Molitva was the debut entry for Serbia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki performed by Marija Šerifović. An English version was also released entitled "Destiny". Marija was accompanied on stage by a 5-member girl group known as the Beauty Queens.
At the contest, the song easily qualified from the semi-final in first place with 298 points, 74 points more than its nearest rival. In the final, Serbia performed 17th on the night following Germany and preceding Ukraine. At the close of voting, it was declared the winner with 268 points giving Serbia its first victory as an independent state since breaking off from Montenegro a year earlier.
"Molitva" was also the first non-English winning song since Diva in 1998, as well as the first ballad to win in the 100% televoting era. It would be another decade until a non-English song won again.
In 2020, Marija performed it in the empty streets of Belgrade as part of the Europe Shine a Light special.
Lyrics[]
Ni oka da sklopim
Postelja prazna tera san
A život se topi
I nestaje brzo, k'o dlanom o dlan
K'o razum da gubim
Jer stvarnost i ne primećujem
Još uvek te ljubim
Još uvek ti slepo verujem
K'o luda, ne znam kuda
Ljubavi se nove bojim
A dane, žive rane
Više ne brojim
Molitva, kao žar na mojim usnama je
Molitva, mesto reči samo ime tvoje
Nebo zna, kao ja
Koliko puta sam ponovila
To nebo zna, baš kao ja
Da je ime tvoje moja jedina molitva
Al Bogu ne mogu lagati
Sve dok se molim
A lažem ako kažem
Da te ne volim
Molitva, kao žar na mojim usnama je
Molitva, mesto reči samo ime tvoje
Nebo zna, baš kao ja
Koliko puta sam ponovila
To nebo zna, baš kao ja
Da je ime tvoje moja molitva
(Molitva, molitva)
I nebo zna, baš kao ja
Koliko puta sam ponovila
To nebo zna, baš kao ja
Da je ime tvoje moja jedina molitva
Da je ime tvoje moja molitva
I can't close my eyes
The empty bed chases sleep away
And my life is melting away
And it's disappearing quickly, in a split second
It seems I'm losing my mind
As I don't even notice reality
I still love you
I still trust you blindly
Like crazy, I don't know where to go
I'm afraid of a new love
And the days are like open wounds
I don't count them anymore
Prayer, like ardour on my lips
Prayer, just your name, instead of words
Heaven knows, just as I do
How many times I've repeated this
Heaven knows, just as I do
That your name is my only prayer
But I can't lie to God
As long as I pray
And I'd be lying if I said
That I don't love you
Prayer, like ardour on my lips
Prayer, just your name, instead of words
Heaven knows, just as I do
How many times I've repeated this
Heaven knows, just as I do
That your name is my prayer
(Prayer, prayer)
Heaven knows, just as I do
How many times I've repeated this
Heaven knows, just as I do
That your name is my only prayer
That your name is my only prayer
Trivia[]
- The English version, "Destiny", was co-written by Jovan Radomir. He co-hosted the 2016 semifinal allocation draw in Stockholm with Alexandra Pascalidou as well as many of the press conferences during the contest. Radomir also moderated the press conferences during the 2024 contest in Malmö.
- One of only 54 songs to make every single ESC Top 250 since its inception in 2008.
Videos[]
Marija Šerifović - Molitva
Marija Šerifović - Molitva (Serbia) 2007 Eurovision Song Contest