With the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s agreement to rename to (the Republic of) North Macedonia, ending a long standing disagreement with Greece, could this bode well for their chances at Eurovision? Since the start of the decade, North Macedonia have only qualified for the grand final once, in 2012, with Kaliopi’s “Crno I Bello”. Coming in 13th for the year however was quite the triumph!
This year, they have again internally selected their artist. Representing North Macedonia is native singer Tamara Todevska, who previously represented her country in 2008 (despite coming 10th in the semi-final, was ousted by the juries who, as were the rules of that year, selected alumnus Charlotte Perrelli instead). Tamara, age 33, has dedicated her incredibly strong stand-and-deliver powerhouse song to her daughter, Hana, and to anyone fighting for their own brilliance.
“I dedicate 'Proud' to my daughter and to everyone out there fighting for their dreams and believing in their greatness. On the 16th of May, we will break the rules and at least for one night in the year, we will show the world that I AM PROUD is always stronger than their YOU WILL NEVER BE GOOD ENOUGH!” - Tamara Todevska on “Proud”
Tamara Todevska was born in Skopje. She was raised in a musical family. Her father, Velko Todevski, is a Macedonian professor in a music school and her mom, Branka Todevska, is a Bosnian-Serbian opera singer. Tamara's mom influenced her deep, operatic vocal style.
On 27 June 2015, Tamara married former basketball player Aleksandar Dimitrovski. They have one daughter named Hana and one son Daren.
You may well know Tamara’s older sister, Tijana Dapčević, who represented their homeland in 2014 with “To the Sky”, which placed 13th in the semi-final. Tamara was there too, as a backing vocalist.
Her first official song is a duet with her sister Tijana called "Igra luda" (Crazy game), released in 1997. Her music career broke through in 2003 when she sang "1003" at the Montenegrin festival Suncane Skale, where she placed 2nd.
In 2005, her first album was realized under the title Sino (English: "Blue"). The music producer and composer of this album is Aleksandar Masevski with whom had Tamara cooperated since 2004. The album won Album of the year (2005). Hits from that album are: "Sino", "Molci, molci" (ft. Ronin), "A,shto ako?", "Ljubovna prikazna" (ft. Ugro), "Najverni prijateli", "Ljubi, ljubi" (duet with Tuna), and "Shetaj".
In 2007, Tamara was successful during the Macedonian Eurovision selection, Nacionalen Eurosong. She gained 105 points, placing second with the song "Kazi Koj Si Ti" ("Tell Me Who You Are")
In February 2008, Tamara won the Skopje Fest 2008 with the composition "Vo ime na ljubovta" featuring Rade Vrchakovski and Adrian Gaxha. The song was a hit in the Balkans, and was predicted to do well in the ESC 2008. The song was sung in six languages (Macedonian, English, Serbian, Turkish, Russian and Albanian) and the quality video was made by Dejan Milicevic. In the Eurovision Song Contest they sang the English version of "Vo ime na ljubovta" called "Let me love you" and reached 10th place in the semi-final. As aforementioned, with the decision of the jury they failed to qualify.
With soaring, powerful vocals delivering a message of strength and belief in oneself, Tamara, and North Macedonia as a whole, can be Proud of their effort this year regardless of the outcome. Good Luck!