The Republic of North Macedonia, present in the contest as the „former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia“ („FYR Macedonia“), participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. It was represented by the song „Nešto što kje ostane“ by the group Next Time. It earned tenth place in the first semi-final, failing to proceed to the final round.
Possible withdrawal
A possible withdrawal of Macedonia from the 2009 contest was rumoured, due to financial difficulties within MKRTV which could have ended in bankruptcy or liquidation of the company. As such, there would have been no Macedonian broadcaster within the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the contest’s organisers, and so a withdrawal of Macedonia from the contest would have been inevitable.
Despite this, MKRTV confirmed Macedonia’s participation at the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia, officially revealing that they were looking for a new selection method for the country for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. Weekly debate programs were held by MKRTV on television, which were used as a platform for discussion between MKRTV and the Macedonian public on how the selection process for the Macedonian entry can be fair and successful.
Skopje Fest 2009
Skopje Fest 2009 was a song contest organized by MRT that served as Macedonia’s national final to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. The competition consisted of three shows held between 19 and 21 February 2009, all taking place at the Universal Hall in Skopje, hosted by Zoran Ljutkov and Biljana Gjorgjiovska and were broadcast on MTV 1, MTV Sat and via radio on Macedonian Radio.
Format
Thirty-two entries in total competed in Skopje Fest 2009, which consisted of two semi-finals on 19 and 20 February 2009 and a final on 21 February 2009. Sixteen entries competed in each semi-final with the top eight qualifying to the final from each semi-final. In the final, the winner was selected from the remaining sixteen competing entries. The results of the semi-finals and the final were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from an expert jury panel and public televoting.
Competing entries
A submission period was opened for interested artists and composers to submit their entries between 26 November 2008 and 25 December 2008.[6][7] MKRTV received 142 submissions at the closing of the deadline. Thirty-two entries were selected by a selection committee consisting of Gordana Andrashevska, Ljupčo Mirkovski, Meri Popova, Radica Mitić, Ariton Krliu and Danail Darkovski. The competing artists and songs were announced on 6 January 2009 and 15 January 2009 respectively.
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
| Aleksandar Belov | „Zastani, solzi izbriši“ (Застани, солзи избриши) | Grigor Koprov |
| Amir Ibraimovski | „Otvori go srceto“ (Отвори го срцето) | Jovan Vasilevski |
| Ana Simonovska | „Dobar kraj“ (Добар краj) | Ana Simonovska |
| Andrijana Janevska | „Drvo bez koren“ (Дрво без корен) | Andrijana Janevska |
| Bravo Band | „Devojko“ (Девоjко) | Simon Trpčeski |
| Daniel | „Sila na ljubovta“ (Сила на љубовта) | Aleksandar Masevski |
| Dejan Trifunovski | „Ljubovta doagja“ (Љубовта доаѓа) | Lazar Cvetkovski |
| Dimitar Andonovski | „Me pronajde ti“ (Ме пронаjде ти) | Hari Kotlarovski |
| Emilija Gievska | „Patuvam niz vremeto“ (Патувам низ времето) | Zoran Ilievski |
| Filip Jordanovski | „Volšebnik“ (Волшебник) | Blaže Temelkov |
| Jane Dulimaglovski | „Gledaš, ne sum sam“ (Гледаш, не сум сам) | Vladimir Dojčinovski |
| Jasmina Dimitrovska | „Na moe mesto“ (На мое место) | Bojan Gjoševski |
| Kostadin Papa | „Za nea postojam“ (За неа постоjам) | Kostadin Papa |
| Kristijan Jovanov | „Nema da zboram“ (Нема да зборам) | Vančo Dimitrov |
| Lili | „Za kraj“ (За краj) | Davor Jordanovski |
| Nade Talevska | „Dali misliš na nas“ (Дали мислиш на нас) | Goce Simonovski |
| Naum Petreski and Kaliopi | „Rum Dum Dum (Zbogum)“ (Рум Дум Дум (Збогум)) | Kire Kostov |
| Next Time | „Nešto što kje ostane“ (Нешто што ќе остане) | Damjan Lazarov, Jovan Jovanov, Elvir Mekić |
| Pampersi | „Zboguvanje“ (Збогување) | Daniel Mitrevski |
| Patnici and Dijana Trajkoski | „Nasmej se“ (Насмеj се) | Zdravka Mirčevska |
| Proekt Makedonija | „Pomalku naivno“ (Помалку наивно) | Nikola Perevski, Vladimir Krstevski |
| Risto Samardžiev and Zoran Džorlev | „103 beli lebedi“ (103 бели лебеди) | Grigor Koprov |
| Rok Agresori | „Ding Dong“ (Динг Донг) | Zoran Trpkov |
| Sleng | „Gengsta oro“ (Генгста оро) | Daniel Joveski |
| Stefan Cvetkovski | „Zemi se“ (Земи се) | Ljupčo Trajkovski |
| Treta dimenzija | „Isto što i ti“ (Исто што и ти) | Duško Temelkovski |
| Venera | „Povtorno ljubena“ (Повторно љубена) | Stevče Grozdanov |
| Verica Pandilovska | „Severno od mene, južno od tebe“ (Северно од мене, jужно од тебе) | Kaliopi Bukle |
| Vlatko Ilievski | „Najbogat na svet“ (Наjбогат на свет) | Vladimir Dojčinovski, Vesna Malinova |
| Vlatko Lozanoski | „Blisku do mene“ (Блиску до мене) | Lazar Cvetkovski, Darko Dimitrov |
| Vodolija | „Mojot TV“ (Моjот ТВ) | Risto Apostolov |
| Žarmena | „Igra so nas“ (Игра со нас) | Dimče Kitrozoski |
Semi-finals
Two semi-finals took place on 19 and 20 February 2009. Sixteen entries competed in each semi-final and the top eight entries qualified to the final by a 50/50 combination of public televoting and a jury panel.
