Eminent Macedonian and Yugoslav singers such as Slave Dimitrov, Zafir Hadzimanov and Nina Spirova performed at Skopje Fest in that period.
Ever since, Skopje Fest has been shadowed by many controversial debates regarding the strategies behind the song selections and the lack of transparence concerning the winner.
After the decision to make Skopje Fest the national Macedonian selection round, the traditional point award ceremony was eliminated and replaced by the controversial announcement of only the top three places.
In 2011, it was announced that Skopje Fest would continue being held as an independent event without being involved in the Macedonian selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012.
[1] It was used again as the Macedonian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, being dropped since then in favor of internal selections.