Maša & Lejla: “Our goal is to perform the best we can, and make people happy” (Exclusive Interview)

Montenegro will debut at this year’s Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which will held in Malta on November 15th. They will be represented by the talented girl duo Maša & Lejla, who will perform their song Budi Dijete Na Jedan Dan, that will be premiered later this month.

ESC+Plus can now present you an interview with them, where the girls tell about their song, their expectations for Junior Eurovision and much more! Read on below to find out what they had to say.

E+: Congratulations for being chosen to represent Montenegro. How does it feel to be the first ever participants from your country at Junior Eurovision?

Lejla: First of all, I am really proud of myself and what I have achieved. I have been wanting to do something like this in a long time because I have a passion for music. I am going to try everything I can, to make this the best performance for Montenegro.

Maša: Thank you. I am very proud and happy. This is a big responsibility, but we will do our best to represent our country in the best way we can.

E+: Firstly, can you tell us a little bit about yourself, and how long you have been interested in music?

Maša: I am 13 years old, and go to elementary school and music school. I am training ballet as well. I have participated in many festivals, and I have won a number of awards. I have been working with music since I was 6 years old, so for 8 years already.

Lejla: Well, I’m 12, I like to travel, and see different places, so I’m really exited for Malta. I like to play guitar, write songs, and be creative in general, but the thing that I mostly love is singing. I’ve been interested in music since I was about 3 or 4, and I just kept liking it more and more as I grew, and my voice kept getting stronger.

E+: Your song, that you will perform at Junior Eurovision is called ”Budi dijete na jedan dan”, can you tell us what it is about?

Lejla: OK , so nowadays adults have jobs, and are very serious. They think that kids thoughts are not important, so in this song, we want to tell adults, that they were kids once too, and so we remind them, of how much fun it is too be a kid, and that they should be (act) like a kid for one day.

Maša: Our song talks about how nice it is to be a child. We hope that we will be able to bring the adults back, for one day, to the times when they were children.

E+: What are you most excited for about Junior Eurovision?

Maša: I am very excited because of everything. I can’t wait for the performance, and till we will travel to Malta. We will perform on a huge stage in front of thousands of people, and that will of course open many new opportunities for us.

Lejla: I’m excited to meet the other contestants,to hear their songs.  I’m also very excited to see Malta because it’s supposed to be beautiful.

E+: What do you expect from your Junior Eurovision experience? What is your goal?

Lejla: I’m going to give my best to this performance, and for it to memorable. It’s not about what place we get into for me, it’s about participating, and people enjoying our song. My goal is to make people happy.

Maša: I expect a beautiful experience that I will remember for all of my life. I expect that I will gain many new friends, and that I will learn a lot. Our goal is to perform the best we can, that we will make our country proud, and that, in the end, we are satisfied as well.

E+: There is still a long time until the show, but have you already started thinking about how you will perform your song on stage?

Maša: We are currently focusing on the recording of the song, and then the preparations for the stage performance and other things will begin.

Lejla: It’s a very long time until the show, and we still don’t know about the performance. We are going to work our way into it. We recorded the song, then we need to make the music video, and then we will work on the stage performance.

 E+: What kind of music do you like to listen to in general? Do you have any idols?

Lejla: I love to listen to POP music. I also like electronic music. I love many singers like Bruno Mars, Jessie J, Demi Lovato, Sam Smith, Selena Gomez, Bridgit Mendler…

Maša: I like to listen to pop music, I like jazz, blues, most of the time I listen to foreign music. My biggest idol is Beyoncé, because for me, she is a complete personality, she sings, dances, and acts.

E+: Have you watched Junior Eurovision or the adults Eurovision in the past, and do you have any favorite songs from those?

Maša: I mostly followed the big Eurovision. I love almost all song from Eurovision, but I will single out Moj svijet, Only teardrops and Euphoria.

Lejla: I started following the adults Eurovision for about 3 years, dreaming in participating. I liked the Montenegrin song “Moj Svijet” by Sergej Cetkovic, Swedish song “Undo” by Sanna Nielsen, and the Armenian song “Not Alone” by Aram MP3. I just found out about  Junior Eurovision this year. I saw a few songs, and the one that I enjoyed the most was the winner’s song.

E+: What hobbies and interests do you have besides music?

Lejla: I like to water ski, play football and volleyball. I like drama a lot because when I act, I feel so free and alive. I also love spending time with my friends and family. I love my family vacations, they always turn out crazy fun.

Maša: I like to read and ride the bicycle a lot. I attend a course of the Russian language, and in my free time, I usually go out with my friends.

E+: In the end, do you have a message for the readers of ESC+Plus and the Junior Eurovision fans?

Maša: I hope they will support us, and I send them many greetings.

Lejla: Well, I want to tell people, that when I saw a photo of that arena, I was shaking, but I was once told that I just gotta believe, so thats what I’m going to do. I’m gonna step on that stage and believe…oh and also GET READY FOR A GREAT JUNIOR EUROVISION YEAR 2014!!!

We want to thank Maša and Lejla very much for taking the time to do this interview, and we wish them and Montenegro the best of luck in Malta.