Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

The national broadcasting network in Bosnia & Herzegovina is close to collapse, states EBU in a statement that you can read here . This network includes BHRT, that has been responsable for the country's Eurovision song contest participations. In this light it's very unlikely we will see Bosnia & Herzegovina in Sweden 2016. Shame.  The country has been last seen on Eurovision stage back in 2012, when Maya Sar placed 18th. They debuted back in 1993 with the legendary voting call from the war zone and we finally heard "This is Sarajevo calling" to a spontaneous applause in the arena. They also survived every semifinal and were always present in the final scoring six top-10 places and 3rd at best, with Hari Mata Hari's Lejla in 2006. After a shaky start they gave us some great entries the lst few years. You can check them all below...

Namely writing the song for Knez who has been announced the Montenegrin artist already last year. When he was asked to write the song for him Zeljko told it was an offer too good to turn down and so he returns to Eurovision for the 5th time as a composer or a singer. On top of that he of course was the host in Belgrad 2008 Eurovision. And we must remember he has scored on silver, wo bronzes and one sixth place with his entries. So I'm sure he feels no pressure at all to do well.... ;p Apparently this time we won't get a big Balcan ballad but something more uptempo. Let's remember Zeljko's Eurovision adventures so far: 2004 Serbia & Montenegro  - Lane moje (artist & composer) 2nd (2005 Serbia & Montenegro - Jutro (composer) - Jelena Tomasevic 2nd in national selection) 2006 Bosnia & Herzegovina - Lejla (composer) - Hari Mata Hari 3rd 2008 Serbia - Oro - (composer) - Jelena Tomasevic ft Bora Dugic 6th (2008 Eurovisison song contest host in ...

My flying reporter Robert met Zeljko Joksimovic yesterday for an interview. They talked about all his entries and his various tasks in Eurovison, the Spanish version, his fame abroad and what Eurovision means to Serbia and other Balcan countries. And will he be back again? With the first question we go back to 2004. Did the 2 nd place of Lane moje change your career and if so, how? My life changed a lot. After the 2 nd place in Istanbul Lane moje became a big hit all countries surrounding Serbia and many other countries in Europe as well. Before 2004 I had a big career in ex-Yogoslavian republic, with Eurovision it expanded of course and I had many concerts in Europe. In which countries are you popular then? In every country where my population lives. For example if I have a concert in Sweden Serbian immigrants will come with other ex-Jugoslavians, and maybe 10-15% are other, locals. And that's definately thanks to Eurovision. Why you waited eight years to come bac...

As there is Scandipop there is Big Balcan Ballad in Eurovision. This year we have two prime examples of the latter, when Slovenia tries it for the first time and Serbia, the master of the game tries it once again. But while Slovenia sends a 16-year-old debutant, who despite making a good job might still get a bit lost with the song penned by the very man who wrote the only BBB winner, 2007's Molitva , Serbia sends the very man who wrote the mother of all BBB, 2004's Lane moje , also for Serbia. And while Serbia has been a real success story in Eurovision, Slovenia has been struggling with only three top-10 finishes since 1993. This is 4-6 for Serbia for me. Slovenia - Eva Boto - Verjamem **** The song echoes Molitva , that is clear. But despite being very beautiful and with a certain hook it misses the boombastic climax that made Molitva a winner. The song goes forward but never really gets going but that's not Eva's fault, she does her best. Apparently this ...

Željko Joksimović is returning to Eurovision as the internally selected Serbian entrant. Tomorrow night his song for 2012 will be revealed in a special show. Jelena Tomašević and Hari Mata Hari who performed his songs in Eurovision will be among the special guests. He has managed to keep the song and its style a secret until now but tomorrow night we will know. Will he continue with his well proved recipe or will he try with something new? I'm sure I'm not alone to be anxious to hear it and having very high expectations.... Željko himself stated he has some unfinished business with Eurovision and has come to win and fix it for good. But can he beat the grannies? 2004 Lane moje (2nd) - author and performer for Serbia & Montenegro 2006 Lejla (3rd) - Hari Mata Hari (author) for Bosnia & Herzegovina 2008 Oro (6th) - Jelena Tomasevic (author) for Serbia 2012 - author and performer for Serbia He also co-hosted the 2008 Eurovision song contest in Bel...

Vladimir Graić revealed in an interview that the song Verjamem , that won the Slovenian national selection sung by Eva Boto was actually the song intended as the Bosnia-Herzegovina's entry and Hari Mata Hari before they changed their mind. And then we have learned the Irish entry Waterline sung by  Jedward is a Melodifestivalen reject, apparently the demo was sung by Eric Saade. (Oh the irony when last year the media tried to make a war between them but now it looks like it's 2-0 for Saade) And we also know the Danish entry  In a moment like this that took Denmark to 4th place two years ago was also a Melodifestivalen reject. One might like to point out the Swedish entry failed to make the final that year. Also, the Finnish Movetron failed to make the UMK top-40 so they sent the song to Lithuania instead - and failed to pass the semifinal there. And how many there are we don't know? What's the point with this all? Is it fair? I miss the days when the Eurovisio...

