The Montenegrin representative in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest is using every chance he has for rehearsing the performance that the country has designed for May in the Wiener Stadthalle. And we just learned from the Montenegrin broadcaster RTCG that he will not be alone on scene.
Nenad Knezevic Knez is the singer for Montenegro in the 60th Eurovision Song Contest. He will perform the entry Adio, composed by the one and only Željko Joksimović, who has participated twice as a singer (in 2004 for Serbia and Montenegro and in 2012 for Serbia) and in two additional occasions as a composer, for Bosnia and Herzegovina (Lejla, 2006) and for Serbia (Oro, 2008). This is quite a good presentation already.
The entry itself will be part of a presentation that has been described as interesting and emotional. And very demanding, too. That is the probably the reason why Knez is not wasting any time and using every second available for rehearsing in between promo activities…
Despite the big effort, the Montenegrin entrant is looking forward to Eurovision. As he said himself, participating in the Eurovision Song Contest for Montenegro is one of my biggest dreams, and I can’t be thankful enough to RTCG for calling me. The Eurovision Song Contest is the biggest music contest in the world, and it is such a pleasure to be a part of it. I can’t wait to arrive in Vienna!
In his performance in the second semifinal on 21 May, Knez will not be alone. He will be singing with five backing female vocals. This team of five is made up with experienced and highly educated women. The backing vocals that will sing Adio with Knez are:
Ksenija Knežević: the youngest of the five. She finished her studies at music school and currently she is in Belgrade, taking Design studies. In 2013 Ksenija was part of the group Sky’s. The girl-band ended up 5th in the Serbian national selection for Eurovision that year with the song Magija.
Lena Kuzmanović: she had her degree on violin from the Belgrade Academy of Music. She spent 9 years with the Belgrade National Opera Theater. She has sung with artists like Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras, and she also did backing vocals for such artists like Zeljko Joksimović, Zdrako Čolić, Lepa Brena. Lena has also worked on television and music videos, as movie soundtracks.
Ivana Vlahović: a professional vocalist for 10 years and a backing vocalist for 5 years. She has sung for artists like Severina, Toni Cetinjski, Eurovision winner Marija Serifović and Saša Kovačević. She has been involved in commercials an TV shows. She was a participant of the talent show Prvi Glas Srbije.
Jelena Pajić: a Boston College graduate, Ivana worked afterwards in the Quad studios in New York. She has provided backing vocals and studio recordings for artists like Hari Mata Hari (Eurovision 2006 for Bosnia and Herzegovina), Zeljko Joksimović, Ana Stanić, Kemal Monteno, Marija Serifović, Lepa Brena… The list is long.
Dunja Vujadinović: a backing vocalist since 2008, she has worked with Aleksandra Radović, Marija Serifović, Aca Lukas… She was one of the backing vocalist of the Serbian Eurovision entry in 2013, Ljubav je svuda, for Moje tri. She wrote the lyrics of the English version of the song, Love is all around. She was also a participant of Prvi Glas Srbije.
Montenegro will be participate in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, represented by Knez and the song Adio.