Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004

Eurovision Song Contest 2004
Country	Macedonia
National selection
Selection process	Artist: Internal Selection Song: National Final
Selection date(s)	February 14, 2004
Selected entrant	Toše Proeski
Selected song	"Life"
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Qualified (10th, 71 points)
Final result	14th, 47 points
Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2002 • 2004 • 2005►

The Republic of Macedonia was represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 by Tose Proeski and the song "Life". The Macedonian broadcaster decided to select the performer internally and to hold a competition to select the song.

National final

On February 14, the Macedonian national final took place at the Universal Hall in Skopje and hosted by Aneta Andonova & Karolina Petkovska. Tose Proeski sang all the songs and the winner was chosen by televoting (1/3), an "expert" jury (1/3) and Tose himself (1/3) - "Angel si ti" was the favourite with all three. The song was written by Jovan Jovanov, who also participated in the Macedonian National Final in 2007 and came fourth.

All eight songs from the final were recorded in Macedonian and appear on Proeski's album Den Za Nas. Six of the songs from the final were recorded in Serbian and appear on the Serbian version of the album entitled Dan za nas. All eight songs were recorded in English and a small sample of each of these were played after each song was performed at the national final, lasting approximately 40 seconds each. This was to give viewers an idea as to what the song would sound like in English. "Life" appears on both versions of the album as well as the official Eurovision Song Contest 2004 compilation album, however the full English versions of the other seven songs have yet to be released.

Tose Proeski also participated in 2000 Macedonian National Final and 1998 as well. In 2000, Tose Proeski won the televote (with about 38,000 votes) and XXL were 2nd (with about 30,000 votes). In 1998 he came eighth.

Proeski won Beovizija in Belgrade on April 2003, with a Serbian song entitled "Čija Si" ("To Whom Do You Belong?"), a song which became a huge hit in Macedonia and the other former Yugoslav republics. This song was due to represent Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 but the EBU stated that too many countries wanted to enter in that year and so some would be forced to withdraw. Serbia and Montenegro (who participated as one country at the time) were one of them.

At Eurovision

At Eurovision, Proeski created an ethno sound on the Istanbul stage. The performance contained elaborate choreography and dancers who wore very little clothing. Tose was dressed in white, while the backing vocals were dressed in black. The performance contained attention grabbing shots, which placed Macedonia in the 14th position.

Points awarded by Macedonia

Semi-final Points awarded in semi-final: 12 points  Albania 10 points  Serbia and Montenegro 8 points  Ukraine 7 points  Greece 6 points  Croatia 5 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina 4 points  Malta 3 points  Netherlands 2 points  Finland 1 point  Slovenia

Final Points awarded in the final 12 points  Albania 10 points  Serbia and Montenegro 8 points  Ukraine 7 points  Greece 6 points  Turkey 5 points  Croatia 4 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 points  Malta 2 points  Sweden 1 point  Spain

Points awarded to Macedonia (Semi-Final)

12 points	10 points	8 points	7 points	6 points
Serbia and Montenegro		Albania  Bosnia and Herzegovina		Slovenia  Ukraine
5 points	4 points	3 points	2 points	1 point
Croatia   Switzerland	Greece  Romania	Germany  Turkey	Austria  Sweden	Denmark  Malta  Netherlands

Points awarded to Macedonia (Final)

12 points	10 points	8 points	7 points	6 points
Serbia and Montenegro		Bosnia and Herzegovina	Slovenia	Albania
5 points	4 points	3 points	2 points	1 point
Croatia	Turkey	Ukraine		Malta   Switzerland

See also

• Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Eurovision Song Contest 2004
• Eurovision Song Contest

References