Jump to content

Željko Joksimović

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Željko Joksimović
Жељко Јоксимовић
Joksimović in 2012
Born (1972-04-20) 20 April 1972 (age 54)
Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Occupations
  • Singer-songwriter
  • composer
  • instrumentalist
Years active1997–present
Spouse
​
(m. 2012)​
Children4
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
Labels

Željko Joksimović (Serbian Cyrillic: Жељко Јоксимовић, pronounced [ʒěːʎko jǒksimovitɕ] ⓘ; 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.[1] 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. From 20 September 2014 to 1 November 2014, he was a judge on Zvezde Granda.

Career

[edit]

Early beginnings

[edit]

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.[2]

1999–2003: Amajlija, Rintam and 111

[edit]

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.[3]

2004: Eurovision Song Contest 2004

[edit]
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.[4][5][6]

2008–2011: Eurovision hosting and Ljubavi

[edit]
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.[7] Tomašević's song finished in the 6th place in over 25 countries in the final.

Later career

[edit]
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.[8]

Recent concerts

[edit]

In November 2018, Željko Joksimović had a concert in Arena Zenica – after eight-year break.[9] He gave another concert entitled "Dva sveta" (lit. 'Two Worlds') in Sava Centar one month later.[10][better source needed].

Joksimović on ZSF 2019 singing Milimetar (mosaic artwork in the back­ground because of the lyrics)

On 9 August, Joksimović ended Zenica Summer Fest 2019 by free public two-hour performance on Zenica city square.[11]

Personal life

[edit]

Joksimović is multilingual. Apart from Serbian, he is fluent in Greek, English, Russian, Polish, and French.[12]

Discography

[edit]

Studio albums

[edit]
  • 1999: Amajlija (City Records)
  • 2001: Vreteno (City Records)
  • 2002: 111 (City Records)
  • 2005: IV (City Records)
  • 2009: Ljubavi (Minacord)
  • 2015: Zvezda (Minacord, Grand Production)

Live albums

[edit]

Compilations

[edit]

Singles

[edit]
  • 2004: "Leđa o leđa" [City Records]
  • 2004: "Lane moje" CD+DVD [PGP RTS]
  • 2004: "Lane moje"/"Goodbye" (maxi-single) [Warner Music Group]
  • 2005: "I Live My Live for You" (feat. Tamee Harrison) [Warner Music]
  • 2007: "Devojka" [Minacord]
  • 2007: "Nije do mene" [Minacord]
  • 2008: "Ono naše što nekad bejaše" [Minacord]
  • 2010: "Dođi sutra" [Minacord]
  • 2012: "Nije ljubav stvar" [Minacord]
  • 2013: "Ludak kao ja" [Minacord]
  • 2015: "Ranjena zver" [Minacord]
  • 2017: "Milimetar" [Minacord]
  • 2018: "Ponelo me" [Minacord]
  • 2018: "Menjaj pesmu" [Minacord]
  • 2019: "Možda je to ljubav" [Minacord]
  • 2024: "1000 žena" [Minacord]
  • 2024: "Ella" [Minacord]
  • 2024: "Ella" (Greek Version) [Minacord]

Collaboration singles

[edit]

Soundtracks

[edit]

Other works

[edit]
NameArtistYearComposer(s)AlbumLabels
"Cija Si"Toše Proeski2003Željko JoksimovićDen Za Nas / Dan Za Nas—
"Malah Shower"Nava Medina2005Željko Joksimović——
"Jutro"Jelena Tomašević2005Željko JoksimovićOro [PGP-RTS]—
"Lejla"Hari Mata Hari2006Željko JoksimovićLejla [BiH]—
"Oro"Jelena Tomašević2008Željko JoksimovićOro [PGP-RTS]—
"To Telos mas Des"Eleftheria Arvanitaki2008Željko JoksimovićMirameUniversal Music
"Poso"Melina Aslanidou2008Željko JoksimovićBest of (Sto dromo)Sony BMG
"Nikola Tesla" (instrumental)—2008Željko JoksimovićBalkan Routes Vol. 1: Nikola Tesla [Protasis][14]—
"Miljacka"Halid Bešlić2009Željko JoksimovićHalid 08 Bešlić—
"Biber"Lepa Brena2011Željko Joksimović——
"Ne bih bila ja"Lepa Brena2011Željko Joksimović——
"Hotel Jugoslavija"Saša Kapor2013Željko Joksimović——
"Nema Srećnog Kraja"Mirza Selimović2014Željko Joksimović——
"Svedok"Ivana Pavković2014Željko Joksimović——
"Adio"Knez2014Željko Joksimović——

Eurovision Song Contest entries

[edit]
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

Entries in Beovizija

[edit]

Entries in Evropesma / Europjesma

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Zeljko Joksimovic Biography. Artists.letssingit.com. Retrieved on 2012-08-29.
  2. ↑ "Željko Joksimović". Željko Joksimović official website (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 8 January 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  3. ↑ "Belarus: Slavianski Bazaar 2020 Selection - Vitebsk Results". Eurovoix World. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  4. ↑ ""Lane moje" - the best song in the history of Eurovision". Radio Television of Serbia.
  5. ↑ "The Eurovision Song Contest: 10 of the best". The Guardian. 20 May 2015.
  6. ↑ "Wiwi Jury of the 2010s: Serbia's Željko Joksimovic with "Nije Ljubav Stvar"". Wiwibloggs. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  7. ↑ Konstantopoulos, Fotis (4 March 2008). EUROVISION 2008 Jovana Janković & Željko Joksimović the hosts. Oikotimes.com
  8. ↑ "Knez released a French and an English version of "Adio"". ESC Bubble. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  9. ↑ "Željko Joksimović održao spektakularan koncert u Zenici (Video + Foto)". zenit.ba (in Bosnian). 18 November 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  10. ↑ "Koncert projekta "Dva Sveta"". YouTube. 5 January 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  11. ↑ "Foto: Spektakularnim koncertom Željka Joksimovića, završen Zenica Summer Fest 2019". Zenica Info (in Bosnian). 10 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  12. ↑ "Željko Joksimović: Ne promatram se kao da sam zgodan!". Dnevnik.hr (in Croatian). 11 December 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  13. 1 2 "DVD: Beogradska Arena Live (DVD+CD)". Yu4You (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 26 April 2013.
  14. ↑ "Balkan Routes Volume 1: Nikola Tesla". MySpace. Archived from the original on 30 May 2012.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Željko_Joksimović&oldid=1379899388"