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Eurovision victory Serbia's Marija Serifovic

Serbia's Marija Serifovic won the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, beating competitors from 23 other countries in a three-hour televised mishmash of power ballads, ethnic rhythms, and bubble-gum pop, told Reuters.

Serifovic, 22, scored 268 points from telephone voters in 42 countries with her potent but simply staged ballad "Molitva", or "Prayer".

"I honestly think that a new chapter has opened for Serbia and not only in music. I'm proud", Serifovic told a news conference after the contest, broadcast live across Europe to an estimated 100 million viewers.

Serbia spent the 1990s embroiled in Balkan wars and largely isolated internationally under Slobodan Milosevic, and its transition to democracy has been marked by failed elections and political assassinations.

It was Serbia's first solo appearance in the contest, held this year in the Finnish capital Helsinki after monster-masked rockers Lordi secured Finland's first win last year.

The contest is a live showcase for pop music talent selected by each nation in preliminary rounds.

An elegant black-tie event throughout the 1950s, the flagship of the European Broadcasting Union's light entertainment programming is now widely derided in Western Europe for often trite and lightweight performances.