Slavko Kalezić
Slavko Kalezić (Cyrillic: Славко Калезић, pronounced [slǎːʋko kâlezit͜ɕ], born 4 October 1985) is a Montenegrin actor, singer and songwriter. He took part in X Factor Adria but failed to make it to the live shows. He represented Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Space". In 2017, he took part in the fourteenth series of The X Factor UK, where he was eliminated from the competition at judges' houses.
Slavko Kalezić | |
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Kalezić in 2017 | |
Background information | |
Born | Titograd, Yugoslavia (Podgorica, Montenegro) | 4 October 1985
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
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Instruments |
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Years active | 2011–present |
Beginnings
Kalezić studied at the Academy of Performing Arts at Cetinje, Montenegro and later on becoming part of Ensemble of the Montenegrin National Theatre. He played various roles in theater and movies, performed at various music events but also at European Pride shows in Tel Aviv, Stockholm, London, and Madrid.[1] He was invited to return to Madrid for World Pride in the summer of 2017, where he performed in the gala finale held at Puerta de Alcalá alongside other Eurovision Song Contest alumni such as Loreen, Conchita, Barei, Rosa Lopez, Ruth Lorenzo, Suzy and Kate Ryan.[2] In the promotional season for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest, Slavko was invited to perform at both the Australian preview parties in Sydney and Melbourne, making him the first artist from the contest to attend these events.[3]
In 2011, Kalezić released the single "Muza".[1]
Career
In X Factor Adria
In 2013, Kalezić became more prominent by competing in series 1 of X Factor Adria, the Serbian pan-regional version of The X Factor.[4][5] During the Podgorica, Montenegro auditions, he sang Beyoncé's "End of Time", successfully advancing to the bootcamp for the "Over 27" category, mentored by Željko Joksimović. He sang "Get Lucky" and "Cosmic Girl", and was then promoted to the Judges' house stage, where he performed "Ljuljaj me nezno", being mentored by Joksimović, who was assisted by Tony Cetinski, but he failed to make it to the live shows and the Final 14.[1]
After X Factor Adria
In 2014, subsequent to X Factor Adria, Kalezić released the album San o vječnosti. Singles included most notably "Krivac", "Feel the Music" and "Freedom".[1]
Eurovision 2017
Kalezić was confirmed to be internally selected as the Montenegrin entrant to the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with his song, "Space", on 29 December 2016.[6] He represented Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Space". It was written by Adis Eminić, Iva Boršić, Momčilo Zeković and produced by Stefan Orn and Jovan Radomir in studios in Stockholm .[4][5]. Montenegro was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 2017. Performing during the show in position 6, "Space" was placed 16th in the first semi-final and therefore was not in the top 10 entries of the first semi-final, so did not qualify to compete in the final.
In UK The X Factor
In July 2017, he auditioned for the fourteenth series of the UK The X Factor.[7] During his audition he revealed that judge Louis Walsh, who was also at the Contest in Kyiv as a member of the Irish delegation, advised him to audition. He received a "Yes" from three of the four judges and progressed to Bootcamp.[6] He survived Bootcamp and progressed to Nicole Scherzinger's Judges' House. At Judges' Houses he was not selected by his mentor Nicole Scherzinger to go through to live shows and therefore was eliminated from the competition.[8] He was included as a potential wildcard act but did not get enough votes from the public.
Eurovision 2018
Kalezić was invited by RTP and OGAE Portugal to travel to Lisbon and perform at a number of events during the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest. Slavko performed remixes of his Eurovision 2017 song "Space" along with new single "El Ritmo" at the Eurofan Café, Wiwijam, Trumps Lisboa and Euroclub.[9]He also attended the semi final in which Montenegro were competing as well as the Grand Final.
Moja Istina
In April 2018 Kalezić published a book called Moja Istina (meaning My Truth) documenting his experience at Eurovision 2017 and The X Factor. It was published in Montenegrin language with a view to having it translated to English later on.
The X Factor performances and results | ||||
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Show | Song choice | Theme | Result | |
Auditions | "End of Time" – Beyoncé | N/A | Through to bootcamp round 1 | |
Bootcamp Round 1 | Unknown | Through to bootcamp round 2 | ||
Bootcamp Round 2 | "Where Have You Been" - Rihanna | Through to six chair challenge | ||
Six-chair challenge | "Little Bad Girl" - David Guetta featuring Taio Cruz and Ludacris | Through to judges houses | ||
Judges' houses | "On the Floor" – Jennifer Lopez featuring Pitbull | Eliminated |
Discography
Albums
Title | Details | Notes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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San o vječnosti |
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Singles
Title | Year | Album |
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"Muza" | 2011 | San o vječnosti |
"Krivac" | 2014 | |
"Feel the Music" | 2015 | Non-album singles |
"Freedom" | 2016 | |
"Space" | 2017 | |
"El Ritmo" | 2018 | |
"Moonlit Night" | 2019 | |
"Love Letter" |
Filmography
- L'homme qui voulait vivre sa vie (2010)
- Lokalni vampir (2011)
- Budva na pjenu od mora (2012/2014) - Roman
- The Kids from the Marx and Engels Street (2014) - Fake prostitute
Awards
Year | Award | Category | Result |
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2017 | Barbara Dex Award | "Worst Dressed" artist | Won |
References
- "ESC kompakt - Alle Informationen zum Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv". Esc-kompakt.de. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
- "Puerta de Alcalá - WorldPride Madrid 2017". Worldpridemadrid2017.com. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
- "Events". Ogaeaustralia.com. 2016-12-01. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
- Muldoon, Padraig (29 December 2016). "Montenegro: Slavko Kalezić will sing "Space" at Eurovision 2017". Wiwibloggs.com.
- Jiandani, Sanjay (29 December 2016). "Montenegro: Slavko Kalezić to Kyiv!". Esctoday.com.
- Mercereau, Damien (20 February 2017). "Eurovision 2017 : Slavko Kalezic, le spectaculaire Monténégrin". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 17 March 2017.
- "#MONTENEGRO: Slavko for X-Factor UK???". Eurovisionireland.net. 20 July 2017.
- "Eurovision Montenegro: Slavko's South African journey in The X Factor UK". Esctoday.com. 21 October 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
- "Home | Slavko Kalezic". Home | Slavko Kalezic. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
External links
Preceded by Highway with "The Real Thing" |
Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 |
Succeeded by Vanja Radovanović with "Inje" |