In a mismatched and contentious national final, Serbia selected Princ’s song “Mila.” Princ will be performing 15th in the second semifinal. 

We recognized Princ’s name immediately because we saw him perform in Serbia’s national contest, Pesma za Evroviziju, in 2023. He came in second place that year, with the song “Cvet Sa Istoka” – which stuck in our heads because it eerily resembles “Lion of Love” from the iconic Eurovision Movie. Ultimately of course, Princ could not beat the incredible Luke Black, whose song “Samo Mi Se Spava” represented Serbia in 2023. 

This year’s PZE was overshadowed by the turbulent political situation in Serbia with months of ongoing student protests. This caused a number of presenters, jury members, and interval acts to drop out before the final. It seems that it was much harder for participants to withdraw fully. When it came to the final, Princ’s “Mila” came out on top. Even though it did not win either the popular vote or the jury vote, it still had the highest combined score narrowly beating out the drag queen group, Harem Girls, with their song “Aladin.”

Back to Princ’s song “Mila.” It is a classic ballad, with romantic and melancholic lyrics. He starts out by implying he is about to die, but he hopes his love will hear the music he makes from her name. But then the words turn into a plea, saying “There are many reasons for you / To love another / But I really want to keep you.”  

C did not start diving into the lyrics until the song was released in French. (We don’t know why he did it in French, but it is a trendy language this year.) That was when she realized he’s not proclaiming love – he’s whining about a woman who left him. And, since we don’t know Serbian, we really don’t know if this is a “When I Was Your Man” vibe, or more of a “Flowers” vibe. (If you know, you know.)   

On the other hand, U couldn’t care less about the lyrics. It’s a pretty average ballad with pretty average staging. The chorus is a blast to sing along to, and it gets stuck in your head before the song is even over. It’s dramatic in an enjoyable way that is both fun and easy to make fun of. If the rest of the song were half as catchy and enjoyable as belting “miiiilaaaa~” then we would probably have liked it more. 

In terms of staging, this entry features not one, but two performers who hang from the ceiling. Shout out for including an aerial fabric routine, but it doesn’t save the live performance from feeling a bit disjointed and underwhelming. Still, the live performance is somehow significantly better than its music video – the UC Certified™️ worst official music video of the season.

While definitely not one of our favorite songs and we do not have huge expectations for the final staging, we will continue to enjoy singing “miiiilaaaa~” right up to the second semifinal.