The Spin

Jelena Tomasevic was born in Kragujevac on 1 November, 1983. She entered the world of music in a town where she finished Elementary School and Gymnasium. At the age of eight, she won the top award at the Children’s Music Festival Sarenijada, and three years later, she became the winner of the Yugoslav Children’s Festival.

After becoming a member of the Abrasevic Folklore Ensemble, one of the most successful ensembles in Serbia, her music career soared. She achieved tremendous results at the most prestigious festivals.In 2002, Jelena emerged on the Serbian music scene and her career as a pop singer started to take off. She won over the jury in the superfinal of the TV show 3K DUR which was broadcast on RTS Three with the aim of promoting young talented artists. Later that same year, she was second at the Zrenjanin Festival and won the best novice award. She was the Serbian representative at the prestigious music festivals in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Belarus.

After this turning point in Jelena’s career, she made a huge breakthrough. In 2003, she competed for the first time at the Budva Festival and finished second at the prestigious festival Slavjanski bazar in Belarus.In 2004, she participated with great success in the Beovizija Festival. In 2005, she met Zeljko Joksimovic. She became a member of the Minacord Production Company. At the Beovizija 2005, she sang the song Jutro (Morning) composed by Zeljko Joksimovic and written by Aleksandra Milutinovic and won the top award.

Jelena was considered one of the favourites at the Serbian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. She came second in the final. Later that same year, she sang the soundtrack to the film Ivkova slava which was written by Zeljko Joksimovic.The film pulled in a record number of viewers. In December 2007 Jelena Tomasevic entered the Beovizija 2008 Open Competition with the song Oro composed by Zeljko Joksimovic and written by Dejan Ivanovic. On 10 March, 2008, she won the Serbian national selection having received the highest number of points from both the jury and televoters. She was awarded the best interpretation prize by the selection jury.