"(Karolina) got her first big break at the age of 11 when she performed at a children's festival with the song 'Mum, leave me alone'."

Karolina Goceva got her first big break at the age of 11 when she performed at a children's festival with the song "Mamo, pušti me" ("Mum, leave me alone"). Her career was just starting, so she used the national festivals to promote her voice and talent. She became a regular participant in SkopjeFest, debuting in 1994 when she performed the song "Koj da ti kaže" ("Who to tell you"). In the following years she participated successfully, especially when SkopjeFest was used to choose a song for Eurovision. In 1996, Karolina participated with "Ma, ajde kaži mi" ("Come on, tell me") and reached 9th place. In 1998, she participated with "Ukradeni no?i" ("Stolen nights") and was more successful, reaching 4th place with 10,454 televotes. In 2000, Karolina joined the record label, Avalon Productions, who helped her release her debut album "Jas imam pesna" (I've got a song). With her first album released, Karolina took port in the SkopjeFest Eurovision song selection. Karolina nearly missed out coming in 2nd with song "Za nas" ("For us") from Darko Dimitrov.

After promotion through concerts and festivals, Karolina released her second album "Zošto sonot ima kraj" (Why the dream has an end) in 2002. Karolina gained more popularity in former Yugoslavia, by performing at Suncane Skale festival with the song "Jamajka" ("Jamaica"). On Karolina's album, she included three English versions of her songs titled "I'm looking for Jamaica", "You could", and "Tell me". 2002 became even more successful for Karolina because she was crowned the winner of "Skopje Eurosong 2002 with "Od nas zavisi" ("It Depends on Us"), which allowed her to represent Macedonia in front of a European audience. Some controversy surrounded Karolina participation and it dealt with the language of the song. MKTV submitted the participation form with the performing language selected as Macedonian. Karolina and her record label thought that this would be a handicap and that Karolina should sing in English so she could successfully compete with the other nations. MKTV dragged out the incident, threatening to send 2nd placed performer Andrijana Janevska if Karolina did not sing in Macedonian. At last MKTV offered Karolina the possibility of performing the song in Macedonian and English, but she eventually declined. The deadline for changes passed and Karolina ended up going to Tallinn with the Macedonian version of her song. She finished in 19th place.

On March of 2003 she released her third album "Znaeš kolku vredam" (You know how much I'm worth). She was featured on many television programs on TV stations in Macedonia. After 2003, her career expanded to include other Balkan nations. Karolina went into the studios and recorded all of her songs from her third album in the Serbian language so she could appeal to a wider market in those areas.

In 2005, Karolina participated once again at the Suncane Skale festival. Her song "Ruza Ruzica" ("Red Rose") became an instant hit placing her 4th in the festival. Karolina also released her new song "Se lazam sebe" ("I'm lying to myself"), which was written by the diva of Macedonian pop music, Kaliopi. At the end of 2005, she released the album "Vo zaborav" (In Oblivion). However the promotion of the album started with a scandal when the Czech based "Imperial Video Production" accused Karolina of unprofessionalism during the shooting of the "Plovime" video. Karolina had arrived in Prague in late 2005 to shoot two music videos but left soon after the shooting of the first video. The production company had taken Karolina to court and had sued for 100,000 Euros in damages. Karolina continued with her career releasing the Serbian version of her album called "U Zaboravu" and a special Croatian version, which contained song sung in the Jekavski dialect. Karolina recorded a successful duet with Aki Rahimovski titled "Bela Pesna" ("White Song"), which became a big hit in the Ex-Yugoslavian region. In early 2007, Karolina released a duet with the popular Serbian group Flamingosi.

Karolina Goceva will participate in the Macedonian SkopjeFest competition with the song "Mojot Svet". The song was written by Grigor Koprov and composed by Ognen Nedelkovski. She will be the first artist to represent Macedonia twice at Eurovision.

