overthinkingit]

@@sixtiessyl Weeeell at the same time I think the video was called "Yugoslav Changes" for a reason. Maybe I misread it but it felt Yugoslavia was rebranding here? -MB

[@sarahenchanted]

Wouldnt it be cool if Croatia won this year, Zagreb hosts and they bring back the Eurocat mascot since Rim Tim Tagi Dim has cat references?

[@Milvusmilvus-jo8vq]

Excellent observation😻

[@mardzipan]

THIS!!!!

[@tashke318]

That's not even the craziest Yugoslavia-Eurovision story. Did you guys know that Serbia and Montenegro (one country), that was essentially what was left of Yugoslavia in the early 2000, fell apart because of Eurovision? Obviously there were tensions in the region at the time, Eurovision was not the sole reason for the country falling apart, but it was the final straw. Serbia and Montenegro had a competition Europesma/Europjesma (literally translates to Eurosong from Serbian/Montenegrin) that was a standard competition for choosing a national representative for Eurovision. Before the final, both countries, Serbia and Montenegro separately, would hold competitions for choosing their top candidates, and then in the Europesma/Europjesma they would send top performing artists, in equal numbers from Serbia and from Montenegro. In 2006, there was a clear public favorite, with Flamingosi - Ludi Letnji Ples (Crazy Summer Dance). The song was an obvious choice, since the band consisted of a Serb and Montenegrin, and was a silly little song that pandered to Europe, with the chorus being just a list of European cities. However, when it came to voting, the Serbian jurors voted mostly fairly, while Montenegrin jurors only voted for Montenegrin artists, which resulted in a win for a Montenegrin band No Name, which represented the country the previous year (Flamingosi were a Serbian representative, so the jurors didn't vote for them). What followed was an outrage from the audience (competition was held in Belgrade, Serbia), a complete chaos on the stage, No Name accepting the award and leaving the stage for the fear of their own safety, the entire arena screaming ""We want Flamingosi!" and Flamingosi coming on the stage with the rest of the artists (without No Name), all together singing Ludi Letnji Ples. Needles to say, Serbia and Montenegro didn't compete in Eurovision that year. Shortly after that, Serbia and Montenegro fell apart, and became Republic of Serbia and Republic of Montenegro. There is a whole show available on youtube, i suggest you watch the ending, trust me, you don't need the translation to understand what's happening. :D P.S. To this day, if you ask any Serb who was old enough at the time to remember this happening, they will tell you how devastated they still are about the fact that we didn't send Flamingosi to Eurovision. I know people who cried watching that competition. It is insane how emotional people were at the time, about one silly song. :) P.P.S. Next year, 2007, Serbia and Montenegro separately competed in Eurovision, and Serbia won for the first time in history of Eurovision!

[@Boxy_RS_]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/eYm5m4CQa66tmLssi=dSr6U5pVjp0Ye0r9

[@DraganKrstic]

Not so. Montenegro independence referendum has been already scheduled for May 21st, 2006. By law, 48 hours before referendum, all political propaganda was forbidden, therefore, No Name singing "Ljubavi Moja/My Love" was seen as a way to circumvent the law and promote Montenegro independence as the ESC 2006 was held on May 20th.

[@overthinkingit]

Thanks for sharing this story! Sounds like it would make a great video for next year! -MB

[@knusprigeschuhsohle7939]

Omg 🤯 thank you for sharing

[@ImStevan]

It was scheduled, but since the referendum passed with such a small margin, it's entirely possible that without Evropesma 2006, some of the voters would've voted differently@@DraganKrstic

[@tomislavm8789]

Riva is from Zadar, not Zagreb.

[@manyworldsin1]

Yugoslavia was never 'behind the iron curtain.' The iron curtain refers to the cultural wall surrounding SOVIET countries. Tito's Yugoslavia was decidedly outside the soviet system and had warm relations with the west. Yugoslavians could travel freely all over the west. Interestingly, Stalin tried to assisinate Tito almost as often as the US tried to off Castro. And some people have suggested that Stalin's unexpected death was do to poisoning by a Yugoslavia agent.

