Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest
Yugoslavia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 27 times, debuting in 1961 and competing every year until its last appearance in 1992, with the exceptions of 1977–1980 and 1985. Yugoslavia won the 1989 contest and hosted the 1990 contest.
Ljiljana Petrović was Yugoslavia's first entrant in the contest in and placed eighth. In, Lola Novaković gave the country its first top five result, finishing fourth. This would remain Yugoslavia's only top five result until, when Danijel finished fourth with the song "Džuli". Novi Fosili also finished fourth in with "Ja sam za ples". In 1989, the country achieved its only victory in the contest, when Riva won with the song "Rock Me".
History
1961–1991: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961 along with Spain and Finland. The national pre-selection organized by the Yugoslav broadcaster Yugoslav Radio Television was Jugovizija, and it featured entries submitted by the subnational public broadcasting centers based in the capitals of each of the constituent republics of the Yugoslav federation: SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SR Croatia, SR Macedonia, SR Montenegro, SR Serbia and SR Slovenia and also the broadcasting services of the autonomous provinces within SR Serbia: SAP Kosovo and SAP Vojvodina. The first to compete in 1961 were Belgrade, Ljubljana and Zagreb, while the others joined in the following years.Yugoslavia was represented by a variety of artists from five of the eight Yugoslav federal units. These artists were from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia, with Macedonia, Vojvodina, and Kosovo never passing the national pre-selection. Croatia was the most successful constituent republic, as its performers won the national contest 13 out of the 26 times SFR Yugoslavia took part in the contest. From 1977 to 1980, and in 1985, Yugoslavia did not participate in the contest.
Yugoslavia won the Eurovision Song Contest 1989 with the song "Rock Me" by the group Riva. Following the rules of the contest, the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 took place in Zagreb, as the entry came from Croatia.
1992: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
During the process of breakup of SFR Yugoslavia in 1991, the former constituent republics of Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia proclaimed independence and hence withdrew from Jugovizija, while the then-leaderships of Serbia and Montenegro agreed to maintain a close alliance. On 28 March 1992, the republics that still constituted the fading and shrunken former Yugoslav federation took part in 1992's Jugovizija held in Belgrade. It included artists not only from Serbia and Montenegro, but also from Bosnia and Herzegovina, although the latter declared independence on 1 March of that year. Among its candidates was Alma Čardžić. The winner of that pre-selection was "Ljubim te pesmama" performed by Extra Nena from Serbia. Before that year's ESC took place, on 28 April, a new federal state was formed consisting of Serbia and Montenegro called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which was represented by the previously mentioned Extra Nena in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992 held on 9 May.Yugoslavia was banned from participating in the Song Contest until 2001 due to UN sanctions during the Yugoslav Wars. The sanctions went into effect only a few weeks after the 1992 Contest.
1993–present: After the breakup of SFRY
After the dissolution of SFR Yugoslavia its former constituent republics proclaimed independence. The once subnational public radio and TV stations changed to national but under new names, including: RTV Slovenia, HRT, RTS, MKRTV and so on. Since joining the EBU respectively, all of the ex-Yugoslav countries have participated in the Eurovision Song Contest: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and North Macedonia.Overall the results of the new republics have been mixed: Croatia had some top 10 finishes in the late 1990s, and the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina have enjoyed high scores in the 2000s, the Republic of Macedonia has secured a top 10 result and made it through to the final each year until 2008, in which, even though they came 10th, they didn't qualify to the final. In 2004, Serbia and Montenegro debuted and came in 2nd and in 2007, Montenegro joined the contest but failed to qualify for the final, while Serbia won the Eurovision Song Contest the first time it entered as an independent nation. In 2013, no ex-Yugoslav country secured a spot in the final, as Bosnia and Herzegovina withdrew before the contest began; Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia all failed to qualify in the first semi-final; and Macedonia failed to qualify in the second semi-final.
