Macedonia was represented at the qualifying round for the Eurovision Song Contest 1996, with the song "", written and performed by Kaliopi. The Macedonian participating broadcaster, Macedonian Radio Television (MRT), selected its entry through Skopje Fest 1996. The entry, which would have been the first-ever entry from independent Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest, failed to make it through the pre-selection round.
Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) held the national final on 3 March 1996 at the Theatre in Skopje, hosted by Biljana Debarlieva and Borce Nikolovski. The winner was chosen by a combination of votes from an expert jury, radio stations across Macedonia, and the audience in the hall.
In 1996, for the only time in Eurovision history, an audio-only qualifying round (from which hosts were exempt) was held on 20 March as 29 countries wished to participate in the final but the European Broadcasting Union had set a limit of 22 (plus Norway). The countries occupying the bottom seven places after the pre-qualifier would be unable to take part in the main contest. Kaliopi was not among those to qualify, placing joint 26th with 14 points and eliminating Macedonia from the contest.
Macedonia would eventually debut two years later, in 1998.