Željko Joksimović facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Željko Joksimović
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| Жељко Јоксимовић | |
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Joksimović in 2012
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| Born | 20 April 1972 Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
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| Years active | 1997–present |
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Jovana Janković
(m. 2012) |
| Children | 4 |
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Željko Joksimović (Serbian Cyrillic: Жељко Јоксимовић; born on April 20, 1972) is a famous Serbian singer, composer, and musician. He is known for playing 12 different musical instruments, including the accordion, piano, guitar, and drums. Željko is also multi-lingual, meaning he speaks many languages like Greek, English, Russian, Polish, and French, in addition to his native Serbian.
As a talented singer-songwriter, Joksimović has written many successful songs for other artists across the Balkans. He has composed five popular ballads that represented different countries at the Eurovision Song Contest. These songs include "Lane moje", "Lejla", "Oro", "Nije ljubav stvar", and "Adio". He also creates music for movies, TV shows, and theater plays. He represented Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with "Lane moje", finishing in second place. Later, he represented Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with "Nije ljubav stvar", where he placed third.
From 2013 to 2015, Željko was a judge on X Factor Adria, which is the Western Balkan version of The X Factor TV show.
Contents
Željko's Musical Journey
Starting Out in Music
Željko Joksimović was born in Belgrade on April 20, 1972, and grew up in Valjevo. His first big international achievement happened when he was just 12 years old. He won the title of First Accordion of Europe at a famous music festival in Paris.
He studied music at the University of Belgrade and began his professional music career in 1997. In 1998, he won a competition at the Pjesma Mediterana festival with his song "Pesma Sirena". This win opened doors for him to perform at more important festivals in Belarus, where he won the "Grand Prix" award at two different events.
First Albums and Big Hits (1999–2003)
Željko quickly became known as a folk and pop artist. His first studio album, called Amajlija, featured "Pesma Sirena" and seven other songs. He had a huge success with the single "7 godina", which he wrote himself with Leontina Vukomanović. This song became number one on the Serbian pop music charts and was very popular in other countries that used to be part of Yugoslavia.
In 1999, he won another major award, the Grand Prix, at the International Festival of Arts Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk, Belarus.
In 2001, Joksimović released his second album, Vreteno. Some popular songs from this album included "Rintam", "Balada", "Gadura", and a duet with Haris Džinović called "Šta će meni više od toga". Three music videos were made for songs from this album.
His album 111, released in 2002, quickly reached the top of the pop charts in Serbia and other nearby countries. Songs like "Varnice", "Zaboravljaš", and "Karavan" were among the favorites.
In 2003, Željko wrote the song "Čija si" for the Macedonian singer Toše Proeski. This song helped Toše Proeski win Beovizija 2003, a music competition.
Eurovision Song Contest 2004 Success
In 2004, Serbia and Montenegro participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 for the first time. They chose their representative through a festival called Evropesma 2004. Željko Joksimović won this contest with his song "Lane Moje", which he composed himself, with lyrics by Leontina Vukomanović.
In the Eurovision semi-final, Željko came in first place. In the final, he finished second, just behind the Ukrainian singer Ruslana. He also received the "Marcel Bezencon Press Award" for being the best composer. "Lane Moje" became the best-selling single in Serbia and Montenegro that year. Many Eurovision fans still consider "Lane Moje" one of the best songs that didn't win the contest.
After Eurovision and New Music (2004–2007)
After his success at Eurovision, Željko started his own company, MINACORD PRODUCTION, in 2004. Since then, he has worked and composed music in his own studio. In 2007, he released the single "Ledja o Ledja", which became very popular in the countries where he usually performs.
In 2005, he composed another song for Serbia and Montenegro's national Eurovision selection, Beovizija. This ballad, "Jutro" (Morning), was performed by Jelena Tomašević. In October 2005, he wrote and performed a duet with the Austrian singer Tamee Harrison called I Live My Life For You, which was successful across Europe.
Around this time, Željko also started writing music for films. He composed the score for the movie Ivkova slava (Ivko's fame). In the same year, he released his fourth studio album, "IV" or "Ima nešto u tom što me nećeš". On this album, he explored a slightly different music style, focusing on pop ballads with some traditional ethnic Serbian folk elements.
In 2006, he composed the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 song Lejla for Bosnia and Herzegovina, performed by Hari Mata Hari. This song finished in third place, which was Bosnia's best result in the contest at that time. Željko also won the prestigious Best Composer Award for Lejla, chosen by all the composers who took part in that festival.
In 2007, he released his second collection of greatest hits, Platinum Collection, which included two new songs: "Devojka" and "Nije do mene". He also composed music for the TV series "Ranjeni orao" and "Ono nase sto nekad bejase". That same year, Željko performed a huge concert in front of 18,000 people at the Belgrade Arena, singing all his hit songs. This concert was later released on a DVD called "Koncert Beogradska Arena".
