(), officially (), is one of the main musical events in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

, and formerly in

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. The show, organized by national broadcaster

Macedonian Radio Television Macedonian Radio Television (), or MRT () for short, is the public broadcasting organisation of North Macedonia. It was founded in 1993 by the Assembly of North Macedonia, Macedonian Assembly. Its legally defined service is the production and ...

(MRT), involves some of North Macedonia's most popular performers, singing original tracks usually accompanied by the orchestra of MRT (excluding some of its latest editions).

History

The festival began in 1968 at the Universal Hall in

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

, and continued until 1980. Eminent Macedonian and Yugoslav singers such as

Slave Dimitrov Slave Dimitrov (, born 1 June 1946) is a Macedonian composer, singer and record producer. He composed and sang "Chija si" (Чија си), labeled as the "song of the millennium" in the Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, officially th ...

, Zafir Hadzimanov and Nina Spirova performed at in that period. was revived in 1994, after Macedonia gained its independence from Yugoslavia, and has since taken over as North Macedonia's chief music festival. Since the late 1990s, has also been used as the for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

. The first Macedonian representative in Eurovision,

Vlado Janevski Vladimir Vlado Janevski ( born 27 November 1960) is a Macedonian singer. He was North Macedonia's first Eurovision contestant, finishing 19th in Birmingham at the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Ne Zori, Zoro". Biography Vlado Jane ...

, won 1998 with the song "" and went on to perform at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1998 The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the Br ...

. Ever since, has been shadowed by many controversial debates regarding the strategies behind the song selections and the lack of transparence concerning the winner. Such allegations are not new to the contest, however, they intensified as the Eurovision participation became a factor. After the decision to make the national Macedonian selection round, the traditional point award ceremony was eliminated and replaced by the controversial announcement of only the top three places. Neither the points of the jury nor the televoting results are made public. Up until 2002, used to be the biggest musical activity in the country. However, it has faced financial problems since then. In 2003, the festival was not held in order to save money to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. It returned in 2004 only to celebrate the 60th anniversary of MRT. After that, financial problems increased and the festival was not organised until 2008, when it was again used as the national final for Eurovision. In 2011, it was announced that would continue being held as an independent event without being involved in the Macedonian selection process for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2012 The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song "Running Scared (Ell & Nikki song), Running Scared" by Ell & Nikki, El ...

. It was used again as the Macedonian national final for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2015 The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst. Organised by the European Broa ...

, being dropped since then in favor of internal selections.

Winners

References

External links

Профил страна за Скопје фест на ВБУ Музички регистар.
{{Eurovision Song Contest Eurovision Song Contest selection events North Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest Music festivals established in 1968 Pop music festivals Rock festivals in North Macedonia Festivals in Skopje Music festivals in Yugoslavia 1968 establishments in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia Music in Socialist Republic of Macedonia