Serbia and Montenegro are to drop from this year's Eurovision Song Contest after it failed to resolve a row over who won its competition to find a song.

The dispute broke out last Saturday, at the end of the live show on television, which voted the country's Eurovision song.

Montenegrin boy band No Name had just won the vote. But when they came out to perform their winning song, the mainly Serb audience in the Sava Hall in Belgrade greeted them with boos and catcalls.

In the face of apparent hostility, the group left the stage. After a short, confused lull, the Serbian runners-up - a group called Flamingos - appeared to cheers from the crowd to perform their song.

In the aftermath of the show, the members of No Name had to be escorted out of the concert hall by security officers.

Local newspapers said the scandal proved that the loose union between Serbia and Montenegro has not only failed to work politically or economically, but cannot even function musically.

Mariana Popova will head for Athens to perform for Bulgaria. The official site of Eutovision 2006 says Jennifer Lopez should keep a close eye on her husband, as Popova's dream is having dinner with Marc Anthony.