Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Besides the possible participation of Julia Samoylova for Russia also some other artists are making themselves available for the contest next year. In Greece Stereo Soul, who were considered also this year but lost to Demy in the last minute are putting themselves forward again asking their fans on social medias to support them.  In Serbia it was revealed Tijana Bogicevic was only the fourth option for the broadcaster after Aleksandra Radović, Jelena Tomašević and Ivana Peters. Aleksandra claimed she's too busy (and some suggest she asked too much money as well) but she's kinda open for the idea to do it in 2018 while Jelena said she's not for the time being ready for all that hassle again, and Ivana, who already was asked in 2016 still can't be flying due to health problems. She did write the Serbian entry last year and would be willing to do it again in 2018. It's still only May, this is going to be interesting. And we can't forget Valentina Monet...

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...

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...

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.

The guys of 3Js have apparently announced they are soon to record a duet with Raphael Gualazzi. The fate of the two acts couldn't have been more diverse in the Eurovision - 3Js last in their semifinal (very unfairly if you ask me as Never alone deserved much more!) and Gualazzi surprisingly runner up in the final with his Madness of love . Anyways, they hit it off on the boat trip and it seems the talks of collaboration are not mere talks but reality soon. Meanwhile 3Js have released their follow up single De stroom , also from the national selection. This isn't the first time the Eurovision acts of the same year find each other and collaborate after the contest. Like Boaz Mauda, Sirusho and Jelena Tomasevic in Time to pray .

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?

Sirusho has released her fourth album since her debut in 2000. Havatum em (I believe) is the title track and the first new single off the album but it also includes Erotas , her Greek single last year, her Eurovision 2008 song Qele qele (Yerevan remix) and Time to pray , the song she recorded together with fellow Eurovision stars Boaz Mauda and Jelena Tomasevic. The album moves from title track's ballad mood to Erotas's greek dance beat to Qele qele's etnopop and everything in between. She's at her strongest when not singing in English I must say. The album maybe lacks a bit of hit potential Qele qele being clearly the best offering but she's vocally fine and it's very fresh if compared to Safura's somewhat overproduced debut presented here a couple of days ago.

In 2008 Aremnian Sirusho, Israeli Boaz and Serbian Jelena got togerher after Eurovision and recorded Time to pray . This time Bulgarian Miro and Croatin Feminnem made a duet before Eurovision, Mil amantes . They will be both in the second semifinal on May 27 almost back to back. I personally hope they both will qualify, let's see.

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.

Some good news for a change: Estonia has confirmed after all its participation in Oslo 2010 (well, I for one never doubted it in the first place) as they've got a sponsor, Enterprise Estonia that promotes Estonia abroad. Finally some organisations put the money where they are noticed! Serbia will be also in Oslo 2010 hoping to keep the record straight with their successes after the drop this year - I would have put the Serbian song in 2009 to the final as well btw - but both broadcasters have announced a smaller scale national final. Which makes me think that some countries may have lost the plot. Cut the expenses and drop the national finals if that's what it takes you to participate; just invite an artist and send him/her off! Estonia has sent some great songs over the years including Keelatud maa (8th/1997), Diamond of night (6th/1999), Once in a lifetime (4th/2000) and Rändajad (6th/2009) while Serbia made history in Helsinki 2007 by winning with its first participati...

Boaz Mauda from Israel, Jelena Tomasevic from Serbia and Sirusho from Armenia performed last night finally the song Time to pray in the Serbian final. It is just as I expected it to be: beautiful with three matching vocals. There should be more collaborations like this with the Eurovision artists.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-ja-99wyb4

The Serbian final this Saturday will feature as guests all the other artists from former Yogoslavia and as a special treat the song by last year's entrants from Serbia, Israel and Armenia. Jelena Tomasevic, Boaz Mauda and Sirusho will perform Time to pray , a song co-written by Israeli president Shimon Peres.

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.

It looks like new Eurovision related albums are being released every day now and also Jelena Tomašević releases her debut album. The album includes Željko Joksimović penned Serbian finalists Jutro (2nd in 2005) and Oro that won and placed 6th in homeground in Belgrad 2008. He has also written most of the rest of the album. As bonus tracks there are the different versions of Oro she recorded before Belgrade: Greek, Spanish and Portuguese and a remix. If you liked her entries, or are a fan of Željko Joksimović's music, this album is a must. There are no "fillers" but each and every track is strong and suited for Jelena's voice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpmNsZ0vlrQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uLXpD_RWk4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNwNz5xPy8k&feature=related