Olivera Kovačević, the executive producer of Pesma za Evroviziju, the Serbian selection for Eurovision, has been fired from all of her roles at RTS.
Olivera Kovačević has been removed from all of her roles in RTS, including executive producer of Pesma za Evroviziju, by order of the general director of RTS. In an interview with N1, Kovačević stated that she was fired because she disobeyed the general director’s order to not allow any statements in support of the student protests:
“More specifically, wearing badges, showing a red fist, raising their student booklets on a live broadcast, as well as the performance of the song ‘Za milion godina’ was interpreted as a political message. It is true that as a producer, I did not want to censor anyone at the contest and that it was Pesma za Evroviziju ’25 that showed that RTS is open to all its citizens and that artists have the right to state their opinions without any rude and offensive behavior.”
Pesma za Evroviziju ’25 was held against the backdrop of anti-corruption protests in Serbia, which started after the canopy of the central railway station in Novi Sad collapsed, killing 16 people. The protests, which have been led mostly by university students, have demanded justice for the victims of the collapse, accountability from the government for the accident and the resignation of several political figures.
The protests had a significant effect on Pesma za Evroviziju ’25, since RTS has been criticised for its reporting on the protests. Slaven Došlo withdrew from his role as a presenter, citing the protests as his reason for withdrawing. Several participants showed their support for the protesters during the live shows and apart from a performance from the Kolibri Choir during the first semi-final, all of the interval acts were re-runs of interval acts from previous years. A student boycott of RTS also resulted in the lowest ratings ever for Pesma za Evroziviju and the lowest ratings for Eurovision in Serbia since 2013.
Kovačević further stated:
“The fact that I publicly supported the students, signed a letter from the employees demanding that RTS News do its job professionally, and finally, that I sued Aleksandar Vučić (President of Serbia) for a series of untruths he told about me and the Serbian Eurovision team, are sufficient, and obviously necessary, reasons for my dismissal.”
Despite reports that RTS board member Predrag Ajdeković complained to the European Broadcasting Union about Kovačević, which led to her firing, Kovačević stated that this was not the case and that the EBU has no jurisdiction over national selections.
“The EBU didn’t have any objections to our contest, because they broadcast the final of Pesma za Evroviziju ’25 on their official YouTube channel.”
Serbia confirmed its participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 shortly after this year’s contest. It is unknown if Pesma za Evroviziju ’26 will select the Serbian representative for Austria.
Princ represented Serbia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 with the song “Mila”. He placed 14th in the second semi-final and scored 28 points, of which 12 came from the Montenegrin audience. This was the first time since 2017 that Serbia failed to qualify for the final.
Image source: Filip Krainčanić/Nova.rs | Source: N1
Serbia has competed as an independent nation in the Eurovision Song Contest since 2007, and has seen great success in the competition. Their first entry in 2007, “Molitva” by Marija Šerifović, won the contest in Helsinki with 268 points, making Serbia one of only two countries to win on their debut. Since then, Serbia finished in the top 10 a further four times, including a 3rd place finish in 2012 with “Nije ljubav stvar” by Željko Joksimović.
