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   FYR MACEDONIA    

Song : "Let Me Love You" 
Performer : Tamara, Vrcak & Adrijan
Music & lyrics :
Rade Vrcakovski

Running Order: #18 in the second semi-final 

Audio file
Preview video (in Macedonian)
Promo.  video (English)

THIS YEAR'S ENTRY

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia made its Eurovision debut in Birmingham and it's most memorable contribution to that show was the points it gave to Dana International and "Diva", to bring victory for Israel. With six entries since then, the Macedonians are still waiting for their first Top 10 result. However thanks in no small part to some friendly neighbours, Macedonia is the only country to qualify from all four Eurovision semi-finals. This year's Macedonian Final was held at the Metropolis Arena in Skopje on February 23rd, and the winner was chosen by televoting and a jury. The clear winner, finishing first with both the jury and the public was "Vo Ime Na Ljubovta (In Te Name Of Love) performed by Tamara featuring Vrcak & Adrijan Gaxha. It was quickly decided that the song would be translated for the international audience and it will be performed in English, with the title "Let Me Love You".

Tamara, Vrcak, and Adrijan are young, talented, and very popular performers in Macedonia. Skopje Music Academy senior student Tamara (Tamara Todevska) was born in the Macedonian capital of Skopje on 1st June 1985 is considered to be one of Macedonia's best female singers. She started her music career in 2001 with a huge hit written by Robert Bilbilov, "Dali Znam" (Do I know?), which she performed at the Suncane Skale Festival in Montenegro in 2002.

The song "1003", performed at the Budva festival in Montenegro, topped the charts. She also performed with her mother Branka, an opera singer, at Ohrid Fest in Macedonia, winning the third prize. Tamara participated three times in Makfest in Stip, Macedonia. In 2004 with "Nemirna" (Restless), in 2006 "Sedmo Nebo" (Seventh Heaven) with Vrcak won her the first prize, and in 2007 she had a memorable performance of the ballad "Smesno, Zar Ne?" (Funny, isn't it?). The audience in Serbia remembers very well her song "Sex" with the Belgrade group 187, which was very popular in 2004. The next year, the album Sino (Blue), produced and composed by Aleksandar Masevski, was released, earning an album of the year award. In 2006, Tamara and Vrcak found success together with the song "Losa devojka" (Bad Girl), performed at the Budva Fest.Tamara has already felt the challenge of the Eurovision Song Contest singing as a backing vocalist for the late Tose Proeski in 2004, and in 2007 she came second at the Macedonian national final with "Kazi Koj Si Ti" (Tell Me Who You Are).

Vrcak (Rade Vrcakovski) was born in Skopje on 17th November 1980. He is a well known composer, songwriter and performer, whose two albums "Kako Da Pobegnam Od Se" (If I Could Run Away) and "Vo Tvoeto Srce (In Your Heart), earned him numerous awards for best song, album, songwriter, discovery of the year and most played song.

Although a senior medical student, he has chosen a career in music. Vrcak performed at Makfest three times: in 2001 with Andrijana Janevska he won the second prize, in 2004 with Robert Bilbilov he won the third prize, and finally his duet with Tamara earned him first place. It was actually his idea to write a song for his good friends Tamara and Adrijan and himself, for this year's Macedonia final and this is his second Eurovision entry as Vrcak was also the lyricist of "Ninanajna", the Macedonian Eurovision entry in 2006.

Vrcak's latest album was released in 2007 and was a huge success, as it was one of the best selling albums in the country. Singles from the album received heavy airplay, as well as making several appearances on MTV Adria. Vrcak was a UNICEF ambassador of goodwill and he was given a Mother Teresa humanitarian award.

Adrijan (Adrian Gadza) was born in Skopje on 13th February 1984. He is a Music High School graduate studying viola and he is currently studying English. He entered the showbusiness world singing at Nota Fest in 2001 and won the first prize, which was the first time a newcomer to win the majority of votes of the jury and the audience. Adrijan has since become a household name both in Macedonia and Albania, having released four albums, three in Albanian and one in Macedonian.

He is well known for his attractive stage performances thanks to his dancing and choreography skills. Adrijan won the first prize at Videofest, a best male performer award at Topfest, twice won a best video award at the Video Festival in Tirana, best stage performance at Makfest, first prize at Ohrid Fest. In 2006 his duet with the famous Esma Redzepova "Ljubov e..." (Love is...) won the second place at the Macedonian Eurovision Song Contest final. Adrijan is constantly on tour, not only in FYR Macedonia and Albania, but also in Germany, Scandinavia, Italy and Switzerland.