[@ThaGamingMisfit]

Last year I started rewatching all Eurovision Contests since I remember watching them, and 1990's was the first I watched (I was 9 at the time), and I can tell you that this 1990 edition was by far the weirdest to watch, knowing all what happened later. Also the years after that when also Bosnia & Herzogovina participated, those really let a mark, especially the song Sva Bol Svijeta in 1993, in that song you could hear the suffering of the Bosnian people.

[@ATG-gc2cy]

0:10 'Will go Slavia if Yugoslavia first' is comic genius LOL.

[@daszkiewicz_borisovicz]

It’s actually a sad story here. A lot of countries praised the downfall of Berlin wall, but the first attempt to highlight crisis in ex-Yugo countries was in 1993. I do understand the will of Fazla to protest during his performance.

[@karlomorosin7880]

Band RIva is from Zadar, 75 000 inbaitant town in Dalmatia (south part of Republic of Croatia), not from Zagreb.

[@overthinkingit]

Yeah I got that wrong. The big quote at the end was even about Zadar so I don’t know what I was thinking. -MB

[@karlomorosin7880]

@@overthinkingit Meow cat please meow back 😽

[@Ardnasper]

Others have already mentioned that Riva is from Zadar and not Zagreb but I would also like to refer to your point about Croatia sending a message that it was done with Yugoslavia. That might seem like it to an outsider but songs that Croatia was sending to Eurovision were very much the type of songs that we were listening to at the time in Croatia. Someone mentioned in the comments that Rajko Dujmic wrote all three songs that you were referring to and he and his band Novi Fosili were like an institution in Croatia. They had their own TV show for each New Year’s Eve, for instance. There were always differences between what types of music was more listened to in each of the republics. For instance, Lepa Brena was the only one from the Serbian turbo-folk group of singers that was really popular across the federation. And since republics rotated in terms of TV program as well, you could easily avoid ever watching programs of other republics. So the real message here is that people in Croatia have been largely exposed to European music, in particular Italian and that was just the prevailing sound. Unfortunately, today there’s more influence from the East when it comes to music, partly because it gives artist wider audience (outside of Croatia, in former republics).

[@overthinkingit]

I love how much I’m learning today. Thanks! -MB

[@Ardnasper]

@@overthinkingit you’re welcome! Another thing I forgot to mention: nudity, well going topless on the beaches, was quite a common thing in Croatia, just as in Italy. It was pretty normal for women in the 80s to sunbathe without their tops on city beaches. For full nudity people would go to nudist camps or a bit isolated beaches (although not necessarily very isolated- I remember when I was a kid if you would swim parallel to the coast and not away from it, you would usually at some point see a group of naked people on the beach, a bit further from all others).

[@rageguy311]

Meow 😺 please meow back

[@timothyyocum6140]

MEOW from Texas!

[@anciify]

a bit disappointing you did not show the iconic stroll among the audience (among them Yugoslav president included!) of Toto Cotugno while singing the winner's encore

[@tomislavm8789]

He was not president of Yugoslavia. After Tito's death Yugoslavia did not have president as such. President of Yugoslavia's presidium, that consisted from one representative from all 6 republics and two autonom provinces, rotated in one year intervals and was acting president for that period and he had no real power, only protocolar duties.

[@fartreta]

"It must have been love" by Roxette possibly didn't reach No 1 on the Swedish charts because it was merely a revamped version of the same song that had already been a hit in Sweden at Christmas time in 1987, before Roxette's international breakthrough. There were some instrumental add-ons, and lyrically, "and it's a hard Christmas day" was replaced by "and it's a hard winter's day", otherwise it was the same recording. Thus, in Sweden the song was sort of "old news" in 1990.

[@milancelisac]

A fact not a lot of people and especially ESC fans know is that the YU national selection was done according to the plan, so everyone knew which republic any given year the YU ESC entry would be selected from. The winner songs were not, by any means, chosen because they were the best each year. The Yugovision festival was a charade really.

[@overthinkingit]

That’s fascinating. Is that confirmed or just rumored? Source?

[@DraganKrstic]

@@overthinkingit confirmed. Lepa Brena spoke about it. Mišo Kovač sued organizers... Velibor Džarovski claimed that he fixed 1986 entry.

