Yugoslavia was represented at theEurovision Song Contest 27 times, debuting in 1961 and competing every year until its last appearance in 1992, with the exceptions of 1977–1980, and 1985. The Yugoslavian participating broadcaster in the contest wasYugoslav Radio Television (JRT), which usually selected its entrant with a national final. Yugoslavia won the1989 contest and hosted the1990 contest.
Yugoslavia's first stretch of participations from 1961 until 1976 were mostly unsuccessful, with only one top five placing – fourth in 1962 – which would remain its best result until 1983. It also got its only last place in 1964. From 1969 until 1976, it consistently placed outside the top ten – with the exception of a ninth place in 1972 – ultimately coming second to last in 1976.
After a meeting on 4 July 1976, JRT announced its withdrawal from the 1977 contest, citing its low results.[4][5][6] Its withdrawal continued into 1978 but JRT held a referendum among the readers of its RTV magazines on if it should return at the 1979 contest.[7] Over 100,000 people voted in favour of returning to the contest, against just over 2,000 votes for staying out of the contest.[7] However, JRT did not return in 1979 as the broadcaster and all its sub-national stations unanimously agreed against participating inJerusalem – the host city that year – as they believed it to be illegally occupied and Yugoslavia did not have diplomatic relations with Israel at the time.[8] JRT also did not broadcast the contest, despite doing so in 1977 and 1978.[8] It did not participate in, or broadcast, the 1980 contest either for unknown reasons.
JRT returned to the contest in 1981 and participated four more times before withdrawing again. It continued to place outside the top ten in this period with the exception of 1983, where it matched its previous best result of fourth from 1962. After withdrawing in 1985, due to the contest colliding with a national holiday, it returned in 1986. It saw more success after its return, once again getting fourth place in 1987, followed by a sixth place in 1988.
As Yugoslavia won the1989 contest with the song "Rock Me" by the groupRiva, the1990 contest took place inZagreb, hosted by RTV Zagreb on behalf of JRT, as the entry came from them. JRT participated in 1991 for the last time representing SFR Yugoslavia.
During thebreakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, the former constituent republics of Croatia, Slovenia, and Macedonia declared secession and hence withdrew from the1992 Yugoslav national final, while the then-leaderships of Serbia and Montenegro agreed to maintain a close alliance. On 28 March 1992, the broadcasters from the republics that still (at least formally) constituted the fading and shrunken former Yugoslav federation took part in the selection held inBelgrade. It included artists not only from Serbia and Montenegro, but also from Bosnia and Herzegovina, although the latter declared independence on 1 March of that year. Among its candidates wasAlma Čardžić. The winner of that pre-selection was "Ljubim te pesmama" performed by Extra Nena (Snežana Berić) from Serbia. Before that year's contest took place, on 28 April, a new federal state was formed, consisting ofSerbia andMontenegro and called theFederal Republic of Yugoslavia, which was represented by the previously mentioned "Ljubim te pesmama" by Extra Nena in the1992 contest.[9][10][11]
27 entries had represented Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest. 22 out of the 26 entries between 1961 and 1991 were in Serbo-Croatian and the rest in Slovenian. No entry from Macedonia or Kosovo ever made it to the contest, illustrating a cultural marginalisation of the poorest parts of the country.[18]
^abDue to division among theJRT member broadcasters, two commentators provided commentary for Yugoslavia in 1991; Croatian commentary provided byHrvatska televizija was broadcast in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Slovenia, while Serbian commentary provided byTelevizija Beograd was broadcast in Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and Vojvodina.[61]
^"Brez Jugoslavije" [Without Yugoslavia].Rodna gruda (in Slovenian). Vol. 24, no. 3. Slovenska izseljenska matica. March 1977. p. 43. Retrieved2 June 2025 – viaDigital Library of Slovenia.
^Roxburgh, Gordon (2020).Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. Four: The 1990s.Prestatyn, United Kingdom: Telos Publishing. pp. 255–260.ISBN978-1-84583-163-9.
^Vuletic, Dean (2019). "Recognising Kosovo in the World of Televised International Song Contests".Eurovisions: Identity and the International Politics of the Eurovision Song Contest since 1956. Springer Nature. p. 116.ISBN978-9811394270.
^Roxburgh, Gordon (2012).Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. One: The 1950s and 1960s.Prestatyn, United Kingdom:Telos Publishing.ISBN978-1-84583-065-6.
^"Radio danes" [Radio today].Delo (in Slovenian). Ljubljana, SR Slovenia, Yugoslavia. 3 May 1986. p. 12. Retrieved28 October 2024 – via Digital Library of Slovenia.
^"Spored za soboto" [Schedule for Saturday].Delo (in Slovenian).Ljubljana, Yugoslavia. 5 May 1990. p. 14. Retrieved28 October 2024 – via Digital Library of Slovenia.
^"rtv" [Radio-TV].Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian).Split, Yugoslavia. 5 May 1990. p. 31.Archived from the original on 28 November 2022. Retrieved28 November 2022.
Roxburgh, Gordon (2012).Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn:Telos Publishing. pp. 291–299.ISBN978-1-84583-065-6.
