'New' Serbia makes a triumphant debut on Eurovision stage

Serbia rejoiced yesterday after Marija Serifovic won the Eurovision song contest by a landslide in Helsinki.

The award came as a rare boost to a nation whose pride has been severely dented by lost wars, political instability and biting economic hardship.

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Serifovic's emotional ballad "Molitva" (Prayer) also marked Serbia's first entry into the contest as an independent nation, having split only last year from its neighbour Montenegro.

Intriguingly, her victory came on the back of votes from Serbia's old arch-enemies in the former Yugoslavia, leading some to predict the start of a new and more co-operative era. Among the countries that gave Serbia its highest scores were the former Yugoslav republics of Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovenia.

The chubby, boyish-looking Serifovic, 22, clearly tapped a chord in the region and beyond with her song of unhappy love, winning the hearts of more than 100 million voters.

"I wanted people to concentrate on my voice and performance," Serifovic said after the contest. She refrained from any choreography and remained loyal to her controversial style - glasses, black suit, loose white shirt and white training shoes.

Belgrade exploded with joy the moment her victory was proclaimed, with thousands taking to the streets, honking car horns and waving the Serbian flag in the capital's central Republic Square until dawn.

Such outpourings are typical when the country's basketball or water polo teams are victorious. But this was different, for it was the first time the proverbially macho Serbs had done the same honours for a young female singer - let alone one with Serifovic's unusual fashion sense.

President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and the heir to the throne, Prince Alexander, all congratulated her. Even the European Union's enlargement commissioner, Olli Rehn, said: "This was a European vote for a European Serbia."

Serifovic did not shirk from a few not-so-veiled political remarks of her own. "I honestly think that a new chapter has opened in Serbia and not only in music," she said. "This victory is for the new Serbia."

She spoke as the country's years-long battle between pro and anti-European forces entered a new stage, just after parliament had elected a controversial ultranationalist, Tomislav Nikolic, as its speaker - a move that drew condemnation from Brussels and awoke fears of a return to war-time levels of ethnic and regional tensions. The contest took place as parliament opened a debate on Nikolic's removal.

Her clenched fist victory salute was widely seen as a show of defiance by the forces in Serbia that stand in direct opposition to the ultranationalists and their policy of isolation and hostility to all minorities.

Serbia's tabloid newspapers had sent her up relentlessly, writing maliciously about her parents' divorce, her "non-feminine" looks and presumed "different" sexual preferences.

Certainly, she does not look like the typical Serbian pop star: they usually pump their lips, are proud of their breast implants, wear layers of make-up and jewellry and sing about handsome warrior boyfriends.

Their idol is Ceca, the widow of the Serb warlord, Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan, who perished in a hail of bullets in Belgrade in January 2000.

What Ceca and her lookalikes make of Serifovic can only be imagined.

The winners ... and the UK

1. Serbia: Marija Serifovic - "Molitva" (268 points)

2. Ukraine: Verka Serduchka - "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" (235)

3. Russia: Serebro - "Song No. 1" (207)

4. Turkey: Kenan Dogulu - "Shake It Up, Shekerim" (163)

5. Bulgaria: Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov - "Water" (157)

23. UK: Scooch - "Flying the Flag (For You)" (19)