Semi-final 1 – 19 February 2009
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place |
| 1 | Kostadin Papa | „Za nea postojam“ | 0 | 8 | 8 | 6 |
| 2 | Ana Simonovska | „Dobar kraj“ | 4 | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| 3 | Andrijana Janevska | „Drvo bez koren“ | 8 | 0 | 8 | 6 |
| 4 | Treta dimenzija | „Isto što i ti“ | 0 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
| 5 | Vodolija | „Mojot TV“ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| 6 | Verica Pandilovska | „Severno od mene, južno od tebe“ | 6 | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| 7 | Dimitar Andonovski | „Me pronajde ti“ | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 8 | Risto Samardžiev and Zoran Džorlev | „103 beli lebedi“ | 12 | 7 | 19 | 2 |
| 9 | Lili | „Za kraj“ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 10 | Žarmena | „Igra so nas“ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 11 | Sleng | „Gengsta oro“ | 5 | 10 | 15 | 3 |
| 12 | Emilija Gievska | „Patuvam niz vremeto“ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 13 | Proekt Makedonija | „Pomalku naivno“ | 7 | 5 | 12 | 4 |
| 14 | Daniel | „Sila na ljubovta“ | 3 | 6 | 9 | 5 |
| 15 | Next Time | „Nešto što kje ostane“ | 10 | 12 | 22 | 1 |
| 16 | Jane Dulimaglovski | „Gledaš, ne sum sam“ | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
Semi-final 2 – 20 February 2009
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place |
| 1 | Dejan Trifunovski | „Ljubovta doagja“ | 0 | 5 | 5 | 8 |
| 2 | Stefan Cvetkovski | „Zemi se“ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| 3 | Jasmina Dimitrovska | „Na moe mesto“ | 2 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| 4 | Filip Jordanovski | „Volšebnik“ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 5 | Vlatko Ilievski | „Najbogat na svet“ | 7 | 6 | 13 | 5 |
| 6 | Venera | „Povtorno ljubena“ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 7 | Patnici and Dijana Trajkoski | „Nasmej se“ | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| 8 | Aleksandar Belov | „Zastani, solzi izbriši“ | 5 | 10 | 15 | 3 |
| 9 | Naum Petreski and Kaliopi | „Rum Dum Dum (Zbogum)“ | 12 | 12 | 24 | 1 |
| 10 | Amir Ibraimovski | „Otvori go srceto“ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| 11 | Bravo Band | „Devojko“ | 8 | 7 | 15 | 4 |
| 12 | Vlatko Lozanoski | „Blisku do mene“ | 10 | 8 | 18 | 2 |
| 13 | Pampersi | „Zboguvanje“ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 14 | Rok Agresori | „Ding Dong“ | 3 | 4 | 7 | 7 |
| 15 | Nade Talevska | „Dali misliš na nas“ | 4 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| 16 | Kristijan Jovanov | „Nema da zboram“ | 6 | 3 | 9 | 6 |
Final
The final took place on 21 February 2009. Sixteen entries competed and a 50/50 combination of public televoting and a jury panel selected „Nešto što kje ostane“ performed by Next Time as the winner.
Final – 21 February 2009
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Televote Points | Total | Place |
| 1 | Vlatko Ilievski | „Najbogat na svet“ | 4 | 1,608 | 4 | 8 | 6 |
| 2 | Dejan Trifunovski | „Ljubovta doaga“ | 0 | 537 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 3 | Risto Samardžiev and Zoran Džorlev | „103 beli lebedi“ | 10 | 3,151 | 7 | 17 | 3 |
| 4 | Bravo Band | „Devojko“ | 0 | 1,011 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 5 | Aleksandar Belov | „Zastani, solzi izbriši“ | 1 | 2,595 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 6 | Next Time | „Nešto što kje ostane“ | 7 | 4,176 | 12 | 19 | 1 |
| 7 | Rok Agresori | „Ding Dong“ | 0 | 985 | 2 | 2 | 11 |
| 8 | Verica Pandilovska | „Severno od mene, južno od tebe“ | 0 | 108 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 9 | Daniel | „Sila na ljubovta“ | 5 | 528 | 0 | 5 | 9 |
| 10 | Proekt Makedonija | „Pomalku naivno“ | 0 | 972 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| 11 | Naum Petreski and Kaliopi | „Rum Dum Dum (Zbogum)“ | 12 | 3,055 | 6 | 18 | 2 |
| 12 | Kostadin Papa | „Za nea postojam“ | 0 | 738 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 13 | Vlatko Lozanoski | „Blisku do mene“ | 8 | 3,402 | 8 | 16 | 4 |
| 14 | Andrijana Janevska | „Drvo bez koren“ | 6 | 218 | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| 15 | Sleng | „Gengsta oro“ | 3 | 4,168 | 10 | 13 | 5 |
| 16 | Kristijan Jovanov | „Nema da zboram“ | 2 | 621 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
Facts and Figures
- Nade Talevska was a backing singer for Macedonia in ESC 2008.
- Next Time came 10th in the 1st ESC Semi-Final.
- Kaliopi represented Macedonia in the Pre-Selection for ESC 1996.