The first competition festival "Pearl of the Adriatic", which will be held on June 29 at the Town's Pine waterfront in Tivat from 21 p.m., will bring together numerous performers from the country and the region.
Thanks to this event, fans of pop sound will have the opportunity to hear 25 new songs chosen by a selection jury composed of: Slobodan Bučevac (director of the festival "Sunčane Skale"), Grigor Koprov (director of the Ohrid festival), Ivica Mihaljević (director of the "Golden Palm" festival - Dubrovnik), Fahrudin Pecikoza (lyricist), Aleksandar Filipović (journalist), Branka Kaluđerović (general manager of the festival) i Zvonimir Nedeljković (festival PR).
Thus, after a multi-decade break, the Makadam group is returning to the festivals with the song "Palo je sidro u more", but for the first time they will also perform at one of the Montenegrin competitions. Danijel Popović, which will together with Juli Julio Popovic sing the song "Utopia". The colors of Montenegro will be defended at this festival Mico Vujovic (Gordana), Bane Nedović (The heart does not ask the mind), Katarina Bogićević Kate (Azure Night), Steven Faddy (Good people), Jelena Zvicer (Breathe, close your eyes), Jelena Božović (Sleepless Night), Doris Dekovic (Yes I love you), Danijel Milić (Don't Break My Wings), Filip Sjekloca (Superstition), Vanja Radovanović (Ripe fig), Milorad Mijušković (Student evening).
In addition to Montenegrin performers, new songs will be presented at the "Pearl of the Adriatic". Princ (Cordak), Petar Wagner Phantom (To kiss you), Jelena Vukojević (Ex), Saša Lazarevic Kudra (Business as usual), Ana Stanojević (scum), Igor Cukrov (That something is you), Lorenza Lola Puhar (Our story is finished), Karlo i Mandolin Orkestar Okruk (It hurts), Ana Petan (Love Always Wins), Martinian Kirilovski (Dragon), Neno Murić (Who am I) and Euphoria (How could you).
"I am very pleased and proud of the figure of 118 compositions that arrived at our competition. I must say that there were also compositions that arrived after the end of the competition, but the selection committee did not take them into account, we wanted everything to be fair and professional. The members of the selection committee listened to the songs from May 5 to 15, when we announced the final list. Although they had a short deadline, they are all people with many years of experience in music. It was dense in some moments, but those with the most votes passed. They argued that not all the songs were the same, the first idea was to have 20 compositions, but I managed to get as many people as possible to go, because it would be a shame if we rejected some songs", the director of the festival, a Montenegrin singer-songwriter, told the News. Bojan Delic.
Although some festivals had to adapt to current musical trends, the "Pearl of the Adriatic" will feature exclusively pop and Mediterranean songs.
"It was important that it was in the pop, Mediterranean, maybe even rock sound that was disappearing, and it is 'Pearl of the Adriatic' that is trying to bring that sound back to the big door as far as Montenegro and the region that inherits this music is concerned. People from the region were delighted, so many good songs came from Montenegro and the ex-Yugoslav republics that it was really difficult for the selection committee to choose only 25 of them that we will hear at the festival. There is a lot of space at other festivals in terms of modern sound, and we will try to revive the beautiful music that my colleagues and I grew up listening to," Delić promises.
This festival is also distinguished by the fact that the most space to promote new songs was given to performers from Montenegro, and there will be a total of 13 of them.
"As someone who initiated this story, my condition was that at least half of it should be performed by performers from Montenegro, provided that their songs meet all the criteria and deserve quality. And they really deserved to have all of them there and this was a way for our performers to get started and record more. I initiated the festival with the intention of doing something good for the music scene. This is a festival that we in Montenegro especially need for the sake of our almost non-existent scene. I am sure that the 'Pearl of the Adriatic' will be the trigger that will cause many more events. I'm sure that there will be at least 20 songs that will remain and that will be listened to, and that's what gives me strength," admits Delić.
In recent years, many festivals have aired tracks before the event itself, but this will not be the case with the "Pearl of the Adriatic".
"The idea is to keep everything fresh and for the audience to be won over by the songs, which is what they say 'at the first ball'. We are aware that some songs are always singled out at the start, and which ones will be decided by the jury that will vote at the festival itself. I'm aware that there are festivals that play the song before, but to me as a performer it makes the concept of it meaningless. If it's a standard festival, I think it's not good. We are already in negotiations to have two evenings next year, so we will have more people. And all this would not have happened this year if we did not have the selfless support of the President of the Municipality of Tivat Željka Komnenović who advocated that what we are doing succeed, as well as the director of TO Nini Likičević. Many private individuals have helped us, and I hope that we will also have the support of state institutions. I would also like to thank you To Zvonimir Nedeljković who works dedicatedly, as well as the rest of the team, who will carry the entire 'Pearl of the Adriatic' festival on their shoulders", concludes Delić.
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