Montenegro Monte-yah or Monte-nah?

Montenegro is trying to sprint towards the European Union while carrying a backpack full of problems, and we unpack why that matters right now. 

Montenegro has chosen Tamara Živković with Nova Zora, we dig into her background, her message, and the on-stage choices that could help or hurt. We give our honest read on the staging,and whether this entry has the punch to make the grand final.  Subscribe, share, and leave a review, then tell us: will Montenegro level up before the semi final?

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Transcript

Welcome And What We Cover

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Bonjour, Guten Tag, Prevert, Hello, and welcome back to the Dus Pois Podcast. Welcome back. In this episode, we are taking a look at Montenegro and its preparation for Eurovision 2026. Now, Montenegro is a country doing the political equivalent of trying to get into a very exclusive nightclub called the European Union. And it's not a straightforward audition, more like Montenegro, we're ready! EU, great, just a few more reforms. Montenegro, done! EU, okay, there's also a few more. Montenegro, how many more? EU, yes. Now, while that's happening, we've got new security laws that critics say could expand political influence over the police. Which is a fun sentence, isn't it? Because it's basically what would happen if the people who want power also got the power to enforce the power. It's like giving the referee a jersey and saying, don't worry about it. He's totally unbiased. Economically, Montenegro is growing slowly. The problem is its huge debt looms over its bright future. It's hanging around like that one friend who swears they'll Venmo you back and then changes their phone number. As 2025 rolled on, tourism took a major hit. One of the reasons is because of the major traffic congestion in Montenegro and overcrowding, yes, mainly from tourists. Sadly, the tourist slogan became come enjoy our stunning coastland from inside a stationary car on the highway. Tourists saw the gridlock and said, ah, I can wait and line and be overcrowded anywhere. I can get this at home for free. And the problem is tourism isn't acute side hustle for Montenegro. It is a major revenue source. So when visitor numbers drop, that absent is felt mainly in the paychecks, shifts, and jobs of the people. It keeps the national economy going. But what do you do when that economy disappears? Geopolitically, Montenegro is basically living the Balkan experience of a constant push and pull tango between the West, including the EU, and Russia. One side is like, join our club, we've got lots of rules. The other is like, no, no, no, join us instead. We have, you know, different rules. Montenegro is also dealing with, ah, yes, that old familiar chestnut of corruption. Montenegro says it's actively fighting deep-rooted corruption with a special focus on dismantling networks that were linked to the previous administration. So basically, they're there to clean up the mess of the last guy. Who was there to clean up the mess of the last guy? Who was cleaning up the mess from the last guy? Ah, yes, nothing says new chapter, like flipping back a few pages and circling names with a highlighter. It's accountability, it's politics. It seems to be an endless loop. But hopefully Montenegro can finally turn the page and begin its new future with the EU. Montenegro has chosen Tamara Zvikovic, who will be singing Nova Zora, which will be sung in Montenegrin. Born in 2000, she is a singer and also a flautist. In 2016, she took part in the Serbian singing competition, Pinkore Zvedis. In 2022, she took part in the 15th edition of the Serbian singing competition, Zverde Grande, where she made it to the final. In 2024, she competed in Monty Song, Montenegro's national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, with the song Poguman Let replacing Boban Rakovic, who withdrew from the competition. And in the end, she finished in ninth place. In 2025, she competed in Montesong again with the song Nova Zora. She won, she won the final, winning the jury vote and achieving second place in the public vote with 12 and 10 points respectively. So she finds herself preparing for Eurovision while she is simultaneously currently studying performing arts at the Faculty of Music Arts in Belgrade. Tamara says her music promotes the messages of women's empowerment, equality, and love. So let's have a look at Nova Zora. Look, I can think you can hear it at the end of this performance with the national final. Look, the crowd isn't going wild, and I have to admit, going mild along with the crowd. Look, there's nothing essentially that wrong, but this is not dramatic. I think this is another one. Eh, if I have to make the call, who I think is a very real possibility to not go through to the grand final, I think Montenegro is on that list. The costuming, the staging. Look, it's nothing dramatically original except if you see the backup dancers with their weird. Obviously, someone in the costume department had got busted and had to justify why they were in the sex store during lunchtime. And they picked up all of the mouth ball gags and went, oh no, clearly, uh, like this is for the costuming question mark. My first reaction when I saw their headwear was, are they wearing their ball gags upside down? Look, I don't hate you, Montenegro, but I think you are very much about to drop out of the semifinal. We will wait and see, see if there are major changes to the staging and if she does some practicing. There is some missed notes on the live final performance. Hopefully, we can tidy that up for the big event. Montenegro. I'm afraid that's a Montene no.