Sara Jo Сара Јо
Jovanović performing at the 2021Belgrade Pride
Background information
Born	Sara Jovanović (1993-10-29)29 October 1993 (age 32) Rome, Italy
Origin	Belgrade, Serbia
Genres	Pop R&B dance-pop
Occupations	Singer model actress
Years active	2011–present
Labels	IDJTunes Bassivity Digital

Sara Jovanović (Serbian Cyrillic:Сара Јовановић;pronounced[sǎːrajoʋâːnoʋit͡ɕ]; born 29 October 1993), professionally known asSara Jo, is aSerbian singer, songwriter, model and actress. Born inRome, she came to prominence upon competing onPrvi glas Srbije in 2012, finishing in 3rd place. Subsequently, as a member ofMoje 3, Jovanovićrepresented Serbia in theEurovision Song Contest 2013 inMalmö, Sweden with "Ljubav je svuda". They placed 11th in the semi final, failing to reach the grand final.

Her official debut solo single, "Ko je ovde ko", was released in 2014. It was followed by a series of other standalone singles, including "Nemam vremena za to" (2017), "Mili mili" (2019) and "Muškarčina" (2022). Her debut album,Bez kontrole, was released in June 2023. It spawned two singles: "Divlja" (2021) and "Zar ne" (2022).

Additionally, Jovanović competed on the first season ofTvoje lice zvuči poznato and has also been involved as an actress in theater, television and voice acting. Moreover, she has modeled for fashion campaigns, including continuous collaboration withAdidas in Serbia since the beginnings of her career.^[1][2]

Jovanović was born on 29 October 1993 inRome and was raised bilingually inSerbian andItalian. She is the only child of kindergarten teacher, Jasna, andSerbian Foreign Ministry official, Saša Jovanović.^[3][4] In 2009, the family permanently relocated toBelgrade, where Sara graduated from theThird Grammar School.^[4] She subsequently studied Italian language at theUniversity of Belgrade Faculty of Philology.^[4] Jovanović displayed interest in music and performance from an early age, practicingballet andhip-hop dance. She has cited late 90's and early 00's performers likeBritney Spears,TLC,Jennifer Lopez andDestiny's Child as her biggest influences in music.^[5]

After winning at an armature singing contest organized by the Serbian magazineStory with the covers she had been posting onYouTube, Jovanović received the opportunity to record her first song and music video, titled "Zauvek".^[6] In October 2011, she performed "Zauvek" at thelate-night talk showVeče sa Ivanom Ivanovićem.^[7] The following year, Jovanović was also featured on four tracks by rapper MCN from his self-titled debut album.

In 2012, she auditioned for thesecond season of thesinging competitionPrvi glas Srbije. Mentored byAleksandra Radović, Jovanović reached the show's grand final where she finished as the second runner-up. She was especially noted for her showmanship in the live show phase, being described as the "new energy on the music scene" by the SerbianCosmopolitan.^[8] The following year, the producers ofPrvi glas Srbije formed a girl group, calledMoje 3, consisted of Jovanović and her fellow-finalistsMirna Radulović andNevena Božović, in order to compete in thenational selection competition for the2013 Eurovision Song Contest. On 2 March, Moje 3 were chosen as the Serbian representatives for the 2013 Eurovision hosted byMalmö, Sweden with their song "Ljubav je svuda", by receiving 42.5% of the public votes.^[9] On May 14, they performed in the Eurovision's first semi final, placing 11th with 46 points and thus failed to qualify for the grand final.^[10] Moreover, Moje 3 also received theBarbara Dex Award for the worst dressed act.^[11]

After Eurovision she collaborated with singer Marko Mandić on the single "Ujutru", released in June 2013.^[12] In September, Jovanović became a contestant on thefirst season of thereality competitionTvoje lice zvuči poznato, where she placed as the runner-up to singerAna Kokić.^[13] In June the following year, Jovanović released her first official single, titled "Ko je ovde ko", under IDJTunes.^[14] She also covered "Provokacija" byBoban Rajović for the 2014 movieLittle Buddho.^[15] Jovanović subsequently released the singles "Mahovina" and "Probaj" in December 2014 and July 2016, respectively.^[16][17] In 2016, she also reunited with Mandić to cover "Troje" byMoby Dick for the purposes of the filmThe Samurai in Autumn.^[12] On 25 December 2016, inSava Centar, Jovanović made her theatre debut, portrayingCinderella in amusical play, which subsequently toured around Serbia.^[18]

