Destination Lisbon (#24): Meet Sanja Ilić & Balkanika from Serbia

09 April 2018 at 08:00 CEST

Sanja Ilić & Balkanika represents Serbia at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest RTS - Dušan Petrović

In the 24th part of 'Destination Lisbon', our feature counting down to the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest, we get to know Sanja Ilić & Balkanika who will represent Serbia with the song 'Nova Deca'.

In February, the band Sanja Ilić & Balkanika won Beovizija 2018, the Serbian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the first time in nine years that a national selection was held to determine the Serbian Eurovision entry. Read more..

Sanja Ilić & Balkanika will perform the song Nova Deca which translates as New Children. They recently travelled to Portugal to record her postcard for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest:

Lead singer Aleksandar Sanja Ilić has been active in the music scene since he was a child. His first successes as a composer and instrumentalist came when his songs were performed by famous Yugoslavian singers during festivals and on records. In 1982 he won the Yugoslavian national selection for Eurovision Song Contest and represented the country in Harrogate with the band Aska.

In 1998, Ilić established the group Balkanika; a group of musicians who play old instruments from the Balkans, trying to blend them with a modern pop-rock sound. Combining female ethnic vocals and powerful male rock vocals, with electronic sound and ethnic Balkan instruments, lead to the band's particular sound.

Over the past few years, the band performed around the world, from Russia to the United States and as far as South Korea.

At the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest we'll get to know five members of the group Balkanika. Lead vocalists Danica Krstić and Mladen Lukić, backing vocalist Nevena Stamenković, flautist Ljubomir Dimitrijević and percussionist Aleksandar Radulović.