Wait, didn’t I write this line-up check already last year? Internal selection, male solo artist, lots of mountains in the preview video, Balkan ballad? No, it’s 2015, Montenegro has recently qualified for the first time as an independent country, and now the cards are reshuffled as broadcaster RTCG presents Knez as the country’s representant in Vienna.

For the international audience, that name is surely as unusual as “Måns”. However, his actual name is Nenad Knežević – the short form of the name will undoubtedly be more memorable for Europe.

If four-letter names are a magic combination at Eurovision (Abba, Lena, Riva), then maybe it also works in the song title: Adio? Well, the contest is still about the song itself – Kojo should know. And there we have a problem.

So what do I remember from my first encounter with Montenegro 2015? Mountains. Lots of mountains. No matter how hard I try, I don’t remember the song. That’s why I have to listen to it again while writing this, probably on a loop, because I’m afraid I won’t remember it in the minute after. So, let’s begin! We’re hearing a violin and traditional instruments in the intro, we’re seeing mountains and women, and it takes half a minute until we see Knez. The verse begins kind of promisingly, but the melody gets lost into immemorability (is that even a word?!) rather quickly. Oh, a keychange! At 1:23, before the first chorus… is there even a chorus? Anyway, it’s a Željko Joksimović song (not that it would matter), and we hear the second mention of “ruzmarin” (“rosemary”) in the history of Eurovision. The first one came with Lejla (Bosnia & Herzegovina 2006), another Joksimović piece of the same kind. So maybe that word will work some magic? No. It’s 2:10 into the song, and I still only remember the first two or three beats of the verse. In the middle part, lots of “oooo” and mountains, and again women, oh, and then “aaaa”! Followed by the same old immemorable sequence of notes and irregular beats. And in the end, finally the word “adio”. My reaction? I’m rolling my eyes.

My verdict is predictable, isn’t it? Of course, I have a low opinion of this entry. We’re forced to ruminate the same old thing, tasting vaguely of stale rosemary. Eurovision doesn’t need this entry. It will probably still qualify, but that should be the end of the road for Adio.

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