Željko will sing in Serbian!

It has been decided. Željko Joksimović will be singing in Serbian, at the 57th "Eurovision Song Contest" in Azerbaijan. The decision has been made four days after the presentation of "Nije ljubav stvar".

Now that the score and the lyrics have been made public, Željko will turn to preparing his stage performance and rehearsals.

The representative of Serbia will have only three minutes to convince Europe to vote for him.

Yesterday evening Joksimović mingled with the media and friends in the RTS building lobby.

"Although I already participated in the ESC as a composer and host, I now face a different responsibility as a performer on stage. This year I will be handling a much "'hotter potato" than back in 2004, because I have written songs for other participants in the meantime"- Željko said.

"I've thought a lot whether to participate, since I'm already a veteran in this contest, but then I realized that this is what I do - I am a composer and singer and I am proud that I will be representing Serbia once again" - Joksimović noted.

In his opinion the stage performance is very important, and he wants it to be different than the one back in 2004.

"We need to prepare something new. We try to make it simple, different and emotional like the song, also keeping the cost down. Neither the stage performance, nor our promotion in Azerbaijan will be pretentious, because lately quality is being lost due to colorful choices" Joksimović said, adding that there will be no promotional tour either.

Traditionally in Serbian

Reiterating that in Baku he will perform "Nije ljubav stvar" in Serbian, Željko offered the following explanation: "I feel comfortable with both versions (in English and in Serbian). The presentation of the song in the RTS Košutnjak studio was attended by heads of delegation of the fifteen countries taking part in ESC and they voted for the version they preferred. The result was 50:50. Still, I will sing in Serbian, as this is our tradition, and Marija (Šerifović) won though singing in their mother tongue."

The composer noted that this year's competition will be "very challenging", because famous performers will be taking part along with first-timers and added that he has great respect for his competition, albeit he is convinced that Serbia has a top quality song.

"I could have made some sort of a surprise song, as I like to experiment, but in Azerbaijan I will not be representing my skills but the whole of Serbia and therefore I have greater responsibility. On the other hand my songs Lane moje, Oro, and Leila had success, so I did not want to change that."

Don't be surprised if we win!

"We'll be going all the way and I hope we'll have success. We might very easily win. This is not just a phrase, do not be surprised if that happens, I think we will all feel good about it. If not, fine again, and we'll make the best possible postcard in Azerbaijan" - the Serbian added.

"Never before have I received so many positive reviews. Perhaps it's due to the fact emotions of the song, of the lyrics, of the melody, and the arrangements have blended perfectly together with the sensibility of our people, that enjoy our music" - Joksimović said.

In just four days, the song Nije ljubav stvar has been viewed more than two million times on YouTube.

After Joksimović's song was premiered on March 10th, the commentator of the ESC official website wrote that Joksimović is ready to take "Eurosong" back to Belgrade, to the Belgrade Arena, where the competition was held in 2008. A British betting giant, has already listed the Serbian representative among the three most likely to triumph.