Tose Proeski

At 26 years old, Tose Proeski has this physical status:

Todor Proeski (25 January 1981 – October 16, 2007) was a Macedonian multi-genre singer, songwriter, and actor.

He was known all around the Balkans and was considered a leading performer of the local Macedonian and Balkan music scene.

According to BBC News, he was dubbed "Elvis Presley of the Balkans."

At the age of 26, he died in a car accident on the Zagreb-Lipovac highway near Nova Gradika in Croatia.

Early years

Proeski was born in Prilep and grew up in Kruevo to an Aromanian family. He was selected to perform at the popular children's song festival Zlatno Slavej (eng). Golden Nightingale (Skopje) performing the song "as i mооt dоt dеdо" in the Aromanian language. This was his first public music appearance; however, his prolific career began in 1996 when he appeared in the teen music festival Melfest in Prilep.

Following his public recognition, he was praised for his strong vocal skills. Since he appeared in the music festival Makfest in 1997, he rose to fame. The song "Puti Me" ("Let Me Go") was released in 1997. His fanbase grew quickly, and he continued to attend festivals such as SkopjeFest and OhridFest as a tool for promotion and publicity. Proeski produced some of his most popular songs, such as "Usni na lips" ("Lips over Lips") and "Sun in Your Golden Hair," by Grigor Koprov, Macedonia's best-known lyricist and composer. Nekade vo no.ta (Somewhere in the Night) was his first album, which was released in 1999. Proeski performed his first solo concert in Skopje in the summer of the same year.

Proeski ran in the Eurovision pre-selection for Macedonia in SkopjeFest in 2000. He performed "Solzi prat zlaten prsten" ("Tears Make a Golden Ring"), which received national television voting; however, he came in third overall, behind Karolina Goeva and the winners XXL. He started recording tracks for his second album, Sinot boji (The Son of God), during that time, which was released in June 2000. The album featured songs such as "Nemir" ("Restless"), "Izlasi da spijam" ("Sleeping in Your Hair"), "Illusion"), "Illusion"), "Iluzija" ("Sleeping in Your Hair"), "Grand Prix at the festival "Secret of Mine"), as well as "Illusion") ("Grand Prix at the festival Slavianski Bazaar in Vitete "Vo —" ("Sete ee ("Seroberoberoberoberobe," ("Slee Riva") ("Sle e Fia" ("Slee Vă e e e te e a") ("Il" ("Se e e" ("Se Bos" ("Me Bask" ("Se, e Mute te te e e e e e e tebse te e "Mo Bazaar in Vitebsk" ("Se) and "Se) and "Se ete e etedno edno edno" ("Illo etete a" ("K"), "Ilam") Kire Kostov (winning second prize at the festival Sun'ane Skale in Herceg Novi, now Montenegro) wrote two songs.

BK Sound, the Serbian production house, purchased the rights to release Proeski's new album in the other former Yugoslav republics, resulting in his popularity in those former republics for the year 2000 and his sold-out shows in Skopje and Belgrade. In 2001, Proeski and other Macedonian singers embarked on an Australian tour.

Proeski gained more international recognition in the countries of former Yugoslavia by placing second at the Sun Skale Festival in Herceg Novi, written by G. Koprov, O. Nedelkovski, and K. Ikonomov.

Proeski's third album, "If You Look into My Eyes"), was released in Macedonian and Serbian after spending his time in recording studios in Athens, Greece. Proeski went on a tour around Macedonia doing intense promotion after his debut. He also went to Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Bulgaria for further promotion. Proeski won Beovizija in Belgrade in April 2003 with the slogan "Ija si" ("To Whom Do You Belong?" "A song that became a big hit in Macedonia and other former Yugoslav republics. This song was supposed to represent Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, but the EBU reported that too many countries wanted to participate in the year, and that some countries would be compelled to cancel, so some countries would be forced to withdraw. Serbia and Montenegro were two of them (who remained as one country at the time):

Proeski took lessons in New York from maestro William Riley, who was also a mentor to well-known tenor Luciano Pavarotti. Proeski hosted humanitarian concerts in Macedonia as he returned. He was given the Mother Teresa Humanitarian Award in 2003, and he became a Regional UNICEF Ambassador in 2003.

MKTV selected Proeski to represent Macedonia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 in Istanbul, Turkey, and in February, he performed eight songs, where a jury, televation, and his own opinion selected the song. Both three girls selected "Angel si ti" ("You're an Angel") and sang of "You're an Angel." Proeski's album "Dan za nas" ("A Day For Us"), which included the eight songs from Macedonia's Eurovision selection.

Proeski's album "Life," the English translation of "Angel si ti," ranked 14th in May. He had been widely praised by journalists because of his uncannily opera singing skills at his press conferences long before the competition.

Both eight songs were released in English, but only the national final's winner, "Life," was released. A clip of the song was played in English during the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 final in English, showing viewers how it would sound if that song won the competition and was performed in English.

Proeski was named as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2004 and performed the song "This World" which became the UNICEF anthem. Proeski has signed a deal with Dallas Records, so his next album may be released in Croatia and Slovenia. Proeski recorded "Krajne vreme" with Slovenian singer Anja Rupel to establish himself in these countries. Toe's fifth album Po tebe (After You) was released in 2005 in ex-Yugoslavia. Po tebe is one of the most popular Balkan albums ever. Months later, it dominated music charts in Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovenia, Slovenia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina.

Boilak (Rainbow) was a collection of 14 traditional Macedonian songs arranged by Saa Nikolovski Gjumar, Ilija Pejovski, and Soni Petrovski. On the album, the artist was supported by a symphony orchestra.