In May 2017, Sara Jo released the single "Nemam vremena za to", produced byCoby, under new label - Bassivity Digital.^[19] It became her first music video to collect over ten million views on YouTube. The same year, she also collaborated withTuborg GreenFest on the single "Samo ti", which samplessamplesMajor Lazer's "Tuborg Beat". "Samo ti" was released throughUniversal Music Group. Subsequently, the single "Lava" was released in May 2018.

It was followed by "Bez sna" and "Mili, mili" in January and June 2019.^[20][21] During her 2019 summer tour, Jovanović performed for the first time at theExit music festival alongside other artists from Bassivity.^[22] Same year she had a recurring role in the television seriesSinđelići.^[23] Jovanović also served as a mentor on a singing contest organized byCoca-Cola, calledDiscovered by Coke. Her contestant, Predrag Simić, with whom she also released a song, "Kao nikad pre", as a part of the competition, was eventually proclaimed the winner.^[24]

On 27 January 2020, Jovanović performed a medley of her hits at the2020 Music Awards Ceremony, held in theBelgrade Arena. In April, she released "Kaži mi".^[25] The following July, Jovanović collaborated withEdita Aradinović on the single "Varalica".^[26] She performed alongsideMarija Šerifović andJelena Karleuša at the 2022New Year's Eve concert in front of theHouse of the National Assembly in Belgrade.^[27] In February 2022, Sara Jo was announced as a contestant on the national selection for theEurovision Song Contest 2022, calledPesma za Evroviziju '22, with her entry "Muškarčina".^[28] Based on theYouTube views, Jovanović was initially highlighted as the competition's front runner.^[29] She placed first in the second semi final on 4 March.^[30] In the final on 5 March, however, she finished as the runner-up toKonstrakta and "In corpore sano".^[31] "Muškarčina" peaked at number 12 onBillboard'sCroatia Songs chart.

On June 21, 2023, Jovanović released her debut album,Bez kontrole, under Bassivity Digital, which was preceded by the singles "Divlja" (2022) and "Zar ne?" (2022).^[32]

Recognized for continuously supportingLGBT rights in Serbia, Jovanović carried the title of theBelgrade Pride's "Godmother" in 2019.^[33][34] In August 2021, she also performed at the closing ceremony of theWorldPride inCopenhagen.^[35]

In November 2013, Jovanović alongside Tropico Band andDženan Lončarević was featured on the charity single "Milio sam anđele" to raise funds for the treatment of a twenty-two-year-old woman suffering frombone cancer.^[36] In October 2020, she was a speaker on theTEDxMasarikova conference inZenica, where she reflected on personal struggles in regards to popularity.^[37] In 2021, Jovanović also became an ambassador of theCouncil of Europe againsthate speech.^[38]

Jovanović was in a year-long relationship withvolleyball playerAleksandar Atanasijević, which was ended in May 2014.^[39][40] In February 2015, she was reported to be dating Serbian actorViktor Savić [sr].^[41] The couple broke up the following year. Between 2016 and 2018, she was then romantically involved with rapper and writerMarčelo.^[42]

She is currently in a relationship with Slovene choreographer, Žiga Sotlar.^[43]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toSara Jovanović.

• Sara Jo discography atDiscogs
• Sara Jovanović atIMDb

• 1993 births
• English-language Serbian singers
• Italian-language singers
• Living people
• 21st-century Serbian women singers
• Serbian pop singers
• Serbian television personalities
• Indexi Award winners
• Singers from Rome
• Singers from Belgrade
• Italian people of Serbian descent

• CS1 Serbian-language sources (sr)
• CS1 Croatian-language sources (hr)
• CS1 Bosnian-language sources (bs)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles with hCards
• Pages using infobox musical artist with associated acts
• Articles containing Serbian-language text
• Pages using Lang-xx templates
• Pages with Serbo-Croatian IPA
• Articles containing Spanish-language text
• Commons category link is on Wikidata
• Articles containing Latin-language text