Promotional poster for the 2024 Milan Mladenović Award, depicting him playing a guitar, sporting the call “Apply with your song” in Macedonian. Photо by Zoran Trbović, poster design by Nikola Puzigaća, republished with permission from Foundation Milan Mladenović.
The Milan Mladenović Foundation announced the super finalists for the Milan Mladenović Award for 2024, named in honor of the legendary Serbian and Yugoslav musician best known as the front man of the Yugoslav art rock band Ekatarina Velika (EKV), and as influential poet and an antiwar movement activist.
The annual award was established to “promote the art of music marked by the features that are characteristic of his artistic legacy.” The five finalists representing the avant garde of contemporary music in the region were chosen by an international jury.
The winner will be announced on Mladenović’s birthday September 21 in Makarska, a seaside Croatian town that held a special place in his life. He was born in Zagreb (Croatia), and lived in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Belgrade (Serbia), while spending his summers in Makarska, his mother's birthplace.
The 2024 jury includes Yugoslav rock scene luminaries Anja Rupel, singer of renowned Slovenian synthpop group Videosex (which often performed with EKV), Croatian music critic Dubravko Jagatić, musician Max Juričić, former member of legendary Croatian bands Azra and Film, and two Serbian members: musician Nikola Vranjković and music editor Svetlana Đolović.
The jury had to sift through 318 candidate songs that applied to the open call, choosing the following songs as the five super finalists (in alphabetical order):
- Moira, with the song “Aroma(n)tična” from North Macedonia
- Lennie, with the song “Desna strana knjige” from Croatia
- Nemeček, with the song “Mirila” from Croatia
- Škofja Loka VIS, with the song “Nikad niko” from Serbia
- Tamara Mylo, with the song “Posle jednog proleća” from Srbija
The jury members expressed pleasure with the quality of selected candidate songs and young artists that reflect creativity of the current generation of young musicians, as well as hope that even more such young musicians from all eligible countries will continue to apply in the future.
Out of over three hundred candidates, the jury first chose 42 semifinalists, and then narrowed down the 12 finalists that will appear on a promotional compilation album (CD), while the winner will also receive a monetary award of EUR 3000 and an invitation to perform at Exit, the biggest regional music festival in Novi Sad next year.
The five super finalist songs
The title of the song “Aroma(n)tična” by Macedonian duo Mojra can be translated as “Aroma(n)tic,” combining the words aromatic and romantic. The band consists of composer/guitarist Darko Jovanov and vocalist Jasna Trpkova, who said that their jazzy tune represents “the states of being in-between.” The song was released alongside a stop-motion animation video with over 4000 images, made by Jovanov and his brother Dejan.
Малку, малку малку малку
Давај ми по малку
Од твојата кујна
Малку, малку малку малку
Многу, ама малку, зарем сум ти чудна?
A little bit, a little little little bit,
Give me a bite from your kitchen
A little bit, a little little little bit,
A lot but a little bit, do I seem strange to you?
Jury member Nikola Vranjković said that, while about 280 of the entries seem “stuck in the past” he was pleasantly surprised with the creativity of the remaining 50 or so candidates, which incited him to further listen to their whole albums available online, underscoring the quality of Macedonian bands applying,
The title of the song “Desna strana knjige” by 22-year old Croatian singer, songwriter and dancer lennie (with a lowercase “l”) translates as “The right side of the book.” The lyrics of this love song refer to seduction and trust, and ability to overcome one’s limitations to be able to achieve intimacy.
Slomit’ ćeš mi srce na pola
Sve svoje riječi da ti dam
Ne bi bilo dosta čak ni tadZato šutim kad me pitaš
Ako možeš prići bliže
Strah me da me netko vidi
Drugim očima
You’ll break my heart in two
Even if I give you all my words
It wouldn’t be enoughThat’s why I keep silent when you ask
If you can come closer
I’m afraid if someone sees me with
Another pair of eyes
The song “Mirila” (it's a woman's name) by Croatian noise and post rock band Nemeček addresses the dark feelings referring to historical experiences and emotions about impending doom, passed through generations, combining rock, synth and traditional folk elements.
This dark atmosphere is also relayed through the cover of the album “Prokletije II” (literally Accursed Mountains, metaphorically damned lands), with two women in black kneeling in front of the painting “A Black Flag” by Croatian painter Ljubo Babić, made in 1916 during World War I, depicting mourning processions after the death of Emperor Francis Joseph I of Austria. The lyrics bring associations of wars.
Kroz tvoje oči sivo plave
vidio sam sve šta je bilo
I sve ono što treba biti
srce mojeNoći su nam hladne majko
Grije nas samo dim iz cijevi
Kroz rov
Kroz noć
Kroz sve naše jame zakopane
Through your gray blue eyes
I saw everything that was
And everything that has to be
Heart of mineThe nights are cold, mother
Only the smoke from the barrels warms us
Through the trench
Through the night
Through all our grave pits
The song by Serbian band Škofja Loka VIS “Nikad Niko” (“Nobody never”) seems to refer to the need for change and the need to accept change. This collective from Belgrade which takes its name from a Slovenian town gathers audio and visual artists, combining various styles of the XX and XXI century
Nikad niko,
nikad, nikad nikako-o
tome nije
nikad ni razmišljao.
Nikad niko,
nikad, nikad nikako-o
tome nije
pravi značaj davao.
Nobody never
never, never and in no way
didn't even think about it.
Nobody never
never, never and in no way
didn't even pay attention to it.
The song “Posle jednog proleća” (“After a certain spring”) is by 25-year-old Serbian singer and songwriter Tamara Mylo. When she released the song in December 2023, she said that even though she composed and performed it as one piece, it took time to finish it in a way to present her idea to convey her depiction of “the atypical moment we live in.”
posle jednog proleća
više nikad nismo isti
više nismo tako čisti
kao pre
after a certain spring
we are no longer the same
we are no longer pure
as before
Previous winners of Milan Mladenović Award include the Serbian band Ljubičice, who won in 2023 with the the song “Dok čekame pad” (“While we wait for the fall”) and Macedonian singer Dina Jashari who won in 2022 with the song “Doma” (“At home”).