[@overthinkingit]

@@DraganKrstic I'll be doing a big "What We Missed" video at the end of the season and will definitely include this. -MB

[@Ardnasper]

If that was the case, then we would probably have seen a rotation of all republic’s representatives and Croatia wouldn’t have had the majority of the wins. Sure, there might have been cases of “fixes” but the fact was that Yugoslavia was sending good songs each year.

[@DraganKrstic]

@@Ardnasper Five times in the row? With 3 of them being same? Nope.

[@piratizaslobodu]

Riva was not a band from Zagreb. Also, Yugoslavia was not "behind the Iron Curtain". Your "Balkanologist" sux.

[@DraganKrstic]

All three entries from '87, '88 and '89 where composed by Rajko Dujmić, a leader of "Novi Fosili". Bad mouths says he sent same song three times a row. Additionally, Jugovizija/Yugovision was marred with number of scandals. That Croatian success on national selection was due fixing and some arm bending. The most notorious examples where not sending song by Lepa Brena (the biggest ex YU star) in 1983, and "Princeza" by Slađana Milošević and Dado Topić, an ethereal balad, with sci-fi undertones akin to the Celine winning entry.

[@milancelisac]

That’s a fact not a lot of people and especially ESC fans know. The YU national selection was done according to the plan, so everyone knew which republic any given year the YU ESC entry would be selected from. The winner songs were not, by any means, chosen because they were the best each year. The Yugovision festival was a charade really.

[@DraganKrstic]

@@milancelisac Jugoslovenska kuhinja

[@karlomorosin7880]

We have to say that lyrics wrote Stevo Cvikić. It's not quite a scandal Fahreta Jahić-Živojinović (Lepa Brena) wasn't participated in a contest 1983. It's scandal Sunčeve pege, Hazard or Baby Doll didn't won that year. It's scandal Srebrna Krila, Sunčeve pege or Maja Odžalijevska didn't win 1982. Slađana Miloševič, and Srebrna Krila didn't win. Randez-vous, Maja Odžaklijevska or Alen Slavica didn't win Yugovizja 1984. It's a huge scandal why Novi Fosili or Denis&Denis didn't win 1987. It's scandal no one singer or band from Republic of Kosovo never wom Yugovision. There's alway be scandals since 1961. Nacional preselections will always be full of scandals. That's natural things. everybody favorize someone, that's natural too. So, there's a old dalmatian expression: "What is crap to one, it's gold to antother."

[@DraganKrstic]

@@karlomorosin7880 Novi Fosili won in 1987 with "Ja sam za ples". Novi Fosili and Denis&Denis took part in 1986.

[@tomislavm8789]

Lepa Brena was not even close to winning in neither 1983. or 1986. She might have been the biggest star, but her songs never had any musical quality. Both songs were cheap disco folk suitable only for balkans. It was juries only time and she would finished last if she went. There was no scandal with her. 99% of people from ex-Jugoslavia don't even know she was at 'Jugovizija', let alone twice. In 1983. Daniel went with 'Đuli', in 1986. Doris with 'Željo moja'. Both much superior songs to Brena's disco folk. Both are, unlike Brena's songs, still popular today. 'Princeza' is totally different story. It finished only sixth (or eigth, if you consider that there were two double places - 4th place and 6th place) due to fights between regional tv stations and it would do much better on Eurovision then 'Ciao amore'.

[@MyBroSux24]

You guys really must love Eurocat - i just noticed MB has a poster in his recording room, thought the background changes for every video, but no, this is a genuine decor of his :)

[@overthinkingit]

Aw, somebody noticed! Yeah I got it for the videos this year because I was so fascinated by this 1990 Eurovision. It's a crazy moment, where Europe is taking a post-Berlin Wall victory lap... in Yugoslavia, in 1990.

[@gilangsetyawibawa185]

Eurocat, please meow back

[@schnitzelsemmel]

Brandenburg gate wasn't a boarder crossing, it was an old city gate completely independent of the later Berlin Wall. Also, saying that sending Rock songs is pandering to "western european" tastes is ridiculous, as there were very popular rock bands in all of Eastern Europe, including Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Poland etc.

