Serbia was the next nation to select their song for Germany, and the 2007 champions had an interesting concept up their sleeve for their preselection.  Last year, as some of you might remember, legendary composer Goran Bregović provided three songs which were matched with three singers, the best of which went on to represent Serbia in Oslo.  This year, local broadcaster RTS wanted to continue that general idea, but with a twist: instead of having one composer write a series of songs, it was decided that one family of composers would submit songs to the network.  Kornelije Kovač and his daughters Aleksandra and Kristina would write one song apiece, each hand selecting who would interpret their composition. 

Kornelije, who represented a then-united Yugoslavia in the 1974 ESC, came up with “Ring Ring Ring“, and matched it with local band The Breeze, who could have easily stepped out of a time capsule from 1964.  The Beatle-esque tune came in third place with the televoters.  Aleksandra decided to take matters into her own hands, and sung her creation, the ballad “Idemo Dalje“, on her own.  But it was youngest sister Kristina who had the winning formula, pairing the Swinging 60’s throwback song “Čaroban (Magical)” with newcomer Nina Radojčić.  Here’s the result:

I mean, is this adorable or what?!  In Serbia’s first two outings at Eurovision as an independent nation, they reached for beautiful ballads sung by powerfully-voiced women, landing them with a victory and a 6th place.  The next two years, they went for more upbeat songs sung by men, and missed the finals one year and only made it to 13th place the next.  (Then again, “Cipela” was a pretty unique entry, and “Ovo Je Balkan” was one of those love-it-or-hate-it songs.) Čaroban brings in the uplifting energy from 2009 and 2010, brings in a great female lead vocal like 2007 and 2008, and infuses it with that great throwback feeling that’s so popular on charts worldwide.  (Amy Winehouse, anybody?)  Nicely done, Kristina, Nina, and Serbia!