Contestants
The following lists the 27 contestants that won the local competition and went on to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. Note that the selected entries of 1978–1980 and 1985 did not actually compete at the contest, as Yugoslavia did not participate during those years because of internal political reasons. Yugoslavia is one of the few countries that have sent all the songs in one of the official languages.| 1 | Winner |
| ◁ | Last place |
| Year | Artist | Constituent republic | Language | Title | Place | Points |
| Ljiljana Petrović | Serbia | Serbo-Croatian | "Neke davne zvezde" | 8 | 9 | |
| Lola Novaković | Serbia | Serbo-Croatian | "Ne pali svetlo u sumrak" | 4 | 10 | |
| Vice Vukov | Croatia | Serbo-Croatian | "Brodovi" | 11 | 3 | |
| Sabahudin Kurt | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Serbo-Croatian | "Život je sklopio krug" | 13 ◁ | 0 | |
| Vice Vukov | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Serbo-Croatian | "Čežnja" | 12 | 2 | |
| Berta Ambrož | Slovenia | Slovene | "Brez besed" | 7 | 9 | |
| Lado Leskovar | Slovenia | Slovene | "Vse rože sveta" | 8 | 7 | |
| Dubrovački trubaduri | Croatia | Serbo-Croatian | "Jedan dan" | 7 | 8 | |
| Ivan & 3M | Croatia | Serbo-Croatian | "Pozdrav svijetu" | 13 | 5 | |
| Eva Sršen | Slovenia | Slovene | "Pridi, dala ti bom cvet" | 11 | 4 | |
| Kićo Slabinac | Croatia | Serbo-Croatian | "Tvoj dječak je tužan" | 14 | 68 | |
| Tereza Kesovija | Croatia | Serbo-Croatian | "Muzika i ti" | 9 | 87 | |
| Zdravko Čolić | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Serbo-Croatian | "Gori vatra" | 15 | 65 | |
| Korni Grupa | Serbia | Serbo-Croatian | "Moja generacija" | 12 | 6 | |
| Pepel in kri | Slovenia | Slovene | "Dan ljubezni" | 13 | 22 | |
| Ambasadori | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Serbo-Croatian | "Ne mogu skriti svoju bol" | 17 | 10 | |
| Vajta | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Serbo-Croatian | "Lejla" | 15 | 35 | |
| Aska | Serbia | Serbo-Croatian | "Halo, Halo" | 14 | 21 | |
| Danijel | Montenegro | Serbo-Croatian | "Džuli" | 4 | 125 | |
| Vlado & Isolda | Montenegro | Serbo-Croatian | "Ciao, amore" | 18 | 26 | |
| Doris Dragović | Croatia | Serbo-Croatian | "Željo moja" | 11 | 49 | |
| Novi fosili | Croatia | Serbo-Croatian | "Ja sam za ples" | 4 | 92 | |
| Srebrna krila | Croatia | Serbo-Croatian | "Mangup" | 6 | 87 | |
| Riva | Croatia | Serbo-Croatian | "Rock Me" | 1 | 137 | |
| Tajči | Croatia | Serbo-Croatian | "Hajde da ludujemo" | 7 | 81 | |
| Baby Doll | Serbia | Serbo-Croatian | "Brazil" | 21 | 1 | |
| Extra Nena | Serbia within FR Yugoslavia | Serbo-Croatian | "Ljubim te pesmama" | 13 | 44 |
;NOTES:
Hostings
| Year | Location | Venue | Presenters |
| 1990 | Zagreb, SR Croatia | Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall | Helga Vlahović Brnobić and Oliver Mlakar |
Commentators and spokespeople
- Due to Croatia and Slovenia becoming independent countries in the breakup of Yugoslavia, in 1992 there was no Croatian or Slovene commentator.
Non-participating years
Despite their absence, Yugoslavia did organize national finals for 1978, 1979 and 1980 as part of the Opatija music festival. The festival was not held in 1977.
| Year | Artist | Title |
| 1978 | Oliver Dragojević | "Zbogom ostaj ljubavi" |
| 1979 | Novi Fosili | "Sklopi oči" |
| 1980 | Novi Fosili | "Najdraže moje" |