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.Zeljko Joksimovic Biography. Artists.letssingit.com. Retrieved on 2012-08-29. 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 Judge Zvezde Granda.
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
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
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.Konstantopoulos, Fotis (4 March 2008). EUROVISION 2008 Jovana Janković & Željko Joksimović the hosts. Oikotimes.com Tomašević's song finished in the 6th place in over 25 countries in the final.
Later career
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..
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], Grand Production
Live albums 2008 Beogradska Arena Live (Minacord Records) 2017 Dva Sveta - Koncert Sava Centar (Live) [Minacord Records]
Compilations 2003: The Best Of Željko Joksimović 2007: Platinum Collection 2010: Ultimate Collection
Singles 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 2001: "Šta će meni više od toga" (feat. Haris Džinović) 2004: "Supermen" (feat. Dino Merlin) 2005: "I Live My Life for You" (feat. Tamee Harrison) 2012: "Su amor me venció" (feat. Samuel Cuenda) 2009: "Libero" (feat. Miligram) 2014: "Skoplje (Beograd)" (feat. Daniel Kajmakoski) 2014: "Zabluda" (feat. Toni Cetinski) 2018: "Dva aviona" (feat. Emina Jahović) 2024: "Više Od Sreće" (feat. Ceca Ražnatović) 2025: "Ništavilo" (feat. Saša Matić)
Soundtracks 2005 "Ivkova slava" (feat. Jelena Tomašević and Nikola Kojo) [Minacord – City Records] 2009 "Ranjeni Orao" [Minacord – City Records]
Other works 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 Tomašević 2005 Željko Joksimović Oro [PGP-RTS] "Lejla" Hari Mata Hari 2006 Željko Joksimović Lejla [BiH] "Oro" Jelena Tomašević 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] "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 "Nema Srećnog Kraja" Mirza Selimović 2014 Željko Joksimović "Svedok" Ivana Pavković 2014 Željko Joksimović "Adio" Knez 2014 Željko Joksimović
Eurovision Song Contest entries Country Year Song Artist Place Points Marcel Bezençon Awards 2004 "Lane moje" (Лане моје) Željko Joksimović & Ad-Hoc Orchestra 2 263 Press Award 2006 "Lejla" Hari Mata Hari 3 229 Composer Award 2008 "Oro" (Оро) Jelena Tomašević feat. Bora Dugić 6 160 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