Art is not for evaluation.

Montenegrin singer Andrijana Božović She started her career at festivals more than 20 years ago. And regardless of whether she sang on playback or live, she always returned from them with a hit. Despite the recording break that followed after the closure of the festivals, the audience never forgot Andrijana's songs. On the contrary, they are still sung today as if they were on the first day.

That is why many were delighted by her discographic comeback that just happened at the festival. Namely, Andrijana won the first festival evening "Bisera Jadnrana" with the song "Dobro je" dedicated to Montenegrin performers, while she won second place at the second - regional one. However, the fact is that not all winning songs become hits, which is not the case with the song "Dobro je" which the audience fell in love with from the first listen. In a song that talks about ups and downs, and for whose lyrics they were responsible Sanja Perić i Slavko Milovanović who also writes the music can be found by everyone, its message will be a guide for many in the most difficult moments. The arrangement for this song was done by Marko Milatović, Vladimir Popovic Pop i Bole Martinović.

She waited almost a decade for this song to be released, as Andrijana said in an interview for Vijesti - "the right moment"...

Andrijana, you are someone who started your career at festivals that Montenegro was recognized for in the region. Somehow, your break happened with their closure. Performing at the Pearl of the Adriatic is in a way your return to original music. What was the turning point that made you decide to perform at a festival again?

It turns out that way, although my break really has nothing to do with the festival being shut down, it just happened. As for the “Pearl of the Adriatic” festival, there wasn't really a turning point, it was more a combination of some unusual circumstances - of course, I had a desire to promote a new song and to fulfill one person's wish and finally appear at the festival.

From the beginning, you were always recognized for that Italo-Mediterranean pop sound. During this time, the pop genre has evolved and today it is mixed with other directions. However, apart from the production that is more modern and adapted to today's times, you have remained faithful to that original pop. How difficult is it to remain true to yourself today when every like, share, and review is monitored and when many have made compromises precisely because of this?

I think the most important thing in life is to be honest and true to yourself because then everything you do will be authentic. I've really always worked the way I felt, that's how I chose the songs or they already chose me. The audience probably feels that and values it in the right way, and yet on the other hand, we can't all like the same things, and we shouldn't.

This song has been sitting in a drawer for eight years and it could have been recorded a long time ago, but it wasn't. It was clearly waiting for its moment.

The lyrics are such that anyone can find themselves in it because life is full of ups and downs. You yourself have gone through many ugly and beautiful phases in life. How did you react when you heard the song, and especially the lyrics?

As I said - this song has been with me for a long time, I liked it from the first bar. By the way, whenever I chose songs, I chose them by the feeling they evoked in me - something had to move me from within. That's why emotion is important, that's why that honesty is important, that's why I remained consistent with myself and my own style.

Many festivals today play songs before the official event. This creates favorites from the start. This is not the case at the Pearl of the Adriatic. But does this make it harder for the audience, who has long been accustomed to this system, to process more than 20 songs at once in the two to two and a half hours that the program lasts?

Yes, that's usually the case with radio festivals. "Pearl of the Adriatic" is designed differently and it's really not easy to process so many songs at once, but the point is not to process that moment - the point is for the audience to get a large number of beautiful, new songs and enjoy them in the future. Bojan Delic as the creator of this festival and Zvonimir Nedeljković, the festival's PR team, did a great job and I really thank them for that.

Last year you were on the jury of the same festival. How difficult is it to evaluate someone's work and effort - because it's not just those three or so minutes on stage, but months of preparation, filming and a lot of effort and money invested, and you yourself went through the same thing for years?

It's very thankless to be on the jury because you always risk someone getting angry....There was that last year, too, but you can't do anything about it - I tried to do my job extremely professionally and to be really honest with myself, but on the other hand I accepted that there would be anger. However, I believe that art is not for evaluation - art is universal, special, and if you believe in something you've created, no one's evaluation can disturb or sway you.

You won the first night with Montenegrin performers. However, the song also did well at the international night, as you won second place. Are all these awards a confirmation that the song will be listened to, do you already have feedback from the audience on how they like it, and how much will they oblige you to be more active in your discography?

An award as a reward is a good incentive to continue, it is a good confirmation to the authors and arrangers - that they have done a top-notch job, but I say again - these same people believe in their work even without an award.

When you work from the heart and according to your feelings, then personal satisfaction is your best reward. Personally, I didn't come to this festival with a competitive spirit, moreover, I had some personal turbulence during that period, so the festival was my last thought. Am I happy about the awards - of course I am, but the fact that people are really enthusiastic about the song makes me even happier.

My plan is to make a video for it soon, and very soon after that the audience can expect another song - that's the project. Zoran Marković, better known as Zonja from Buksovci, and it's a socially engaged song. I think it'll be interesting (laughs).

When you started, music carried beautiful messages, young people had someone to look up to. Today, the music that young people listen to carries not so good messages, it is full of synthetic sounds and autotune. To what extent does what is trendy and current sometimes discourage a musician from acting and recording?

If you believe in what you're doing, then you won't fail. Every product has its audience and the fact is that today the offer is greater than ever, but if we're talking about dubious quality, that's always been there - just remember the 90s and the flood of turbo folk and low-grade lyrics. It's still there today, just in a different packaging.

You are one of the few Montenegrin singers who has an album behind her. It has been 21 years since the release of the album “Na krilima anđela”. Has the time come for a new project and would it include all the songs you have released as singles during this period?

I planned to put all the singles I've released together on one album, as a compilation. And yes, it's been a while, but I've never been in the mood to post something. Somehow, everything falls into place when it needs to, so I guess now is the time for it.