Hosting Eurovision and New Album (2008–2011)
In early 2008, Željko Joksimović composed "Oro" for Jelena Tomašević to perform in the Serbian national final for Eurovision, Beovizija 2008. "Oro" is a folk ballad with traditional Serbian elements. Since Serbia had won the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, the contest was held in Belgrade that year. On March 24, 2008, the organizers announced that Željko, along with Jovana Janković, would host the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. This meant he had two important roles in the contest! Jelena Tomašević's song finished in 6th place in the final.
After a year-long break from releasing new music, he released his fifth studio album, Ljubavi (2009). The song "Ljubavi" was the first single from the album and became very popular in Serbia and neighboring countries. In early 2010, he released a second single from the album called "Žena Za Sva Vremena".
On June 12, 2010, he performed his biggest concert ever at the Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The stadium can hold 37,500 people, but for concerts, it can expand to about 80,000. Over 40,000 people attended his concert that night.
Returning to Eurovision (2012)
Joksimović represented Serbia again in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan. He composed and performed the song "Nije ljubav stvar". The lyrics were written by Marina Tucaković and Miloš Roganović. The English version of the song was called "Synonym". Željko Joksimović and Alek Alekov created the music arrangements for both versions. The song was a great success, finishing in third place.
Željko married Jovana Janković in January 2012.
Eurovision Song Contest 2015
In 2015, RTCG invited Željko Joksimović to compose a song for Knez, who represented Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna, Austria. Željko composed the song Adio, which had three versions: in Serbian, French, and English language.
Recent Concerts
In November 2018, Željko Joksimović held a concert in Arena Zenica after an eight-year break. A month later, he gave another concert called "Dva sveta" (Two worlds) in Sava Centar.
On August 9, 2019, Joksimović closed the Zenica Summer Fest with a free two-hour public performance in Zenica city square.
Željko's Music Albums
Studio Albums
- 1999 Amajlija
- 2001 Rintam
- 2002 111
- 2005 Ima nešto u tom što me nećeš
- 2009 Ljubavi
- 2015 Zvezda
Live Albums
- 2008 Beogradska Arena Live
- 2017 Dva Sveta - Koncert Sava Centar (Live)
Compilation Albums
- 2003 The Best Of Željko Joksimović
- 2007 Platinum Collection
- 2010 Ultimate Collection
Popular Singles
- 2004 Leđa o leđa
- 2004 Lane moje
- 2005 I live my life for you (with Tamee Harrison)
- 2007 Devojka
- 2007 Nije do mene
- 2008 Ono naše što nekad bejaše
- 2010 Dođi sutra
- 2012 Nije ljubav stvar
- 2013 Ludak kao ja
- 2015 Ranjena zver
- 2017 Milimetar
- 2018 Ponelo me
- 2018 Menjaj pesmu
- 2019 Možda je to ljubav
- 2024 1000 žena
- 2024 Ella
- 2024 Ella Greek Version
Duets with Other Artists
Željko has collaborated with many artists on duets:
- 2001 Haris Džinović – Šta će meni više od toga
- 2004 Dino Merlin – Supermen
- 2005 Tamee Harrison – I Live My Life For You
- 2012 Samuel Cuenda – "Su amor me venció"
- 2009 Miligram – Libero
- 2014 Daniel Kajmakoski – Skoplje - Beograd
- 2014 Toni Cetinski – Zabluda
- 2018 Emina Jahović – Dva aviona
- 2024 Ceca Ražnatović – Više Od Sreće
Music for Movies and TV Shows
- 2005 "Ivkova slava" (with Jelena Tomašević & Nikola Kojo)
- 2009 "Ranjeni Orao"
Eurovision Song Contest Appearances
Željko Joksimović has been a big part of the Eurovision Song Contest, both as a performer and a composer for other artists.
- 2004: Represented Serbia and Montenegro with "Lane moje". He came in 2nd place and won the Press Award.
- 2006: Composed "Lejla" for Bosnia and Herzegovina, performed by Hari Mata Hari. The song finished 3rd, and Željko won the Composer Award.
- 2008: Composed "Oro" for Jelena Tomašević representing Serbia. The song placed 6th. Željko also co-hosted the contest in Belgrade!
- 2012: Represented Serbia again with "Nije ljubav stvar". He finished 3rd.
- 2015: Composed "Adio" for Knez representing Montenegro. The song placed 13th.
Other Important Works
Željko has composed many songs for other famous singers:
- 2003: Cija Si for Toše Proeski
- 2005: Jutro for Jelena Tomašević
- 2006: Lejla for Hari Mata Hari
- 2008: Oro for Jelena Tomašević
- 2009: "Miljacka" for Halid Bešlić
- 2011: Biber and Ne bih bila ja for Lepa Brena
- 2014: Adio for Knez
See also
In Spanish: Željko Joksimović para niños
- Music of Serbia
- Evropesma
- Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest
- Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest
- List of Eurovision Song Contest presenters
