An XXL impression: Celebrating North Macedonia's Eurovision 2000 entry

Photo courtesy of Alamy

Today is North Macedonia's Republic Day, which is one of the Balkan country's national days. August 2 is the date the Socialist Republic of Macedonia announced statehood in 1944, and saw the proclamation of the Kruševo Republic in 1903 during the Ilinden Uprising in 1903.

To commemorate the occasion we have decided to look at a North Macedonian Eurovision entry that also left an XXL impression on the country's psyche, just like these two historical events on August 2.

North Macedonia last competed at Eurovision in 2022 with Andrea's Circles. Before that the Balkan country was seen as a Eurovision minnow, barely troubling the top end of the scoreboard. Tamra Todevska gave the country its best result in 2019, coming seventh with Proud.

In fact North Macedonia is arguably one of the unluckiest countries in Eurovision - with many unfortunate moments in the nation's history in the contest.

However, there was one rare occasion when North Macedonia was viewed as a genuine contender going into Eurovision, a quarter of a century ago.

Enter the girlband XXL in 2000.

The band members and 100% Te Ljubam

XXL was made up of four North Macedonian teenage girls: Marija Nikolova, Ivona Džamtovska, Rosica Nikolovska and Verica Karanfilovska.

They formed especially for Skopje Fest 2000, North Macedonia's Eurovision national final.

At the contest, the quartet performed the song 100% Te Ljubam (I Love You 100% in English).

100% Te Ljubam is a pop song, with Balkan instrumental influences.

The subject matter of the song is a teenage girl singing about her infatuation with a boy as elucidated through the lines " I have no intention of losing hope ... I'll tell you again that I'm persistent". She uses the simile "he's as sweet as chocolate" to describe his personality, and urges him "to cut [her] photo from a magazine and frame it" next to his bed.

Skopje Fest 2000

XXL was up against stiff competition in Skopje Fest 2000.

Also competing was Karolina Gočeva who has been described as a "Macedonian pop princess," and Toše Proeski who was later called the "Elvis Presley of the Balkans" by BBC News.

22 entries competed for the right to represent North Macedonia at Eurovision 2000, with the XXL girls on 10th in the running order.

Despite the competitive field, XXL won in a landslide receiving 1768 points. In contrast Karolina who finished runners-up received 916 points, and Toše who placed third received 395 points.

This was in part due to the peculiar voting system. A 21 member jury each allocated 100 points to their favourite song. Audience members in the venue each received one point to award. There was also a televote where the winner received 200 points, the runners-up 180 points, and so on.

Thirteen jurors awarded points to XXL: 1300 in total, basically an unassailable lead. The girls received 288 points from the audience, but only 180 points from the televote which Toše won.

There was a mixed reaction in the Skopje Fest 2000 venue when XXL were announced as the winner, with audible boos heard on the broadcast amongst the cheers.

Nevertheless XXL were the chosen act to represent North Macedonia at Eurovision 2000 in Stockholm. Karolina would eventually represent her country at the contest in 2002 and 2007. Toše sang for North Macedonia at Eurovision in 2004.

Eurovision 2000

XXL were North Macedonia's second entry at Eurovision, and a stark contrast to the first.

In 1998 a middle-aged Vlado Janevski debuted for the Balkan country, singing the traditional ballad Ne zori, zoro.

Four fresh-faced females singing a pop song was a sharp turnaround for North Macedonia, with the Eurovision fandom responding positively.

In an internet poll before the contest, XXL received the most votes out of all the Eurovision 2000 entrants.

The group was also regarded well by the bookmakers and the media, with some commentators noting the similarities between XXL and the Spice Girls.

Whilst there was plenty of momentum for XXL going into the contest, things didn't go to plan on the night of the contest.

Performing 19th out of 24 contestants XXL certainly looked striking, dressed in different pastel colours in coordinated outfits.

However when the girls sang, the notes they emitted were flatter than the surface of North Macedonia's famous Lake Ohrid.

Some commentators noted that XXL delivered potentially the worst vocal performance at Eurovision ever.

Eurovision historian John Kennedy O'Connor in his book The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History argued an overemphasis on looks and choreography contributed to off-key singing.

Other Eurovision commentators have suggested different reasons for the girls' poor vocals including: the sound system not working during the performance, the North Macedonian broadcaster not providing enough funds to support the girls' preparation for the contest, as well as the youth and inexperience of the band.

This author also thinks the pressure of living up to the pre-contest hype and performing after host nation Sweden, likely affected XXL too.

In the end XXL finished in 15th place with 29 points, gaining marks from only four countries. It was not enough to save North Macedonia from relegation, meaning they had the added indignity of making their country miss Eurovision 2001.

After Eurovision

In the early 2000s XXL would release several more singles including Zaboravi and Srekna Nova. However since then the band has largely disappeared from western media.

The girls are women today. Little can be found about them on public domains, but their social media accounts reveal that some are happily partnered, have children and are pursuing careers in other fields.

100% Te Ljubam achieved almost a cult classic status in North Macedonia, with many Macedonian millennials familiar with the lyrics of the song and the infamous Eurovision performance.

Irina Tosheva who created the band's iconic Eurovision outfits last year re-designed the costumes for an XXL tribute act.

XXL helped showcase that North Macedonia was culturally not a forgotten backwater of old Yugoslavia, but instead a place where talented composers and performers who could produce modern pop music with a Balkan twist.

The girls' youthful and energetic 2000 performance marked the start of many young North Macedonians proudly representing their country at Eurovision.

Regardless of how you feel about their Eurovision entry, there is no doubt that XXL have left an extra extra large impression on the contest and their country.

We wish the band members of XXL and all our North Macedonian readers and followers a happy Republic Day.

Have further insight into XXL that you would like to share with us? Let us know in the comments on our Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Threads accounts. Links can be found at: https://linktr.ee/aussievisionnet