North Macedonia, previously presented as the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 21 times since its official debut in 1998. The country had attempted to participate in 1996, but failed to qualify from the audio-only qualifying round. The current Head of Delegation is Meri Popova.
Macedonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Ninanajna" written by Darko Dimitrov and Rade Vrčakovski. The song was performed by Elena Risteska. The Macedonian broadcaster Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) organised the national final Specialen Evroviziski Den in order to select the Macedonian entry for the 2006 contest in Athens, Greece. Twenty entries competed in the competition on 4 March 2006 where "Ninanajna" performed by Elena Risteska was selected exclusively by a public televote, receiving 6,999 votes.
Macedonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Make My Day" written by Dragan Vučić and Branka Kostić. The song was performed by Martin Vučić. The Macedonian broadcaster Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) organised the national final Nacionalen Evrosong 2005 in order to select the Macedonian entry for the 2005 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. Five artists were presented to the public in November 2004 and an eight-member jury panel and a public televote selected two artists to qualify to the compete in the competition on 19 February 2005, where "Ti si son" performed by Martin Vučić was selected following two rounds of voting from a twelve-member jury panel, an audience vote and a public televote. The song was later translated from Macedonian to English for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "Make My Day".
Skopje Fest or Festival na zabavni melodii Skopje is one of the main musical events in North Macedonia.
Macedonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with the song "Mojot svet" written by Grigor Koprov and Ognen Nedelkovski. The song was performed by Karolina who previously represented Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song "Od nas zavisi", placing nineteenth in the competition. The Macedonian broadcaster Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) organised the national final Nacionalen Evrosong 2007 in order to select the Macedonian entry for the 2007 contest in Helsinki, Finland. Fifteen entries competed in the competition on 24 February 2007 where "Mojot svet" performed by Karolina Gočeva was selected by a regional televote.
Jovan Jovanov is a Macedonian-Canadian music producer, record engineer and songwriter of pop, R&B, house, and hip-hop. Now based in Toronto, Ontario, Jovanov is working with Canadian artists such as Alx Veliz, NorthSideBenji, Liron, and many others. Macedonian audience knows Jovanov as a singer and composer of many hit songs performed by artists such a Toše Proeski, Elvir Mekic, Adrian Gaxha, Слаткаристика, Toni Zen, Next Time and many others. Jovanov has composed, written, and produced over 700 songs and received many awards and acknowledgments. Internationally his hits have over 200 million views on YouTube.
Macedonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "Life" written by Jovan Jovanov and Ilija Nikolovski. The song was performed by Toše Proeski, who was internally selected by the Macedonian broadcaster Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) to compete for Macedonia at the 2004 contest in Istanbul, Turkey. MRT returned to the Eurovision Song Contest after a one-year absence following their relegation from 2003 as one of the bottom five countries in the 2002 contest. Toše Proeski's appointment as the Macedonian representative was announced on 7 June 2003, while MRT organised Skopje Fest 2004 in order to select his song. Eight songs competed in the competition on 14 February 2004 where "Angel si ti" was selected following the combination of votes from an eleven-member jury panel, Proeski himself and a public televote. The song was later translated from Macedonian to English for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "Life".
Macedonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Let Me Love You" written by Rade Vrčakovski. The song was performed by Tamara, Vrčak and Adrian. The Macedonian broadcaster Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) organised Skopje Fest 2008 in order to select the Macedonian entry for the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia. Fifteen entries competed in the competition on 23 February 2008 where "Vo ime na ljubovta" performed by Tamara, Vrčak and Adrian was selected following the combination of votes from a five-member jury panel and a public televote. The song was later translated from Macedonian to English for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "Let Me Love You".
Macedonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Nešto što kje ostane" written by Jovan Jovanov, Damjan Lazarov and Elvir Mekić. The song was performed by the duo Next Time. The Macedonian broadcaster Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) organised Skopje Fest 2009 in order to select the Macedonian entry for the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia. 32 entries competed in the competition which consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. Sixteen songs competed in each semi-final and the top eight from each semi-final qualified to the final. In the final, "Nešto što kje ostane" performed by Next Time was selected following the combination of votes from a twelve-member jury panel and a public televote.
Macedonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "Jas ja imam silata" written by Kristijan Gabroski. The song was performed by Gjoko Taneski featuring Billy Zver and Pejčin. The Macedonian broadcaster Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) organised Skopje Fest 2010 in order to select the Macedonian entry for the 2010 contest in Oslo, Norway. 28 entries competed in the competition which consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. Fourteen songs competed in each semi-final and the top eight from each semi-final qualified to the final. In the final, "Jas ja imam silata" performed by Gjoko Taneski was selected following the combination of votes from a six-member jury panel and a public televote.
"Jas ja imam silata" is a Macedonian pop-rock song, composed by Kristijan Gabrovski and performed by Gjoko Taneski together with Billy Zver & Pejčin as the Macedonian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. The song was selected on 20 February 2010 from 16 participating songs at the final of Skopje Fest 2010. The song gained the most points in the final and tied for first place with Vlatko Ilievski before being declared the winner.
Vlatko Ilievski was a Macedonian pop rock singer and actor. He was the runner-up to be the Macedonian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 and represented FYR Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "Rusinka" in Düsseldorf, Germany. He was previously a member of the rock band "Moral". He was a student of acting at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, Skopje, where he graduated in 2010 with the drama "Anger" from Stephen King.
Macedonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "To the Sky" written by Darko Dimitrov, Lazar Cvetkoski and Elena Risteska. The song was performed by Tijana, who was internally selected by the Macedonian broadcaster Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) to compete for Macedonia at the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark. Songwriter Elena Risteska represented Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Ninanajna" where she placed twelfth in the grand final of the competition. Tijana's appointment as the Macedonian representative was announced on 22 February 2014, while her song, "To the Sky", was presented to the public in a special edition of the MRT show Hit na mesecot.
North Macedonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Autumn Leaves" written by Joacim Persson and Robert Bilbilov. The song was performed by Daniel Kajmakoski. The Macedonian broadcaster Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) organised Skopje Fest 2014 in order to select the Macedonian entry for the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. Twenty entries competed in the competition on 12 November 2014 where "Lisja esenski" performed by Daniel Kajmakoski was selected following the combination of votes from seven international jury groups and a public televote. The song was later translated from Macedonian to English for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "Autumn Leaves".
Viktorija Loba is a Russian-born Macedonian singer.
Macedonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Dona" written by Kaliopi and Romeo Grill. The song was performed by Kaliopi, who was internally selected by the Macedonian broadcaster Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) to compete for Macedonia at the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. Kaliopi previously represented Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Crno i belo", placing thirteenth in the final of the competition. At the time of Kaliopi's selection, the last time Macedonia qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest was when she represented the nation in 2012. Kaliopi's appointment as the Macedonian representative was announced on 24 November 2015, while her song, "Dona", was presented to the public in a television special titled Kaliopi za Makedonija on 7 March 2016.
Macedonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Dance Alone" written by Borislav Milanov, Alex Omar, Joacim Persson and Florence A. The song was performed by Jana Burčeska, who was internally selected by the Macedonian broadcaster Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) to compete for Macedonia at the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. Jana Burčeska's appointment as the Macedonian representative was announced on 21 November 2016, while her song, "Dance Alone", was presented to the public during the MRT programme Stisni Plej on 10 March 2017.
Macedonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Lost and Found" written by Bojan Trajkovski and Darko Dimitrov. The song was performed by the group Eye Cue, which were internally selected by the Macedonian broadcaster Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) to compete for Macedonia at the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. Eye Cue's appointment as the Macedonian representative was announced on 13 February 2018, while their song, "Lost and Found", was presented to the public on 11 March 2018.
Risto Samardžiev, born 17 August 1964 in Skopje, is a Macedonian singer and songwriter. He started his musical career when he was 16 years old. He formed the Cilindar group in 1981, which was one of the first New Wave rock bands in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia. He was also the frontman of New Romantic group Haos in Laos. In 1987 he was invited to perform on MakFest, the largest music festival in the country. The song he performed, Chilli Willi then became a hit in Macedonia. After that performance he continued to work independently, appearing in festivals as well as in bands He has won MakFest four times as a performer, and has also written songs for other singers. In 2009 he won the pop night of Ohrid Fest in a duet with Vlatko Ilievski titled 'Za ljubov se pee do kraj.' He has also participated multiple times at the Macedonian national preselections for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Stefan Markovski is a contemporary Macedonian writer, screenwriter, poet, philosopher and translator.
