Who would represent Montenegro in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest?
That question was answered by RTCG on 2 October 2015, when the Montenegrin public broadcaster announced that Highway had been internally selected to represent the country in Stockholm.
The decision was made by an RTCG Council commission comprising poet and lyricist Dragana Tripković, Radio Montenegro music editor Nada Vučinić, singer and composer Slaven Knezović, and jazz musician Milorad Šule Jovović.
At the time, Highway were a trio from Podgorica: lead singer Petar Tošić and guitarists and backing vocalists Marko Pešić and Luka Vojvodić. They had finished fourth in the second series of X Factor Adria.
The song was not yet known when this announcement was made. It was subsequently revealed as The Real Thing during RTCG’s television special U susret Eurosongu on 4 March 2016. Written by Luka Vojvodić, Maro Market and Srđan Sekulović Skansi, with lyrics and production contributions from Skansi, D’Knock and others, it was performed in English.
There was also a change to the line-up before Stockholm: keyboardist and vocalist Bojan Jovović joined in December 2015, turning Highway into a quartet. Jovović had previously appeared at Eurovision for Serbia and Montenegro in 2005 as part of No Name, whose song Zauvijek moja finished seventh.
Their song has been announced and schlagerists won’t like it – it is “real” music according to Mr Roy of this parish, who loves it.
Retrospectively, the song did not quite deliver the hoped-for result. Montenegro performed The Real Thing in the first semi-final on 10 May 2016, in position 15, finishing 13th of 18 entries with 60 points: 46 from the juries and 14 from the televote. Highway therefore failed to qualify for the final.
That was a disappointment after Montenegro had reached the final in both 2014 and 2015, with Knez’s 2015 entry Adio finishing 13th — at that point the country’s best result.
