Coming off an undeserved last place finish with the song U La La La in 2016, the pressure is on for Serbia to turn things around. Their last Top 3 finish was back in 2010, so the nation is well overdue for a good result. This year the nation selected the bubbly duo of Irina Brodić & Jana Paunović from a group of three acts, and the girls will be performing the song Ceo svet je naš on the Junior Eurovision stage. Will this be the saving grace for Serbia, or are they destined for another unsuccessful year at Junior Eurovision?
This is one of the more conflicting entries of 2017 for me, as it was a song I really disliked upon first listen. I disliked it enough to not listen to it for a few weeks, then curiosity got the better of me and I listened to the song again. Upon second listen, the song wasn’t as bad as I had in my memory, and I’m sure you know where this is going, because upon more listens, I’m starting to really enjoy this song. I have to classify this one in the pile of earworms, as the chorus specifically is so dang catchy that it has you singing along even if you don’t know the lyrics.
Even though I’ve grown to love this song, I still recognise what turned me off the song originally, and I think it’s mainly down to how naff this entry is, both song and how it was staged in the national final. Over the last few years we’ve seen the quality of the songs at Junior Eurovision improve, and the style of songs become more modern, but this song is firmly stuck in a year well before 2017. Despite that, it’s a very kid friendly song, and at the end of the day, that’s such a big factor since it’s a kid-based audience, so this song has the potential to do well.
I think if they improve the staging idea, the entry will become more likeable. It’s the type of entry that could surprise us all with a Top 5 result or finish down the bottom. It’s comparable to Albania’s entry Dambaje in that sense, where I expected it to finish at the bottom of the table, yet to my surprise finished in 5th place. Could go either way for me, but only time will tell!
Had you asked me upon first listen what my rating would have been, it would have been well below the 7/10 I’m giving it now – I suppose that’s the power of catchy melodies!
If you want to check out all the previous entries from Serbia at Junior Eurovision, make sure to check out our Junior Best of the Bunch: Serbia!