The second big surprise of the day is Zeljko Joksimovic for Serbia. He's been around Eurovision in so many ways since 2004 that one would have thought he's got it all but apparently he really wants to win it. One could also think he has no artistic life outside Eurovision but as we know, he does.  This blogger is very happy as I have really liked all his entries and Eurovision experiences so far. And they are rather impressive and varied: 2004 wrote and sung the Serbia & Montenegro's entry Lane moje (2nd) 2005 wrote Jutro for Jelena Tomacevic, 2nd in national final of Serbia 2006 wrote Lejla for Hari Mata Hari that represanted Bosnia-Herzegovina (3rd) 2008 wrote Oro for Jelena Tomasevic that represanted Serbia (6th). He also co-hosted Eurovision in  Serbia that year. 2010 he remixed the Azerbaijani entry Drip drop 2012 he will write and sing the Serbian entry. Something tells me it will be fabulous! In 2005 he also dueted with Dino Merlin, ...

October 16, 2011 marks the 4th anniversary of Tose Proeski's tragic death in a car accident. For the occasion the Serbian TV is airing a special in his honour. Tose Proeski was popular all over Balcans so there will be artists from all over to honor him: Eurovision stars Hari Mata Hari from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Toni Cetinski from Croatia, Marija Serifovic, Jelena Tomacevic and Nina from Serbia, with Aki Rahomovski, Aleksandra Radovic, Anja Rupel, Sergej Cetkovic, Antonija Sola, Bora Dugic, Sasa Kovacevic, Boris Rezak and Mari Mari will perform Tose's songs with the Great Symphony Orchetra of RTS. The two hour show will also have documentary parts of Tose's life and career.

We had rumours that Hari Mata Hari would consider an Eurovision come back earlier this year but now there seems to be more truth to it. Apparently Hari Varesanovic would perform a sing written by Vladimir Graic (writer of Molitva ) and Fahrudin Pecikoza (lyricist of the 1993, 1999 and 2006 entries). BHRT has not yet confirmed a thing but according sources the date set for the big announcement is September 15. We will see. Hari is responsable for the Bosnia-Herzegovina's best effort so far, third in 2006 with Lejla , penned by Zeljko Joksimovic. Let's see if he will do better for the country this time....

The usual rumour mill is working also this summer. David Hasselhoff , Sasja Brouwers , System of a Down , Hari Mata Hari , Kate Ryan , Charlotte Perrelli are just some names that have been rumoured to be selected internally or planning to take part in the national selections. Falete has self candidated to represant Spain if selected internally... While Hasselhoff and System of a Down have already denayed any such plans today emerges a new rumour: Spice Girls want to reunite and represant the United Kingdom and do what the Blue boys couldn't: win. Or so thinks Geri Halliwell who accidently has a new album coming out..... When they will start talking about Dima Bilan again? Let the rumours run wild!

Remember the Bosnia-Herzegovinan entry 1999 Starac i more by Hari Mata Hari that was disqualified because the song had been released by Finnish Janne Hurme as Sydänveri already in 1998? Apparently they didn't know about that - nor did Finns unless Janne Hurme fans - so one can't blame them. Anyways, it might have been a very lucky strike to them as second placed Dino was sent to Jerusalem instead with Beatrice and I putnici scoring an excellent 7th place. Hari Mata Hari got his chance, with much better song Lejla in 2006 scoring Bosnia-Herzegovina's best placing so far, 3rd. And now in 2011 Dino is coming back. Can he outdo 1999? Or Hari Mata Hari? I hope he brings something like this duet with Supermen with Zeljko Joksimovic, who wrote Lejla . But I like his other songs, too, like this . Or this . Dino's song for 2011 will be published on February 20, 2011.

The rumour of the day is Željko Joksimović would be writing the Belarussian entry 2011 and it would be sung by Irina Dorofeeva with whom he has already collaborated. If true this would be his fourth Eurovision country after Serbia & Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia. As a fan of his music I'm thrilled. As not a fan of these international collaborations I'm not. (Hooray for Bulgaria in this matter in 2011 edition!)   But it is always nice to have a recap of his Eurovision experiences: 2004 Serbia-Montenegro - Lane moje - writer, performer - 2nd place in ESC 2005 Serbia-Montenegro national final - Jutro - Jelena Tomašević - 2nd place 2006 Bosnia-Herzegovina - Lejla - Hari Mata Hari - 3rd place in ESC 2008 Serbia - Oro - Jelena Tomašević - 6th place in ESC 2008 Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade - host with Jovana Janković 2011 Belarus?

Zeljko is back with a new album titled Ljubavi and you can hear the title track and first single here . Sounds pretty fantastic as always! It's his 6th album since 1999 when self titled debut album was released. Besides that he has written many songs to other artists, soundtracks and various compilations. His songs for other artists include Cija si and Nesanika for Tose Proeski, Lane moje cover  Malah somer for Nava Medina, Lejla for Hari Mata Hari, Jutro and Oro for Jelena Tomasevic, To telos mas delos for Eleftheria Arvanitaki and Poso poso for Melina Aslanidou. We of course remember him best for Lane moje and hosting the 2008 Eurovision song contest in Belgrade.

Željko Joksimović is rumoured to have his eye on Montenegro 2009. If he wrote the song, it would be his fourth Eurovision country and entry in six years: In 2004 he wrote and performed the Serbia-Montenegro's entry Lane moje that came 2nd. In 2006 he wrote the song Lejla for Bosnia-Herzegovina, that was performed by Hari Mata Hari and came 3rd. In 2008 he took revenge with Jelena Tomašević in Serbia when Oro won and represanted the country at home arena in Belgrade scoring 6th place. (Back in 2005 the same team failed to win the Serbia-Montenegrin controversial final with Jutro when most Montenegrin members of the jury favoured their own entry.) Željko also hosted the 2008 Eurovision song contest in Belgrad.