Bosnia & Herzegovina returns in Eurovision 2016

BHRT, the Bosnian national broadcaster has confirmed today that Bosnia & Herzegovina will compete at the forthcoming 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm next May.

Bosnia & Herzegovina is the 42nd country to confirm its participation at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest.

The announcement was made in a brief press release:

Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT) is today, within the deadline for withdrawal without financial consequences, EBU (European Broadcasting Union) has confirmed participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, which will be held in Stockholm, Sweden.

In line with previous decisions of the Board, partners in the project Eurovision BHRT are provided funds for the payment of the registration fee for participation in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016 and guarantees a sponsor to cover the total financial cost of the project.

This means that BiH returning to this prestigious competition and we again get the opportunity to introduce the widest European audience potential of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This brings an end to the country’s three year break from the contest. We last saw them in 2012, when Maya Sar sang “Korake Ti Znam”.

Bosnia and Herzegovina debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993 after coming second in the qualification round “Kvalifikacija za Millstreet”.

Prior to 1993, Bosnia and Herzegovina participated in the Eurovision Song Contest as part of Yugoslavia.

Low average scores meant Bosnia and Herzegovina did not qualify for the contests in 1998 and 2000, and the country did not participate at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö for financial reasons. The national broadcaster had stated that it hoped to return to the contest in 2014, and on 18 November 2013 it submitted a preliminary application to compete in the 2014 contest, but on 18 December 2013 it was revealed that Bosnia & Herzegovina would not be returning for 2014.

On 9 September 2014, BHRT announced that they had submitted an application to the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria, marking their return to the contest after a two-year absence. On 30 October 2014, it was announced by an official BHRT press release that participation was still in jeopardy due to the financial difficulties. EBU granted them a deadline extension until 14 November 2014 to make a final decision regarding their participation. On 17 November 2014, BHRT announced that they would not be competing in the 2015 Contest, having not secured the necessary funds to finance their participation.

Bosnia and Herzegovina qualified for all finals from 2004 and 2012. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s best result was in 2006, when Hari Mata Hari came 3rd with the song “Lejla” (second in the semi-final).