Željko Joksimović (, ; born 20 April 1972) is a Serbian singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer. He plays 12 different musical instruments including accordion, piano, guitar and drums.
Joksimović has been successful composing for other artists throughout the Balkans. He has written five ballads that have represented their respective countries at the Eurovision Song Contest: "Lane moje", "Lejla", "Oro", "Nije ljubav stvar" and "Adio". He also composes music for films, television series, and theater shows. He represented Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "Lane moje", placing second. He also represented Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Nije ljubav stvar", placing third.
From 2013 to 2015, he was a judge on X Factor Adria, the Western Balkan edition of The X Factor.
Career
Early beginnings
Joksimović was born on 20 April 1972 in Belgrade and grew up in the city of Valjevo. His first international success came at the age of 12 when he won the title of First Accordion of Europe at the prestigious music festival in Paris. He graduated music at the University of Belgrade and launched his professional music career in 1997. In 1998, Joksimović won a contest at the Pjesma Mediterana festival with the song "Pesma Sirena", which led to opportunities to perform at more prestigious festivals in Belarus. He won the "Grand Prix" award at two festivals in that country.
1999–2003: Amajlija, Rintam and 111
Joksimović was promoted as a folk and pop artist. His first studio album, titled Amajlija, 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 other former Yugoslav countries.
In 1999 he won his first big prize when becoming the Grand Prix winner of the International Festival of Arts Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk, Belarus.
2004: Eurovision Song Contest 2004
thumb|230px|left|Joksimović performing "Lane Moje" for Serbia and Montenegro in ESC 2004. [[Istanbul, Turkey.]]
In 2004, his song, "Lane Moje" became popular amongst many Eurovision fans was often rated as one of the best non-winning songs.
2008–2011: Eurovision hosting and Ljubavi
thumb|right|150px|Željko Joksimović together with [[Jovana Janković during the first semi-final ESC Belgrade 2008.]]
In early 2008, Željko Joksimović composed a song that was performed by Jelena 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 the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 has been won by Serbia, the contest that year came in the country. On 24 March 2008, together with Jovana Janković, RTS announced that he hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, giving him two roles in the contest. Tomašević's song finished in the 6th place in over 25 countries in the final.
Later career
left|200px|thumb|Željko Joksimović performing in [[Varaždin in January 2012]]
Joksimović was invited by RTCG to compose song for Knez who represented Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna, Austria. He composed the song Adio, 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 Serbs Milica Fajgelj and Dunja Vujadinović.
Recent concerts
In November 2018, Željko Joksimović had a concert in Arena Zenica – after eight-year break. He gave another concert entitled "Dva sveta" () in Sava Centar one month later..
thumb|150px|Joksimović on ZSF 2019 singing Milimetar <small>(mosaic artwork in the background because of the lyrics)</small>
On 9 August, Joksimović ended Zenica Summer Fest 2019 by free public two-hour performance on Zenica city square.
Personal life
Joksimović is multilingual. Apart from Serbian, he is fluent in Greek, English, Russian, Polish, and French.
Discography
Studio albums
- 1999: Amajlija [City Records]
- 2001: Rintam [City Records]
- 2002: 111 [City Records]
- 2005: Ima nešto u tom što me nećeš [City Records]
- 2009: Ljubavi [Minacord]
- 2015: Zvezda [Minacord]
Live albums
- 2008 Beogradska Arena Live (Minacord Records)
- 2017 Dva Sveta - Koncert Sava Centar (Live) [Minacord Records] ||
|-
| "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 || ||
|}
Eurovision Song Contest entries
{|class="sortable wikitable" align="center" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Country
! Year
! Song
! Artist
! Place
! Points
! <small>Marcel Bezençon Awards</small>
|- bgcolor = "silver"
|
| 2004
| "Lane moje" (Лане моје)
| Željko Joksimović & Ad-Hoc Orchestra
| 2
| 263
| Press Award
|- bgcolor = "#CC9966"
|
| 2006
| "Lejla"
| Hari Mata Hari
| 3
| 229
| Composer Award
|-
|
| 2008
| "Oro" (Оро)
| Jelena Tomašević feat. Bora Dugić
| 6
| 160
|
|- bgcolor = "#CC9966"
|
| 2012
| "Nije ljubav stvar" (Није љубав ствар)
| Željko Joksimović
| 3
| 214
|
|-
|
| 2015
| "Adio"
| Knez
| 13
| 44
|
|}
Entries in Beovizija
- 2003 - "Čija si" (Чија си) by Toše Proeski - 1st
- 2004 - "Zamisli" (Замисли) by Leontina Vukomanović - 3rd
- 2005 - "Jutro" (Јутро) by Jelena Tomašević - 1st
- 2008 - "Oro" (Оро) by Jelena Tomašević - 1st
Entries in Evropesma / Europjesma
- 2004 - "Lane moje" (Лане моје) by Željko Joksimović - 1st
- 2004 - "Zamisli" (Замисли) by Leontina Vukomanović - 12th
- 2005 - "Jutro" (Јутро) by Jelena Tomašević - 2nd
See also
- Music of Serbia
- Evropesma
- Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest
- Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest
- List of Eurovision Song Contest presenters
- Ima nešto u tom što me nećeš
References
External links
- Željko Joksimović's Official website