The Broadsword Mic Stand And The Softest Metal Surprise

Serbia chooses Lavina to represent them at Eurovision 2026 with Kraj Mene (“By My Side”), a band that has built momentum through touring and strong live performances after their debut album Odyssey. 

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Transcript

A Saucy Sip Of Serbia

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Bonjour, good, prevent. Hello and welcome back as we take a big saucy sip of Serbia. So what can we say about Serbia and what has driven it to its decision of this year's performer for Eurovision 2026? Well, starting in late 2024, continuing through 2025 and into 2026, there has been nationwide anti-government protests. Serbia has been continuously escalating anti-government protests. According to Radio Free Europe and AP News, protests began after a railway station collapse in November 2024. And obviously, this is a tragedy, but how does this lead to a year-long protest? Because this railway station collapse is because of a lot of underlying issues. Corruption, kickback. Now the protests after the railway station collapse grew into a daily clash between protesters and police in Belgrade, Novicad, all over the country. Then the protesters accused the police of brutality. The police were accused of beatings and using excessive force. I mean, just think of that. Think of the anger behind that to have not weekend protests, not occasional protests, daily protests. The police responded with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Tear gas, battons, mass arrests. According to AP and BBC, protesters were beaten, dragged, detained, the whole riot police starter pack. It's like the government saw people demanding accountability and said, hmm, have you tried not doing that? Some news sites actually described Serbia's political situation as irreversibly changed. That's not a political analysis. That's what a therapist says after you tell them all about your childhood. But what is remarkable about this is students are leading the change for accountability and reform. Right, students, students are leading the anti-corruption movement. The same demographic that normally leads movements like, please make exams optional and why is rent like this? But in Serbia, they are out there organizing marches, blockades, sit-ins, basically running the country's resistance movement. And all between midterms. They want to draw attention to the underlying problem. What is the underlying problem? It's pretty simple, it's everything. Political violence, corruption, concentration of power, and the democratic backsliding. And a general vibe of this is not what we can be. This is not all we can be. BBC described it as saying that Serbia was facing the biggest political crisis in more than a decade. And the EU is watching on like a parent at a school play, thinking, please, please don't set anything on fire. So Serbia is a country that is in crisis, but still it finds the hope and the positivity to demand a better tomorrow. Serbia has selected the band Lavina, singing their song Kraj Mene. Lavina's story is basically what happens when six metal guys say, Hey, you know what? Let's start a band and then actually stick to it and actually practice and actually get good and then actually accidentally end up in Eurovision. Lavina, by the way, actually translates as Avalanche to give you a little insight on what you can expect. In 2022, they released their debut album, Odyssey. After that, they began playing festivals, touring around Europe, and built a reputation for powerful live performances. Then came 2006 when Levina entered Serbia's Eurovision natural selection, and magic happened. Now it's a national final. Usually there's a lot of pop songs, glitter, and occasionally a man dressed as a banana. Levina showed up with Hello, we brought metal, an emotional trauma. Their song, Krajmen, meaning by my side, was intense, dramatic, and shockingly, their first song in Serbian. Not only did they win the contest, they won both the jewelry and the public votes, which means this has to be something very exceptional. The first thing I have to notice about this, watching the official music video from their national performance. And the lead singer's microphone stand is in fact a giant broadsword that you put the microphone down on, I have to say. And once you see it, tell me you see it too. They are dressed like the 1980s seminal film Highlander. One of my all-time favorites. Come on, tell me you see it too. Honestly, from looking from them, I thought, okay, we're gonna get a Lordie-style death metal explosion. But it's really a sort of goth soft song for about two minutes, about two and a half minutes. It's really only sort of in the last like 30 to 40 seconds that they give it a bit of a waaaa and get a bit sort of angrier and moodier. Yeah, not what I was expecting. Look, to be honest, I think this is a little soft. It doesn't reach its angry peak too soon. This is gonna be the last song of semifinal one. And to be honest, I think this could be the last time we will see it on the Eurovision stage. I don't like the chances of this one going through. I'm sorry, Serbia. It looks like this year is not going to improve.