Tamara, Vrcak, and Adrijan foster different music styles, but the three of them together are are an exciting combination on stage with an outburst of energy, enthusiasm, and great music.

Despite being recored in six different languages and having the advantage of choosing their own position in the running order, this year the Macedonian entry is one of the outsiders with both the bookmakers and in internet fan polls which suggests that Macedonia's run of qualifications for the final may be at risk.

SAMPLE LYRICS

Let's go, let's go, let's go
Where the moon is full and the lights are low
We can do it so slow, kiss in slo-mo
Until dawn breaks, then I ride out solo

 

BROADCASTER

RATINGS

Bookmakers

Eurovision history

Runnning order
Fan Poll
Webmaster

LAUNCH PAD

  1. Tamara's website
  2. Vrcak's Myspace page
  3. The song's lyrics (from Diggiloo.net)
  4. Information on the Macedonian selection

 

FYR MACEDONIA AT EUROVISION

First entry: 1998 (Failed to qualify in 1996) 
Number of previous entries: 7
Best result: 12th (2006) 
Worst result : 19th (2002)

TEN YEAR FORM GUIDE

 

WEBMASTER REVIEW

I have to admit that in general Macedonian Eurovision entries have left me rather cold and when I first saw the performance from this year's national final, I didn't think anything would change. However with the song going to English, with some really funky lyrics and the promo video which has loads of enegy, I have to say that this song has grown on me in a big way. As for how it will do in Belgrade, it's very hard to tell. Some cynics will say that the Macedonian qualification will be a measure of the success or failure of the new Eurovision format but I genuinely think that this song is different enough from the other songs in the semi and has a good draw to qualify without the support of the infamous "Balkan mafia". 

REVIEWS

"The Macedonians have been very lucky in my view to qualify each year, their songs just have not been good enough, some awful, and this is no different. In fact this is their worst entry yet (and that’s quite an achievement!). Boring R&B rubbish, sung horribly, and if they qualify again there’s something very wrong."- John Withers (UK)

"It’s the perennial qualifiers. I almost feel like skipping onto Portugal, as no matter what I or anyone else says about Macedonian entries, it seems to be an immutable law of Eurovision qualifiers that the Former Yugoslav Republic will qualify. However the video is not too bad, and the song is no better or worse than any of their other qualifiers from before. If anything its probably a bit better". - Dermot Manning (Ireland)

"One more time, The Macedonian entry is something without any taste but you can be sure it will go directly to the final." - Yom (France)

"This is in the same style as "Ninanajna 'by Elena Risteska in 2006 and it even sounds the same. I found Elena's song very cheap and I didn't like it at all, but I must admit that this song is a lot better. It is definitely not the best song this year but I'm almost sure that they will qualify again." - Nicky Peeters (Belgium)

"A poor song degenerating into off key singing while demonstrating the inability to dance." - David Berlinger (Israel)

"Will they really qualify this year too ? The draw is good but the song is just medicore RnB, which wasn't that well performed at the national final - don`t know the English version yet though but it will be difficult to qualify this year for sure." - Paul Hutter (Germany)

"Not the best, but OK. She has a great voice, but they must work a lot on the stage performance and their look. Nice rhythm, nice vocals, generally OK." - Atmantas (Greece)

"Not my cup of tea and a big chaos" - Etienne Micallef (Malta)

"The Macedonians continue to plough the R’n’B furrow and the 2008 entry is pretty similar to the 2006 effort. It’s good but whether it is distinctive enough to qualify is another question." - David Bridgman (U.K.)

"This is just another re-hash of their 2006 entry. That song qualified under the old rules but if there's any justice this won't, as there are at least ten better songs in the second semi-final". - Ian Carson (Ireland)

"Reminds me of their 2006 effort, which was one of my favourites that year. Too bad the live performance this year is so messy it hurts, and the refrain should have been catchier." - Alesta (Norway)

"Our neighbours are the only ex Yugoslavs trying anything modern in this year's Eurovision Song Contest". The rap is fun and if the voices are not the best, they have time to make it better. The dancing must also get better before Belgrade - Goran (Croatia)

"Wonderful r'n'b song. Lots of rhythms, changes, different detals. Exciting. I love this!" - Steinar (Norway)