[@Pollicina_db]

Exactly, these paople have no clue

[@overthinkingit]

@Pollicina_db yeah this one could have used another draft, I’ll take the L

[@jensfoell4208]

Great video, thank you for this

[@quesito03]

Maybe Roxette's It Must Have Been Love did not do as well in Sweden because it had already been released in Sweden a few years ago peaking at number 4? It was close enough to not be old enough to peak higher from nostalgia?

[@jdswanny1969]

It was originally a Christmas song. kzbin.info/www/bejne/sH-qlqyiZZhpjdUsi=L30_QCM4vHyqsaY6

[@nmvs1981]

Roxette's not being #1 in 1990 in Sweden has one very simple explanation: in Sweden the song was a hit not because of the movie but because it had been released 3 years prior in its "Christmas-lyric reference" version ... Thus, it was something really brand new to all of us outside of Sweden ... but not for the Swedes themselves. Plus, Sweden wasn't always kind to both ABBA and later on to Ace Of Base. Which means that being internationally sucessful is not something Swedes care or bother to praise or worship. It's not in their veins or cultural mindset. They will only take notice of you, if you deliever a really good song that for the majority of the population is regarded as a hit with or withot international success. Sweden may be being giving us all now Max Martin... but Swedes themselves are way too busy to eat at MacDonalds every single day ... and with that being said, Melodifestivalen is regarded as a TV enteraining show but not expected to really deliever true musical craftmannshift a 6 year old will be able to understand and a 70 year old will bother to hear. And unlike SVT the national broadcasting channel .... Eurovision tends to be far more relevant for pure narcistic status .... but not for the Swedish population that has a life to live and bills to pay. If Loreen wants to really to have an international ouside of this mindset, Loreen needs more than spotify and her two Eurovision wins ... Loreen will either need a) 1977 Australia (you know where I am going with this) b) an American student in Sweden taking her music to the US c) Clive Davis and Arista records ... cause the Swedes really dont care. Good luck every single Swedish artist trying to make their names go big ouside of Sweden in ABBA, Roxette, Ace of Base style ... good luck indeed.

[@avtomad722]

Fantastic insight into a truly horrible part of history, I have always been fascinated by the former Yugoslavia, and now you've re-ignited that spark; no doubt I'm going to lose more hours going down a rabbit hole about it. Thank you! Great upload

[@mayra3277]

From the perspective of someone who was born after Yugoslavia broke up and who has not yet set foot anywhere in the Balkans, I gotta say the ex-yu music scene is pretty amazing. Some of my favourite bands are from Bosnia and Croatia and if you've never heard of the yutel za mir concert you should check it out :)

[@mimsredjelly]

Eurovision 2024: Not! Political! Eurovision 1990: Every song is about the fall of the Berlin Wall

[@MomLAU]

That was an interesting video!

[@BleedingEdgeOfProgress]

Are you gonna cover San Marino's "The Last Polar Bear" and the rather interesting story behind it? Think it could be worthy of its own episode.

[@overthinkingit]

We’ll cover it a little as part of Croatia (trust us) but you’re right, it really could be its own thing.

[@BleedingEdgeOfProgress]

Great, not only is the actual song worthy of overthinking, the whole idea of using AI to write songs and openly advertising it as a gimmick is hilarious.

[@paulojrneto]

The Portuguese 1990 entry was also a reference to the changes in Europe, stating just like Portugal earning freedom from its authoritarian regime after the 1974 revolution, other countries were hoping now that their dreams of freedom would come true. One line in the lyrics even alludes to the Berlin Wall: "Um passo era o muro que calava a voz e a verdade de nada valia." ("A step was a wall that silence the voice and the truth meant nothing.")

[@bobomeal]

You weren't OverthinkingIt while creating this video.

[@AureWaxman]

Anjeo 😍😍😍 Can't believe it's the same gurl.

[@ChompChomp420]

"United by music"

[@oliwkaoliwna143]

Well, your analysis has some flaws. It's not true that only Croatian songs sounded more Western or whatever. The choice of songs was mostly political or rather politically correct. The best example of how songs were selected solely on political grounds and not on artistic merits happened in 1984: the best song by far was from Serbia/ Belgrade. It was called "Princeza" performed by the duo Slađana Milošević and Dado Topić. Since it wasn't Serbia's "turn" to send a song to the ESC that year, Yugoslavia sent some boring song from other federal fepublic and Yugoslavia ended up last. If Yugoslavia had sent this song then, who knows, maybe Yugoslavia would've won the Eurovision that year... We'll never know. Anyway, judge it for yourself: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y5K2faN_i5qoiK8&si=qBE2Bte9VvYpZziD P.s. Sad fact: Slađana passed away a week or so ago. RIP 🙏

[@overthinkingit]

Wait a second, if Jugovizija was rigged than how come Croatia won twice as often as any other republic? Like how were they deciding whose "turn" it was to win?

