Песма за Евровизију, the current name of the Serbian national selection, is definitely in the running for the award for laziest name for a selection show. The name literally just means “Song for Eurovision.” This was the fourth edition of the national selection using this name and format, and this discussion will cover the second semi-final in this year’s edition.
The second semi final was held on February 26, 2025. It featured 15 entries, of which 8 would be selected for the final. The selection process was modeled off of the prior Eurovision paradigm, including a jury vote and televote (and of course using the ubiquitous Eurovision 12 voting structure).
Serbia has traditionally tried to encourage selection of Serbian artists who perform in their native languages. This year, the contest rules required at all performers to be Serbian citizens and more than half of the lyrics of the song be in Serbian or another official language of Serbia.
In a somewhat disappointing turn, instead of using a live interval act, the organizers opted to re-use the interval act from the 2023 national selection. While this was an excellent performance, it was a bit underwhelming to have the same recycled footage dusted off again. This was a pattern that was also repeated in the final.
There were not really any major standout moments of the entries themselves. Most were fairly standard Eurovision fare, though rest assured that wooden flutes were also present!
After the results were tallied, the 8 songs selected to advance were (in ranking order):
Mimi Mercedez with Turbo žurka
Princ with Mila (which would ultimately go on to win the final)
Oxajo with Mama
Vukayla with Mask
Tam with Durum durum
Sedlar with Oči boje zemlje
Maršali with Po policama sećanja
Lensy with Hvala ti