One of their biggest hopes for international success is a band called PERPER from Cetinje, which has become well-known also outside Montenegro. The blending of the universal and personal, the traditional and the domestic, makes PERPER one of the most promising Montenegrin bands of today. The literary critic and author Pavle Goranović said during the presentation of their new album “Tragovi” (“traces”) that “their latest work brought together the 12 year-old band’s most mature lyrics... There are 12 completely new pieces on this album that respond to the world and get into dialogue with it. PERPER offer melancholy and irony, bitter and sweet, images of unadorned reality, human relations and love”.
Moreover, this year’s Eurovision Song Contest could open doors for a new pop highlight of the region. Her name is Andrea Demirović, and she has every right to hope for a high ranking place in the contest. Her style resembles the best of European pop music.
Other Montenegrin hopes include Milena Lu?ić, who has become increasingly popular with the Montenegrin audience, and a new promising DJ BeGood, who is a rising star in the regions' clubbing scene.
Over the past few years, Montenegro has become an increasingly popular destination for international music stars. In 2007, the Pjesma mediterana, a summer pop festival of Budva hosted the Rolling Stones, and last year Madonna sang at the Jaz beach near Budva. The BBC declared the Rolling Stones’ concert in Budva on 9 July 2007 the best concert of their entire “A Bigger bang” tour. Parts of the concert were aired on the BBC website. After the concert, big international production companies became interested in organising gigs in Budva for their artists.
In 2009, fans in Montenegro will most likely get an opportunity to go to Budva and see either Depeche Mode or Tina Turner. This has been announced by the organisers of the festival, who have understood the potential of the recent tourist boom on the Montenegrin coast.
Montenegro is home to an ongoing rivalry between the summer music festivals in Budva and in Herceg Novi.
The Budva festival, entitled “The Song of the Mediterranean", has become one of the major competitions in Montenegro and has, among others, launched the career of the young Ivan Čanović, who triumphed last year with his song "Tebi pjevam Budvo" (“I sing to you, Budva”).
The "Sunčane skale" l festival in Herceg Novi invites singers also from outside Southeast Europe to take part in their competition. Last year's festival winner Aleksandra Bucevac was an American of Montenegrin origin.
The future of the music scene in Montenegro looks bright. Foreign corporations are starting to show serious interest in investing in it. These new investments would certainly attract more foreign visitors to the country.