[@oliwkaoliwna143]

​@overthinkingit Many of us ex-Yugoslavs would like to know that, too, how it was really decided :) But the fact that selection criteria werent transparent was clearly stated by Dado himself many years later in this interview: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXfJiH17jJJ8e7csi=nej66NOuqLeiaRsX (it begins @5.20). Btw, Dado is a Croat and Slađana was a Serb so, in a way, "Princeza" was a beautiful "Serbo-Croat" cooperation :)

[@tomislavm8789]

@@oliwkaoliwna143 So another story from someone who lost. Does anyone has any factual evidence that it was 'fixed' or all you have are stories from losing participants? P.s. Both male singers from those duets Dado Topić, who sang for TV Belgrade, and Vlado Kalember, who sang for TV Titograd and won, were singers from Croatia, and Slađana Milošević and Izolda Barudžija were singers from Serbia.

[@oliwkaoliwna143]

​​@@tomislavm8789read my previous comment. There's a link to an interview with Dado where he recounts what he was why he and Slađana couldn't win... And hence shoul take it easy and not get too excited... But it's interesting to know why studio Zagreb won twice as many times as other republican TV studios. Anyway, the fact is that "Princeza" remains the most popular Eurovison-linked song in the entire ex-Yu region.

[@rtperrett]

6:17 slide is so short, very good read, insightful that Eurovision is suppose to be non political, but yet is so blatantly political.

[@neilwaldock6272]

And Eurovision could be back in Zagreb, next year!

[@jeboshifru]

You were also corrected that we are not eastern european more than ten times.

[@motherofslavs8761]

The first time Croatia won Eurovision. Yes.

[@MyBroSux24]

6:16 So... basically "Diana" fits the theme of Rim Tim Dagi Dim?

[@rocketpants785]

Is balkanologist a protected title?

[@theirperfectbrother4156]

I love yugoslavia getting 0 points at its last eurovision. That's so iconic

[@paulojrneto]

If you mean the 1991 entry, it got 1 point from Malta, enough to best Austria who got 0 that year. Not to mention that Yugoslavia still competed in 1992, although by then the territory was just Serbia and Montenegro, and placed 13th.

[@anakosovic6727]

Why is that iconic?

[@Kate-es9of]

Coincidence, I think not.

[@kairi13chii]

Just saying, I also want some merchandise with Eurocat 😢😢😢

[@ar50000]

Is u saying that Sweden could fall apart after The Contest, or get invaded?

[@overthinkingit]

We can’t rule it out.

[@edmundtory6931]

Riva was an undeserved winner but Tajci should have won

[@wemestros]

and yet "eurovision isn't political"

[@juliethompson5301]

Croatia is going to win this year though.meow.😻😻😻

[@JasenkaKrilic]

The most stupid and false, political victory to keep us together.

[@misshippeia]

Here in ex-yu countries we have a theory that whenever we win eurosong, we loose our teritory. 1990 Yugoslavia fell apart, and 2008. Serbia lost 12% of its teritory. So - eurosong win - thanks but no thanks 😊

[@ileutur6863]

Serbia hasn't lost anything. Kosovo declared independence, but it still isn't recognized by every country in the UN.

[@vm9464]

so u say we should allow ruzzia to host?

[@kireaea]

We've already had a contest co-hosted by then *United* Kingdom. It's just a matter of time, as Sennek sang.

[@josipamatic6085]

ruzzia did. year after they invaded georgia.

[@timgriffin2021]

Oh. Apparently KZbin is too sensitive for jokes about russian military, but ok. I’ll try it again just to support your point of view. They could bring another military choir on the Eurovision stage, but this time they would be… well… incomplete. If you know what I mean 😏