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Željko Joksimović | |
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Жељко Јоксимовић | |
_5_(cropped).jpg) Joksimović in 2012 | |
| Born | (1972-04-20)20 April 1972 (age 53) |
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| Years active | 1997–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4 |
| Musical career | |
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| Instruments | |
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Musical artist | |
Željko Joksimović (Serbian Cyrillic:Жељко Јоксимовић,pronounced[ʒěːʎkojǒksimovitɕ]ⓘ; born 20 April 1972) is aSerbian vocalist, composer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. He plays 12 different musical instruments includingaccordion,piano,guitar anddrums.
A singer-songwriter, Joksimović has been successful composing for other artists throughout theBalkans. He has written five ballads that have represented their respective countries at theEurovision Song Contest: "Lane moje", "Lejla", "Oro", "Nije ljubav stvar" and "Adio". He also composes music for films, television series, and theater shows. He representedSerbia and Montenegro in theEurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "Lane moje", placing second.[1] He also representedSerbia in theEurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Nije ljubav stvar", placing third.
During2013, 2014 and2015, he was a judge onX Factor Adria, theWestern Balkan edition ofThe X Factor.[2]
Joksimović was born on 20 April 1972 inBelgrade and grew up in the city ofValjevo. His first international success came at the age of 12 when he won the title ofFirst Accordion of Europe at the prestigious music festival in Paris. He graduated music at theUniversity of Belgrade and launched his professional music career in 1997. In 1998, Joksimović won a contest at thePjesma Mediterana festival with the song "Pesma Sirena", which led to opportunities to perform at more prestigious festivals inBelarus. He won the "Grand Prix" award at two festivals in that country.[3]
Joksimović was promoted as a folk and pop artist. His first studio album, titledAmajlija, included "Pesma Sirena" along with seven other tracks. His first big success was with the single "7 godina", written by himself and Leontina Vukomanović. The song went on top of Serbian pop music charts and became popular in otherformer Yugoslav countries.
In 1999 he won his first big prize when becoming the Grand Prix winner of the International Festival of ArtsSlavianski Bazaar inVitebsk,Belarus.[4]
In 2004, his song, "Lana Moje" became popular amongst many Eurovision fans was often rated as one of the best non-winning songs.[5][6][7]
In early 2008, Željko Joksimović composed a song that was performed byJelena Tomašević in the Serbian national final for the Eurovision song selection,Beovizija 2008, titled "Oro". The song is a folk-ballad with traditional folk Serbian elements. Because theEurovision Song Contest 2007 has been won by Serbia, the contest that year came in the country. On 24 March 2008, together withJovana Janković,RTS announced that he hosted theEurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, giving him two roles in the contest.[8] Tomašević's song finished in the 6th place in over 25 countries in the final.
Joksimović was invited byRTCG to compose song forKnez who represented Montenegro in theEurovision Song Contest 2015 inVienna,Austria. He composed the songAdio, which has three versions in Serbian, French, and English. The Serbian lyrics were written by Marina Tucaković and Dejan Ivanović, whilst the English version was written by Swedish songwriters Nicole Rodriguez, Tami Rodriguez, as well as SerbsMilica Fajgelj and Dunja Vujadinović.[9]
In November 2018, Željko Joksimović had a concert inArena Zenica – after eight-year break.[10] He gave another concert entitled "Dva sveta" (lit. 'Two Worlds') inSava Centar one month later.[11][better source needed].
On 9 August, Joksimović ended Zenica Summer Fest 2019 by free public two-hour performance onZenica city square.[12]
Joksimović is multilingual. Apart from Serbian, he is fluent in Greek, English, Russian, Polish, and French.[13]
| Name | Artist | Year | Composer(s) | Album | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Cija Si" | Toše Proeski | 2003 | Željko Joksimović | Den Za Nas/Dan Za Nas | — |
| "Malah Shower" | Nava Medina | 2005 | Željko Joksimović | — | — |
| "Jutro" | Jelena Tomasevic | 2005 | Željko Joksimović | Oro [PGP -RTS] | — |
| "Lejla" | Hari Mata Hari | 2006 | Željko Joksimović | Lejla [BiH] | — |
| "Oro" | Jelena Tomasevic | 2008 | Željko Joksimović | Oro [PGP -RTS] | — |
| "To Telos mas Des" | Eleftheria Arvanitaki | 2008 | Željko Joksimović | Mirame | Universal Music |
| "Poso" | Melina Aslanidou | 2008 | Željko Joksimović | Best of (Sto dromo) | Sony BMG |
| "Nikola Tesla" (instrumental) | — | 2008 | Željko Joksimović | Balkan Routes Vol. 1: Nikola Tesla [Protasis][15] | — |
| "Miljacka" | Halid Bešlić | 2009 | Željko Joksimović | Halid 08 Bešlić | — |
| "Biber" | Lepa Brena | 2011 | Željko Joksimović | — | — |
| "Ne bih bila ja" | Lepa Brena | 2011 | Željko Joksimović | — | — |
| "Hotel Jugoslavija" | Saša Kapor | 2013 | Željko Joksimović | — | — |
| "Adio" | Knez | 2014 | Željko Joksimović | — | — |
| Country | Year | Song | Artist | Place | Points | Marcel Bezençon Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Serbia and Montenegro | 2004 | "Lane moje" (Лане моје) | Željko Joksimović & Ad-Hoc Orchestra | 2 | 263 | Press Award |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2006 | "Lejla" | Hari Mata Hari | 3 | 229 | Composer Award |
 Serbia | 2008 | "Oro" (Оро) | Jelena Tomašević feat.Bora Dugić | 6 | 160 | |
| Serbia | 2012 | "Nije ljubav stvar" (Није љубав ствар) | Željko Joksimović | 3 | 214 | |
 Montenegro | 2015 | "Adio" | Knez | 13 | 44 |
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Eurovision Song Contest presenter (withJovana Janković) 2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by First title | Performer ofThe Best Song in Balkans 2009 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by First title | Best Male Performer in the Balkans 2009 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| Artists | |
