Milan Stanković ( sr-cyrl, Милан Станковић; born 9 September 1987) is a Serbian singer-songwriter. He rose to prominence as a finalist on '' Zvezde Granda'' in 2007. Moreover, Stanković acquired wider fame by representing Serbia in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2010 The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Oslo, Norway, following the country's victory at the with the song "Fairytale (Alexander Rybak song), Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak. Organise ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, Norway with " Ovo je Balkan", finishing in 13th place. Additionally to his recording career, he served as a judge on the children's singing competition '' Pinkove Zvezdice'' (2014–2018).

Early life

Stanković was born on September 9, 1987, in

Obrenovac Obrenovac ( sr-cyr, Обреновац, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a population of 68,882 inhabitants, while the urban area has 25,380 inhabitants. The old name for Obreno ...

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and was raised by a single mother. According to Stanković, his father, who was arrested for

homicide Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...

when Milan was five months old, died after five years in prison under unexplained circumstances. He has a sister from his mother's second marriage. Stanković graduated from a secondary medical school.

Career

2007–2010: Career beginnings and Eurovision

Stanković gained initial fame as a contestant on the third season of the singing competition '' Zvezde Granda'' in 2007, where he placed 4th. Recognized for performing mostly songs by

Zdravko Čolić Zdravko Čolić (, ; born 30 May 1951) is a Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian-Serbian Pop music, pop singer and widely considered one of the greatest vocalists and cultural icons of the former Yugoslavia. Favourably compared to Paul McCartney and T ...

, he received widespread public attention due to his

k-pop K-pop (; an abbreviation of "Korean popular music") is a form of popular music originating in South Korea. It emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians taking influence from Western Electronic dance music, danc ...

influenced appearance and relationship with fellow-contestant Rada Manojlović. Two years following the competition, Stanković released his debut album ''Solo'' under

Grand Production Grand Production ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Гранд продукција, separator=" / ", Grand produkcija) is a Serbian record label and production company predominantly focused on folk performers. The label produces the weekly television show ''Grand ...

, which sold 50,000 copies. On 13 March 2010, Stanković competed against singers Emina Jahović and Olivera Katić in the national selection competition organized by

Radio Television of Serbia The Serbian Broadcasting Corporation, more commonly referred to as Radio Television of Serbia (), or RTS (), is the state-owned public radio and television broadcaster of Serbia. RTS has four organizational units – radio, television, music pro ...

to choose the Serbian representative for the

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. By receiving 45% of the public votes, he ended up winning the festival with his entry, titled "Ovo je Balkan", written by

Goran Bregović Goran Bregović ( sr-Cyrl, Горан Бреговић; born 22 March 1950) is a recording artist born in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is one of the most internationally known modern musicians and composers of the Slavic speaking countries in the ...

Marina Tucaković Marina Tucaković ( sr-Cyrl, Марина Туцаковић; 4 November 1953 – 19 September 2021) was a Serbian lyricist and songwriter. Born and raised in Belgrade, Serbia, Tucaković had a degree from the Economic Faculty at the Universit ...

and Ljiljana Jorgovanović. During the first semi-final of the Eurovision, held on 25 May, Stanković performed seventh, placing fifth and thus qualifying to the final. On May 27, he performed eighth and finished in the 13th place with 72 points.

2011–2020: ''Milan'' and collaboration with Jala & Buba

After Eurovision, Stanković was dropped from Grand Production due to breech of contract, according to its then

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and owner Saša Popović. This situation, along with his breakup with Rada Manojlović, led Milan to take a brief hiatus from public performance. In September 2013, Stanković released the single "Od mene se odvikavaj". He than participated in the Pink Music Festival 2014 with "Luda ženo", where he received three awards. In September 2014, he also became a judge on the children's singing competition '' Pinkove Zvezdice'', on which he continued appearing for four non-consecutive seasons. On 3 March 2015, Stanković announced his sophomore album by releasing two singles – "Mašina" and "Nisi mu ti žena". In July, he collaborated with Serbian rapper Mimi Mercedez and turbo-folk singer Mile Kitić on the single "Gadure". In September, he released his eponymous EP under City Records, which featured previously released singles and three new songs. In February 2017, Milan released single "Ego" featuring Bosnian

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

duo Jala Brat and Buba Corelli. As of May 2022, the music video has collected over eighty million views on

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, making it his biggest song on this platform. Between 2018 and 2019, he released three more singles – "Trans", "Kripton" (2018) and "Brane mi te" (2019), as a part of his so-called "

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

trilogy". Stanković worked with Jala Brat and Buba Corelli once again on the single "Pablo", released in July 2020.

Personal life

Stanković was in an on-again, off-again relationship with fellow-'' Zvezde Granda'' contestant Rada Manojlović between 2008 and 2012.

Discography

;Studio albums and EPs *''Solo'' (2009) *''Milan'' (2015) ;Non-album singles *" Ovo je Balkan" (2010) *"Ego" (2017), feat. Jala Brat & Buba Corelli *"Sve što ne smemo" (2017), feat. Ina Gardijan *"Trans" (2018) *"Kripton" (2018) *"Brane mi te" (2019) *"Pablo" (2020), feat. Jala Brat & Buba Corelli

Awards and nominations

;Music festivals * Tri pa jedan za Oslo (2010); winner *

; 13th place * Pink Music Festival 2014; 7th place

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stankovic, Milan Living people 1987 births People from Obrenovac 21st-century Serbian male singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants Serbian pop singers Serbian folk-pop singers Grand Production artists