ESC creating as well as strengthening friendships

Last Saturday, three Eurosong performers appeared together on stage in Skopje - Kaliopi Bukle (FYR Macedonia), Hari Varešanović (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and their host Željko Joksimović - the representative of Serbia at the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest.

The three have worked together and knew each other even before ESC, which only enhanced their mutual respect and friendship - they say.

Željko Joksimović gave a two and a half hour treat to more than 13,000 fans, at the concert held on December 24 December in Skopje.

One of his guests at the concert was Hari Varešanović, who reminded the audience of the song "Lejla" that he performed at the 2006 ESC in Athens winning third place in the finals. The song was composed by Željko Joksimović and the ranking it achieved was best ever in the history of BiH participation in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Right after the first few notes of the legendary song "Bato", the audience greeted with an enthusiastic applause the renowned singer Kaliopi Bukle - a great Macedonian pop star who had many fans throughout the ex-Yugoslav musical scene. As a full EBU member the Macedonian Radio and Television recently selected Kaliopi Bukle to be the Macedonian representative at the 2012 ESC in Azerbaijan.

The finale of the Željko Joksimović's concert in Skopje was marked by Macedonian songs that Eurosong contestants Kaliope, Hari and Željko performed together, delighting the audience.

Just two days earlier, the Serbian representative at the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest made a guest appearance at the concert held by Boris Novković - the Croatian ESC representative in 2005.

The fans packing the "Cibona" arena in Zagreb were treated to two of the most popular hits of two renown artists - "Ljubavi" and "Elloise" that Boris and Željko sang together.

With the song "Vukovi umiru sami" (11th place in the finals) Boris Novković represented Croatia in the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest held in Kiev on the 50th anniversary of the festival - and just a year after Željko's second place in Istanbul.

All of these encounters - both with numerous fans in the Balkan region, and with famous colleagues, were very inspiring for the Serbian representative in Baku next year, Radio-Television of Serbia reports.

More details about impressions from the concerts in Skopje, Karlovac, Zagreb and Düsseldorf and about latest issues related to the shaping of Serbia's song for ESC 2012, will soon be available in Željko Joksimović's blogs that he is writing exclusively for the RTS web portal.