The Singer
 
She has problems making up her mind, does Karolina. This is her second go at Eurovision, and on both occasions there has been uncertainty on the language used (not in rude sense, perish the thought). The best legs in the business again applied to the EBU to allow her to perform in English, but it was rudely rebuffed by the bigwigs, and so she will once again attempt to emote "My World" in Macedonian. After her go at it in 2002, this might prove somewhat of a challenge. I loved "Od Nas Zavisi" then, coming as it did at a time when ethno efforts with a kick were a fairly new development. Times change though, and this one seems somewhat jaded now. A shame since I got my wish with the return of Karolina, a woman who deserves points for being able to balance on those legs of hers.

The Past
 
FYROM have always been one of my favourite Eurovision nations, mostly for their knack to stubbornly march on to defeat with ethnic efforts year and year. They have never wandered into what I would call Euro-pop territory, and are the other side of the coin to Sweden and the UK in that regard.
And what with the most bizarre and sunny of all European national flags, you just must wish them well. More Karolina please.

The Song
 
I'll keep this brief, just like her wardrobe. Ethnic instrumentation (check), gibbering nonsensical lyric to disguise the author's deficiencies (check), big obvious gaps in the song where all she can do is stand there and genuflex (check), maidens throwing themselves around in the background to no apparent purpose (check check check), absolutely no chance of winning but may make it through to the final (check). Nothing new here, it's your typical Macedonian effort. Brill.

Overall

Karolina will be one half of one of the most intriguing battles this year, as her young pins rub directly up against the more mature legs of the Norwegian gurner. Can youth triumph over experience? I'm not sure, but I'll warrant exfoliating sponsors are breaking down her Skopjian door as we speak...maybe.

In a Nutshell
"Legs up to her expectations"

the philosopher says

performative utterance A linguistic expression used to do something. When spoken by someone in an appropriate position: "I'm sorry." makes an apology; and "I now declare you husband and wife." performs a marriage. Thus, performatives are important instances of what Austin later called illocutionary acts. Recommended Reading: J. L. Austin, How to Do Things With Words, ed. by Marina Sbisa and J. O. Urmson (Harvard, 1975)


Mojot Svet

Najna najna, nanana najna
Najna najna, nanana najna
Najna najna, nanana najna
Najna najna, nanana na

Nokva so senki pak zboruvam
Moram od sebe da pobegnam
Tri angeli me cuvaat
Odam po vistinski pat

Mojot svet se vika muzika
Nema vera nitu granica
Mojot svet se osum noti
Edna duša balkanska

Mojot svet se vika muzika
Nema vera nitu granica
Mojot svet se osum noti
Edna duša balkanska

Sonce me budi vo postela
Pesna me gali vo dušata
Tri spomeni što bolea
Vecno gi izbrišav jas

Mojot svet se vika muzika
Nema vera nitu granica
Mojot svet se osum noti
Edna duša balkanska

Mojot svet se vika muzika
Nema vera nitu granica
Mojot svet se osum noti
Edna duša balkanska

Najna najna nanana najna
Najna najna nanana najna
Najna najna nanana najna
Nanana najna

Mojot svet se vika muzika
Nema vera nitu granica
Mojot svet se osum noti
Edna duša balkanska

Mojot svet se osum noti
Edna duša balkanska  

My World

Naina naina nanana naina
Naina naina nanana naina
Naina naina nanana naina
Naina naina nanana na

Tonight again I am talking to shadows
I have to run away from myself
Three angels look after me
I am walking on the right road

My world is called music
It has no religions or borders
My world is eight notes
One Balkan soul

My world is called music
It has no religions or borders
My world is eight notes
One Balkan soul

Sun wakes me up in my bed
Song caresses my soul
Three memories that were hurtful
I erased forever

My world is called music
It has no religions or borders
My world is eight notes
One Balkan soul

My world is called music
It has no religions or borders
My world is eight notes
One Balkan soul

Naina naina nanana naina
Naina naina nanana naina
Naina naina nanana naina
Nanana naina

My world is called music
It has no religions or borders
My world is eight notes
One Balkan soul

My world is eight notes
One Balkan soul

Prediction Semi Final 12th
Final -