"Igranka"

 In my previous blog post, I outlined how the history, religion, significant others, and language of Montenegro have shaped the country's national identity. In this blog post, I will discuss and examine Montenegro on stage at the Eurovision song contest, specifically their 2013 performance, and how they did and did not show their national identity on stage. Along with that, I provide a deep analysis of certain aspects of their performance, visually, along with the lyrical content of their song. 

Montenegro's 2013 Eurovision entry "Igranka" or "party just begun" Is a fun classic hip-hop song by the duo Who See and musical quest Nina Žižić. Hip-hop duo Who See, {Who See Klapa is from the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. Dedduh (Dejan Dedovic), 32, from Kotor, and Noyz (Mario Djordjevic), 29, from Herceg Novi (Eurovision n.d.). The Who See band duo is known for their comedic videos and humor. Pop singer Nina Žižić, 37, from Niksic, Montenegro (Wikipedia contributors, 2022). These three are all from Montenegro, so it makes sense that they are performing for their country. 

"Igranka," in English, translates to "Dance"; it is a song about the joy of life, partying, and dreams (Eurovision, n.d.). The theme for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) held in Malmö, Sweden was "we are one," meant to celebrate the coming together of Europe to celebrate their diversity (EBU.j.). This is fitting for "Igranka" because parties are a place where people can come together regardless of their differences and have a good time in the company with one another. This song is also something that everyone can enjoy together, even if they do not speak the language, as music is an art form that people commonly use to connect with one another.   

Montenegro performed 9th and finished in 12th place in the 2013 Eurovision song contest. Their performance begins with white flashing lights over the stage, leading the viewer's attention toward the stage as the fog spreads across the floor. While fog disperses, neon green and yellow laser lights dance around the stage, creating an ominous, mysterious, almost unworldly scene. Fitting this scenario, two human figures emerge from the back of the stage. As they come closer, the audience can clearly see Dedduh and Noyz in white astronaut suits. As they rap, the astronauts walk to the front of the stage. After the beat of the song becomes more substantial, the light show intensifies with white flashing lights that go along with the beat, and fog shoots out from the stage. At this point, the song is at its peak, and the singer Nina Žižić rises from the floor on a stage lift wearing a silver and white cyborg outfit. As she begins to sing, both rappers start giving the impression that they are moving in slow motion, as if gravity is not present on stage, as though they are moving slowly through outer space. Every aspect of their presentation was gimmicky. The visuals, including the laser show, the outfits, and the movements of the performers, were all over the top to capture their audience's attention. The overall performance was vibrant and lively while also exuding confident energy toward the audience.

While the song is upbeat, almost that of a rock and roll song, the lyrics tell an energetic and soulful story of a person who is looking for fun and is being taken to a party. While being out on the town and looking for fun, they enjoy being with the people around them while ignoring all their expectations and responsibilities looming over them. As the lyrics say, "s mojima visim, ne mislim o parama" translating to, "I am hanging out with my friends, I am not thinking about the money" means to convey that money is trivial compared to the experience of having fun and enjoying themselves. As the song goes on, they say "Vodim te na igranku" in english, "I am taking you to the dance", followed by "Treba mi fešta što neće prestat", "I need a party that'll never end" (Who See, n.d) describes group of people coming together for the night. This coincides with the theme of the people of Europe coming together at Eurovision. For this night everyone has come together to enjoy and experience the same thing, no longer a divided Europe, but as one, a community. The performance was meant to be for everyone and designed in a way which would spark the spirit of the audience as the person in the song was motivated to go out and partake in the party. 

"Igranka" was performed in Montenegrin, the national language of Montenegro. Although Montenegrin is not their most spoken language, it is their national language, and it was a defining characteristic of their national identity. In the last blog post, I mentioned how it was used to stand out from others and it was something that made their performance different from the rest. Rap is something that is only done sometimes in the Eurovision song contest and is the first thing they chose to start with in their performance. Not only did they rap, but they did so in their own language (Montenegrin) instead of English which is uncommonly done for many performances. Many songs presented at Eurovision are songs in English because it is catered to the English-speaking audience, as those who can only understand English take up the majority of the audience. Due to this, Montenegro incorporating rap and choosing to sing in their national language makes this a symbolic performance, demonstrating an aspect of national identity within their performance.  

Although this performance aligns with the theme of the 2013 Eurovision song contest, and their national language is incorporated, there needs to be more alignment with their national identity besides this. Because Montenegro seems to have a little history with space or astronauts, this performance is almost poking fun at the theme for the 2013 Eurovision song contest, as Europe does not celebrate their differences, and many people at Eurovision use essentialism and simulation tactics to build the perfect Eurovision song that will knock the judges and the audience off their feet and win—leaving most of the song that does show entire national identities out. Who See performance suggested how Europeans of different nationalities still frequently perceived each other as aliens or astronauts from another world despite the process of European integration and even though the Eurovision song contest has reflected how Europeans have generally experienced fashions in popular culture and the development of technologies like television in a competition that has historically been used in cultural diplomacy to influence how Europeans see each other: as astronauts in another place. 

Ultimately, Montenegro's 2013 Eurovision Performance, "Igranka," a bright, fun and interesting performance that followed that year's theme "we are one" and seems to mock it at the same time. The content of the song holds true to the theme, of coming together joined by their love of fun and dance that is provided by Eurovision. The performance aligns with one aspect of their national identity, language. Montenegro's has a history of trying to stand out to find their national identity amongst their history with significant others around them. They seem to falter in accurately presenting their history and culture with their visual performance, as astronauts and outer space have no connection with their country.  

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References

Who See. (n.d.). Eurovision Song Contest. https://eurovision.tv/participant/who-see

Who See's party just begun! (2019, May 7). Eurovision Song Contest. https://eurovision.tv/story/who-see-s-party-just-begun

Malmö 2013: We are one. (2019, May 7). Eurovision Song Contest. https://eurovision.tv/story/malmoe-2013-we-are-one

Contest, E. S. (2013, May 15). Who See - Igranka (Montenegro) - LIVE - 2013 Semi-Final (1) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR9rtB2ilZU&feature=youtu.be

European Broadcasting Union (EBU). (2013, January 17). Key moment in Malmö lights fuse of 2013 Eurovision Song Contest. EBU. https://www.ebu.ch/fr/news/2013/01/key-moment-in-malmo-lights-fuse

Wikipedia contributors. (2022, October 14). Nina Žižić. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_%C5%BDi%C5%BEi%C4%87

igranka in English - Serbo Croatian-English Dictionary. (n.d.). Glosbe. https://glosbe.com/sh/en/igranka