With the Junior Eurovision Song Contest just six weeks away, many nations are already in the process of selecting their candidates to compete for the coveted crystal microphone in Nice, France.
The North Macedonian public broadcaster, known as MRKTV, has today released the music video of “Kaži Mi, Kaži Mi Koj”, the song that will represent the country. This song performed by Tamara Grujeska has been selected as the entry that will represent North Macedonia at this year’s prestigious Junior Eurovision Song Contest at the impressive Palais Nikaïa in Nice on Sunday 26 November.
Makedonska Radio Televizija (MKRTV) has once again opted for an internal selection process through auditions to nominate its representative for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023. It was one of the first countries to officially announce its candidate, Tamara Grujeska, who was presented on 16 May. The broadcaster described her as an “exceptional and courageous” artist.
TAMARA’S SONG: “Kaži Mi, Kaži Mi Koj”
Ahead of Junior Eurovision 2023, North Macedonia is relying on Tamara Grujeska and her song “Kaži Mi, Kaži Mi Koj” to try and win the crystal microphone.
Enjoy the official video clip of the Macedonian entry below:
THE SONG’S COMPOSERS
Robert Bilbilov, a talented musician and songwriter from North Macedonia, is about to embark on his second foray into the world of Junior Eurovision . This time, he joins the team behind his country’s entry in the prestigious Junior Eurovision Song Contest. His association with national broadcaster MRT demonstrates his continued commitment to music and his dedication to representing his nation on the international stage, as he will be the main author of Tamara’s song.
The first time Robert Bilbilov was involved in Junior Eurovision was in 2021, when he co-wrote the song “Green Forces“ performed by Dajte Muzika, the group representing North Macedonia. The song was performed in Paris, France, and achieved an outstanding performance by reaching ninth place in the competition with a total of 114 points.
But Bilbilov’s experience is not only limited to Junior Eurovision. At the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, he was part of the team behind Tamara Todevska‘s thrilling performance. The song entitled “Proud“ received the most points from the national juries due to the excellent musical quality of the performance. Despite this outstanding performance, the country finished in seventh place in the overall ranking with a total of 305 points.
MORE ABOUT TAMARA GRUJESKA
Tamara Grujeska was born in 2010 in Gostivar. She started in the world of music when she was only five years old, and since then she has participated in numerous national and international children’s festivals. She is unique and brave. She is known for her powerful performances and her incredible voice that conquers and leaves no one indifferent. Proof of this is the large number of awards she has won in international competitions.
Tamara studies at the Goce Delchev school in Gostivar and also continues her musical education at the “Todor Skalovski” conservatory. In addition, she takes online courses with the prestigious singing teacher Cheryl Porter from the USA.
In 2021, she took part in the international competition “Ezerski Biseri” in the Macedonian town of Struga, where she won First Place Laureate I. In the same year, he took part in the International Festival “Zvezdichki” in Prilep, where he won first prize with his song “Muzikata Vo Mene Ima Dom“. She also won the first prize at the International Festival “Skoljkice” in Novi Sad (Serbia).
In 2022, Tamara competed in the “Golden Stars Rain” competition , where she won the first prize among 150 competitors from various countries. She also ranked at the top of the International Festival “Angel Voice” in Belgrade (Serbia).
This will be North Macedonia’ s 18th participation in Junior Eurovision. The young artist will have the challenge to succeed Lara, Jovan & Irina who represented the country with “Životot E Pred Mene”, in Yerevan 2022.
NORTH MACEDONIA AT JUNIOR EUROVISION
North Macedonia is one of the 16 founding countries of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest (together with Belgium, Belarus, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom). This first edition of the festival was held in 2003, in the Danish city of Copenhagen.
North Macedonia debuted under the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and continued to compete under that name until 2018, as in 2019 Greece and Macedonia itself accepted the final use of the name “Republic of North Macedonia” – a conflict between Greece and Macedonia since 1991.
The country debuted with young Marija and Viktorija and the song “Ti Ne Me Poznavaš“. At the end of the night, it finished in 12th place, with only 19 points.
Since then, North Macedonia has failed to win any of the 20 editions held so far. It has even withdrawn on 3 occasions: in 2012, citing disagreement with the voting system, in 2014, due to the poor result obtained in the last edition, and in 2020, due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Its best positions are two 5th places in 2007 and 2008. In the 2007 edition in Rotterdam, represented by the northmacedonian duo Dimitar Stojmenovski & Rosica Kulakova and their song “Ding Ding Dong”; and in the 2008 edition in Limassol by the young singer Bobi Andonov and his song “Prati Mi SMS”.
On the other hand, it has finished in last position up to 4 times: in Bucharest 2006 with the singer Zana Aliu and her song “Vljubena”, in Yerevan 2011 with Dorijan Dlaka and his song “Zhimi Ovoj Frak”, in Kiev 2013 with the young Barbara Popović and the song “Ohrid I Muzika”, and in Bulgaria 2015 with the duo formed by the singers Ivana Petkovska & Magdalena Aleksovska, and their song “Pletenka”.
In 2021 they were represented by the group Dajte Muzika with the song “Green Forces“, placing the country in 9th position with 114 points.
In the last edition Lara, Jovan and Irina travelled to Armenia with their song “Životot E Pred Mene”, scoring 54 points and placing 14th. This year with Tamara they will try to improve the position achieved last year.