M. B. (23 March 1970)."Чуда се не догађају увек" [Miracles don't always happen].Borba (in Serbo-Croatian (Cyrillic script)). Belgrade, Yugoslavia. p. 12. Retrieved6 December 2024 – via Belgrade University Library.
B.Š. (26 March 1970)."Naša skupna zabloda" [Our common delusion].Tedenska tribuna (in Slovenian). Vol. 18, no. 13.Ljubljana, Yugoslavia:Delo. p. 11. Retrieved1 July 2025 – viaDigital Library of Slovenia.Televizijski komentator prenosa iz Amsterdama Aleksander Čolnik, se je takole obrnil k slovenskim televizijskim poslušalcem, ki so spremljali nastop naše pevke [...] [Television commentator Aleksander [Sandi] Čolnik, who broadcast from Amsterdam, addressed Slovenian television listeners who were watching the performance of our singer [...]]
"Danes, jutri na RTV" [Today, tomorrow on RTV].Delo (in Slovenian).Ljubljana, Yugoslavia. 22 March 1975. p. 6. Retrieved24 August 2025 – via Digital Library of Slovenia.
"Danes, jutri na RTV" [Today, tomorrow on RTV].Delo (in Slovenian).Ljubljana, Yugoslavia. 3 April 1976. p. 6. Retrieved28 October 2024 – via Digital Library of Slovenia.
"Televizió" [Television].Magyar Szó (in Hungarian).Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. 3 April 1976. p. 20. Retrieved18 June 2024 – viaVajdasági Magyar Digitális Adattár.
"Televizió" [Television].Magyar Szó (in Hungarian).Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. 7 May 1977. p. 20. Retrieved18 June 2024 – viaVajdasági Magyar Digitális Adattár.
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"Televizió" [Television].Magyar Szó (in Hungarian).Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. 4 April 1981. p. 20. Retrieved18 June 2024 – viaVajdasági Magyar Digitális Adattár.
"Televizió" [Television].Magyar Szó (in Hungarian).Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. 24 April 1982. p. 32. Retrieved18 June 2024 – viaVajdasági Magyar Digitális Adattár.
"Szombat – Április 23" [Saturday - 23 April].7 Nap melléklet [hu] (in Hungarian). No. 16.Subotica, Yugoslavia. 23–29 April 1983. p. 34. Retrieved29 June 2024 – viaVajdasági Magyar Digitális Adattár.
"Televizió" [Television].Magyar Szó (in Hungarian).Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. 5 May 1984. p. 24. Retrieved18 June 2024 – viaVajdasági Magyar Digitális Adattár.
"Televizió" [Television].Magyar Szó (in Hungarian).Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. 3 May 1986. p. 20. Retrieved18 June 2024 – viaVajdasági Magyar Digitális Adattár.
"Televizió" [Television].Magyar Szó (in Hungarian).Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. 9 May 1987. p. 24. Retrieved18 June 2024 – viaVajdasági Magyar Digitális Adattár.
"Televizió" [Television].Magyar Szó (in Hungarian).Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. 30 April – 2 May 1988. p. 32. Retrieved18 June 2024 – viaVajdasági Magyar Digitális Adattár.
"rtv" [Radio TV].Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian).Split, Yugoslavia. 6 May 1989. p. 31.Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved12 December 2022.
"Szombat" [Saturday].7 Nap [hu] (in Hungarian). Vol. 44, no. 18.Subotica, Yugoslavia. 29 April 1988. pp. 56–57. Retrieved8 December 2024 – viaVajdasági Magyar Digitális Adattár.
"rtv" [Radio-TV].Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian).Split, Yugoslavia. 5 May 1990. p. 31.Archived from the original on 28 November 2022. Retrieved28 November 2022.
"Televizió" [Television].Magyar Szó (in Hungarian).Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. 5 May 1990. p. 24. Retrieved1 February 2025 – viaVajdasági Magyar Digitális Adattár.
"Spored za soboto" [Schedule for Saturday].Delo (in Slovenian).Ljubljana, Yugoslavia. 4 May 1991. p. 14.Archived from the original on 4 November 2023. Retrieved5 May 2024.
"Televizió" [Television].Magyar Szó (in Hungarian).Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. 4 May 1991. p. 24. Retrieved18 June 2024 – viaVajdasági Magyar Digitális Adattár.
"Televizió" [Television].Magyar Szó (in Hungarian).Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. 9 May 1992. p. 20. Retrieved18 June 2024 – viaVajdasági Magyar Digitális Adattár.
^"Televizió" [Television].Magyar Szó (in Hungarian).Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. 13 May 1995. p. 16. Retrieved19 February 2025 – viaVajdasági Magyar Digitális Adattár.
^"TV szombat" [TV Saturday].Magyar Szó (in Hungarian).Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. 3 May 1997. p. 15. Retrieved19 February 2025 – viaVajdasági Magyar Digitális Adattár.
^"Tévéműsor" [TV show].Magyar Szó (in Hungarian).Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. 9 May 1998. p. 15. Retrieved19 February 2025 – viaVajdasági Magyar Digitális Adattár.