Performing during the show in position 6, "Goodbye (Shelter)" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 14 May.

After returning to the Eurovision Song Contest following their one-year withdrawal in 2014, Serbia's 2015 entry "Beauty Never Lies" performed by Bojana Stamenov qualified to the final and placed tenth.

The winning entry, "Ljubav je svuda" performed by Moje 3, failed to qualify Serbia to the final at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest.

The name of the artist to represent Serbia, Sanja Vučić, the lead singer of the group ZAA, was confirmed by RTS on 5 March 2016 after media leaks.

[6] In regards to the selected artist, Dragan Ilić, the Head of Serbia's Eurovision Song Contest delegation stated: "This year we decided to introduce a completely new face.

[7] "Goodbye (Shelter)" was presented in a show titled Pesma Srbije za Evropu (Serbia's Song for Europe) which took place on 12 March 2016, hosted by Slobodan Šarenac, Vladimir Jelić, Dejan Pantelić and Milan Popović.

[11] On 9 April, Vučić performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Hera Björk.

[14] In addition to her international appearances, Sanja Vučić also completed promotion within Serbia in the lead up to the Eurovision Song Contest.

On 15 April, she attended and performed "Goodbye (Shelter)" at the karaoke competition Cityvizija 2016, which was organised by OGAE Serbia and the Belgrade shopping centre Delta City, where the event took place.

[15] On 20 April, Vučić was a guest performer during the RTS Sat programme Srbija na vezi—a show aimed at the Serbian diaspora.

[16] On 26 April, Vučić appeared in and performed during a special Eurovision themed edition of the RTV Pink programme Ami G Show.

[17] RTS held a press conference on 27 April where the Serbian delegation that would be travelling to Stockholm was presented, which also featured performances by Sanja Vučić.

[28][29] The choreography and staging of the performance interpreted the song's abuse of women in domestic violence message with Vučić and the backing vocalists trying to escape from the male dancer.

The stage lighting and background LED screens predominately displayed red colours and patterns with images of female faces.

[30] The four backing vocalists that joined Sanja Vučić on stage were: Lena Kuzmanović, Jelena Đurić, Iva Pletikosić and Dunja Vujadinović.

Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency.

This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.