FYR+Macedonia

//**Artist Biography:**// by Anna DeMeo and Jon Seide

Twins Martin and Stefan Filipovski, from Macedonia's largest city, Skopje, have been performing as Next Time since the beginning of last year. Stefan is the lead singer and Martin plays guitar and sings back-up.

The group released their first album only eight months after their first appearance as a group. They were found by Jovan Jovanov and shortly after, released their first single titled //Ne Veruvam//. Next Time started to play at festivals and functions and after only two months the group was //Best New Artist// after releasing their third single. They released their first self-titled album titled //Why Did You Go//. The album features songs in English and Italian in the bonus tracks. Next time is certainly an up and coming group and it will be interesting to see how they perform throughout the Eurovision contest.

The song that Next Time will be performing is titled //Neshto Shto Ke Ostane //. The song was composed by Jovan Jovanov and Damjan Lazarov and the [|lyrics] were written by Elvir Mekic. [|Mekic] is one of the most well known lyricists/singers in Macedonia, as well as Jovanov who sings/produces many different [|songs] in a wide variety of genres, but primarily pop. The lyrics were written in English, and Croatian, but it was decided by the group that the song will be sung in the groups national language, Macedonian. The music video was filmed by the same man who composed it, Jovan Jovanov on the 28 and 29 of March all over [|Skopje]. In the music video lead singer Stefan is falling in love with a woman in the video saying that she is "something that will remain" or "neshto shto ke ostane".
 * //Song Information://** By Annie DeMeo and Jon Seide

The song starts out with Stefan singing with just a keyboard sounding instrument being played in the background. That only lasts for about five seconds and then the drums and the guitar kick in. The song has a very similar sound to popular 80's hard rock, but the singing resembles that of rock in the 90's and on way more. During the verses of the song the instruments become the secondary sound to Stefan's voice so the words can be heard, but during the chorus the instruments are played in full force and Stefan is accompanied by his brother Martin as the two sing in harmony. Not everyone is fan of Next Time, or of the Eurovision contest in general. British entertainment blog [|Heckler Spray], which makes fun of everything, but is strangely truthful nonetheless, commented on the song:

"One thing we didn’t know the Macedonians were good at: growing preposterously large hair and performing songs that sound like they should be soundtracking the theme tune to an American action show from the late 1980s. Because that’s what //Nešto što kje ostane// by Next Time is."

I don't agree with them 100%, but I see where they are coming from. Although I appreciate Next Time's efforts, I can't see anything unique about the song. I listened to several of the other songs ([|Spain], [|Norway], [|Lithuania], [|Germany], and the [|UK]) to see if they were more or less like Macedonia's, and I was surprised that I ended up liking Norway and Germany's entries, because they actually had tunes and didn't sound like something you hear as background music in a department store.

While I didn't like Jade, the UK's entry, I found her to be an interesting contrast to [|Britain's Got Talent's Susan Boyle]. Britain's Got Talent is a televised talent show like American Idol only with a larger variety of acts. It is amazing to think these two contests are going on at exactly the same time. Eurovision's Jade embodies the essence of the modern talent industry: a pretty, young woman who isn't devoid of a singing voice, but who seems to have no substance, no real feeling behind what she's singing. And then, in the exact same country we have an older, plain-looking woman with a very strong personality and an excellent voice, who sings with her heart. It is amazing it took this long for the world to discover that true talent exists everywhere, in all kinds of people.

I know this doesn't have much to to with Macedonia's entry, but, as a sociology major, I find the whole politics of Eurovision to be really intriguing.

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FYR Macedonia's entry for this year's Eurovision competition is the winner of the [|Skopje Festival 2009], a televised song contest in the capital of FYR Macedonia, Skopje. The competition features well known as well as newer bands and singers. The winner is decided by a 50/50 combination of points given by an expert panel of judges and tele-voting, which I assume is a combination of calling in and texting, similar to familiar shows such as American Idol.
 * //Narrative of Entry://** Edited By Annie DeMeo

The final round started with a moment of silence in memory of Ivana Mitrovska, a 24 year old woman who tragically died inside the venue during the semi-finals the day before. Then the competition commenced with 16 different acts.

In the end the competition came down to two contestants, Naum Petreski & Kaliopi and Next Time. The panel of judges awarded Naum Petreski & Kaliopi's song "Rum Dum Dum" full points. But when it came down to it the public preferred Next Times' "Nesto Sto Ke Ostane", which lead them to win with 19 points, with only a one point lead from Naum Petreski & Kaliopi's 18.

Shortly after Next Time's win, the news was posted on several fan sites. On the site, [|www.okiotimes.com] fans shared their views on FYR Macedonia's Eurovision contestant. There were a couple comments that were very excited and optimistic:

"Best Choice!! We all know that the song is cool,positive,catchy,and refrain is soo GOOD...Good Luck Macedonia and Next Time...See ya in the final :)", said user iceboy.

Others like the song but are not confident that it will do well in the competition:

"I like this song, but it has no luck in Eurovision! I am not sure if it can qualify (if Tamara and the guys couldn't do it last year, I can't see this one doing it), but I don't think that a qualification is out of the question! Good luck, neighbours! :)", said user jonngait.

Still others who didn't like it at all commented, "Oh my god....Thats the worst song this year so far...Its terrible..So old fashion style and so terrible song", said user groony30.

User cosmo said: "better luck...next time." Unquestionably one of the more witty of responses.

Below is the video of Next Time's performance at the Skopje Festival 2009, complete with pyrotechnics.

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 * //EUROVISION History: [[image:fyrmacedonia.jpg align="right"]]//**Edited by Annie DeMeo

FYR Macedonia wanted to make their [|Eurovision debut]in 1996 but did not make it through Eurovision's internal semi-finals. In 1997 the country decided not to participate, so 1998 was the country's debut to the international song contest. They have participated every year since then, except for 2001.

The first three years the scores and rankings were toward the bottom, not even qualifying for the semi-finals. But in their forth year they qualified for the semi-finals and then did well enough to advance to the finals, where they placed 14th. Every year since then FYR Macedonia has at least qualified for the semi-finals. Their best score was in 2006 when they placed 12th in the finals.

Throughout the competitions, [|statistics] show that FYR Macedonia has received the most points from Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania. Because the rules of the competition state you can not vote for the country that you reside in, the people of FYR Macedonia have voted for the following countries: Croatia, Turkey, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Romania.

This year, a poll was conducted by [|www.macedonia,ogae.net/] where members of one of the largest fan clubs, voted for their favorite songs in this years competition. After a two week voting period the results were revealed. Fans voted for Turkey and Bosnia & Herzegovina and the other countries they consistently vote for, but this year Albania did not make it on the list. 12 points Turkey (91 points) 10 points Norway (91 points) 08 points Bosnia & Herzegovina (84 points) 07 points Azerbaijan (83 points) 06 points Spain (59 points) 05 points Finland (55 points) 04 points Romania (53 points) 03 points Croatia (48 points) 02 points Montenegro (47 points) 01 point Sweden (47 points)

FYR Macedonia did not make it to the Finals for the 2009 Eurovision Contest.

