Knez (Montenegro): This is my vision of Balkan music!

“I wouldn’t say I’m nervous or under pressure. But I do feel a responsibility to give my best, trying to achieve what we did last year. People expect that. Still, it’s up to the audience and jury,“ a 47-year-old pop star from Montenegro explained.

“This is definitely an amazing experience for me. Everything looks so perfect and we all have unbelievable technical conditions in order to make our performances look perfect,“ Knez added.

At some point, the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest will be over and Knez will get back to the studio to continue with writing new songs for his upcoming album. "True. I’ve had different plans in the beginning. I though I will have all the songs finished before May, but because the Eurovision we had to postpone it,“ the Montenegrin pop star, who is quite popular in the Balkans, said

“My new studio album will be out in September and it will be, I would say a fusion of a lot of sounds from our region, also Mediterranean, but also some modern rhythms.“

"Adio is a modern ambient song with some traditional motifs and elements", Knez said. "This my vision of Balkan music. The way I see it and feel it. That’s why I recorded a promo CD with some traditional songs. Nevertheless, it’s not just ethno music from the Balkans. It has some soul and jazz sounds too, including sequences performed by instruments, like trumpets."

'200 years of music tradition'

"Everything is just perfect. On the other hand, I have an allergy at the moment, but I will be ok. Even though, the weather is nice today, for me it’s not nice. I prefer the rain,“ Knez told the Press after his second rehearsal in the Wiener Stadthalle.

As he already mentioned, how his father Mili Knežević, a lyric tenor, took part in the national selections in the 80s, Nenad Knežević Knez decided to share some family photo with the accredited press.

"What you will see here is a 200 years of music tradition in the family of Knez. This is Nenad’s grandfather who was in charge of the state orchestra. His father Mili was a singer as well. Knez, you know already and you also met his daughter Ksenija“, Ivan Maksimović, a Head of Press in Montenegrin delegation explained.

One of the questions during the Press conference was, how hard it is for Knez to perform a song written by someone else, as he is usually an author of his songs. "That's not really a problem for me. Željko and I are really good friends. I met him 20 years ago when he was a student at Music Academy in Podgorica. We have similar ideas. We were in one band together almost for two years and we know each other very well", Knez replied.

"Our songs has some modern, but also some traditional, ethnic elements, the visual elements needs to follow the story of a song. What you will see during the performance on the LED floor and background is: the mountains, Adriatic sea, but also traditional Montenegrin dances", Marko Novaković explained.

On stage, Knez wears an elegant black suit and the backing vocalists black wide-leg trousers with some green and beige parts. "But that’s not all. Girls will also have some jewellery designed by Montenegrin art designer, Katarina Zlajić," a stylist in Montenegrin delegation, Boško Jakovljević said.

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