Igri bez granici (Macedonian title)/Igra bez granica (Serbo-Croatian title) was published in August 2007, the last album by the Igri bez granici (Game Without Limits) was released all over ex-Yugoslavia.

He performed one song in Slovene, "Mine") in 2007, as well as one in Italian, "Aria" ("Air") with Italian superstar Gianna Nannini. Anja Rupel, Antonija ola, Bora & Coordination, Esma Redeleva, Gianna Nannini, Grigor Koprov, Goca Tran, Bora orba, Golina Redegga, Gola Redeva, Goma Redev, Gianna Nannini, Georg eljko Joksimovi, and other well-known artists who performed with Proema He was a student in his last year in the Skopje Music Academy's solo singing section before his death.

Proeski also established himself as a songwriter. He wrote several hits for himself, including "Ima dan za nas" ("Are You Listening"), "Male"), "Maleka"), and "Field Flower" ("Field Flower." Proeski composed "Muza" ("Muse") for Martin Vui," the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 representative for Macedonia, in 2004. It was the title track on the young artist's second album. Proeski said in interviews that he had written over 100 songs but that he was waiting for the right time to record them as they were still in demo form.

On October 5, 2007, Toe's last concert for the Primary Education Project for USAID was held. Hundreds of thousands of euros were raised for Macedonia's primary schools. Over 40,000 people attended the festival, and viewers from around the world attended it.

Proeski gave his last interview to the Macedonian Television Station Kanal 5 the night before his death. He discussed his plans to complete his Musical Academy studies, his quest for his soul mate, and his latest collection of works.

The fight against evil, eliminate enemies, and the triumph of the good were the key elements of the comic "Super Toe," in which the main character was based on Toe Proeski. It was produced as part of the humanitarian campaign under the slogan "Superheroe of humanity." In the aim of creating a fictional superhero that will hopefully be a youth idol, the main character has all the strengths and characteristics of Tobe. "TToe is idealized, but with this, we want to give the young people hope that the good will conquer the evil," Oliver Romevski, the author of "Super Toe." "His job was not straightforward." He had his super voice as a weapon in which he tried to eliminate the bad and defeat his enemies, one of whom was Mr. Pirate, the world's most dangerous adversary, was smuggling children, cocaine, and arms.

Proeski performed Macedonia with the song Life on the forty-ninth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest in 2004. In a competition with seven other songs written for Proeski, the artist was chosen on February 14, 2004, by televoting and 11 membered juries.

Ilija Nikolovski wrote the song, which was directed by Jovan Jovanov. On the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, he was both versatile and energetic in a back-up to the back vocals who had a stage performance, winning 49 points and ending in 14th place.

He admitted that he was dissatisfied with his result, putting it down to what he saw as Eurovision voting based on both stage direction and the song itself. However, on his return to his homeland, he was greeted with a warm welcome.

He appeared in his second solo concert at the City Stadium in Skopje on June 23, 2006. The spectacular concert began with a dance group from Belgrade, performing to Toe's band, Blue Funky Individuals.

The stadium was packed with his supporters who performed with him his top hits Po tebe, Rani na dusa, l. mk – transl. Koj li grize obrazi, Polsko cveke,..., as well as the songs from his previous albums.

He was joined by ethnic singer Bilja Krstia and the Macedonian folk song Jovano Jovanke in a duet in the middle of the concert. Bilja remained alone on the stage after the show, despite her big hit Puce puska.

The concert lasted until midnight, but his followers didn't let him leave, so he returned to the stage and performed Po tebe again, alongside Zajdi zajdi, the Macedonian folk song.

Vei me za sebe, Tobe's entry for Croatia's Radio Festival on June 9, earned a Grand Prix award in the category of pop-rock and urban music with 16.589 points.

The pop star Tose Proeski performed his spectacular concert at 07:30 p.m. on October 5, 2007 under the slogan "The education is everyone's responsibility." The organisation USAID supports Tose Proeski. The tickets (roughly 10.000 euros) were used to fund a five-year initiative for renovating 100 elementary schools all over Macedonia for providing greater educational services and education reforms. Except To Toe, other attendees of USAID were at the press conference in Hotel Continental Skopje. Michael Eddy said he was proud to be working with a celebrity from the rank of Toe Proeski. Totoe said that the renovation of the school Nikola Karev in Krushevo (his hometown) has been expedited.

"It's an honor to be part of a program like this and part of Macedonia's national education policy." Every performance of mine is dear to me, but the charity concerts are special to me, and they will remain in me for as long as I live. "We should have a healthier society if we can improve the education in Macedonia," Tobe said.

He made a remark at the press conference that he would look like a Macedonian forever, and that he would never leave his country. "The triumph is still tied to evil because it is in the nature of human beings." Because I can't do it on my own, I hope that I get the help from everyone to combat the evil. "Toe" said the narrator.

Toe was joined by Adrian Gaxha, Bojan Marovi, and Antonija ola as guest stars on his last concert.

Toe and his band were given statuettes of Mother Teresa by the same charity's foundation after the show as a thank you for their humanitarian efforts. Tonge gave his statuette to his mother, Dominika, who teaches him about the benefits of charitable work even as an infant. The spectacular firework in honor of Toe brought all of life to a close.

"Give me a starry sky" was one of his best lines from his performance that will never be forgotten (when he begged his followers to switch on the flashlights on their phones).

On January 6, 2008, the concert was broadcast on A1 Televizija at 03:00 p.m. – 07:00 p.m.

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