A row over Serbia-Montenegro's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest has soured relations between the two republics as Montenegro bids for independence from Belgrade.
Serb media has made the dispute top news alongside the death of former president Slobodan Milosevic, even calling it the musical equivalent of the vicious 1990 Dinamo Zagreb-Red Star Belgrade football match that presaged war between Croatia and Serbia.
In a "sing-off" in Belgrade, the mostly Serb crowd and Serb judges were infuriated by perceived partisan voting by the Montenegrins, whose band No Name won the contest and the right to represent the federation in the main competition.
The audience erupted in fury when the band tried to perform a reprise of their winning song, and they had to be escorted from the theatre by guards after a mob gathered outside and threatened to beat them up.
The row prompted Serbia-Montenegro to withdraw from the finals in Athens on May 20th - the day before Montenegro holds a vote on independence, amid widespread feeling there that Serbia is hindering its ambition to join the European Union. Montenegro's large Serb minority deeply oppose a split, however.
"Something very unpleasant happened," said Aleksandar Tijanic, head of Serbian state television.
"If we can't sing in harmony, it's better that we don't appear in Europe." Serbs lambasted the Montenegrins for turning the vote into a "swindle", while the Montenegrins called the Serbs bullies who were unable to lose with dignity. The liberal Serb daily newspaper Danas recalled the infamous Dinamo-Red Star football match that ended in riots that were a prelude to the break-up of Yugoslavia.
"In the Balkans every competition, even dominoes or checkers, is so much more than just a game. It's a matter of national pride, even life and death," the newspaper said.
The Montenegro vote has even more resonance for Serbs, coming during Kosovo's bid for independence from Belgrade and as nationalists try to make political capital from the death of their hero, Milosevic.
But Mr Tijanic and his counterpart at Montenegrin television, Velibor Covic, said politicians should note that the dispute was peacefully resolved, despite neither side being happy with the outcome.