Weeks before Eurovision 2016, Bosnian tabloids reported on a bust-up at Deen’s birthday party between the rapper Jala and “Ljubav je” producer Almir Ajanovic.
Faktor claimed that Almir was visibly intoxicated and attacked Jala, resulting in at least one broken nose and a few black eyes. Almir subsequently apologised, blaming himself for drinking alcohol while simultaneously taking tranquilisers to calm his nerves ahead of Eurovision.
Now, speaking exclusively to wiwibloggs about the dramatic incident, Deen has explained precisely what happened.
“We had a little accident…but nothing as bad as you read in the media,” he said.
“He is still our friend. Only one bottle was thrown by the author of the song. He was under huge pressure because of the Eurovision project and he was burnt out.”
“He kept having panic attacks. He had to take some pills to address that and he drank some alcohol that night as he was celebrating my birthday.”
Deen made the comments last month, as he and his fellow Eurovision 2016 participants Dalal and Ana Rucner met up with wiwibloggs in Dubrovnik, where Ana was performing a special summer solstice concert on Mount Srd.
They’ve survived birthday fights and a Eurovision elimination, which has brought them even closer together.
As Ana explained: “I think that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. We are friends and we will make something together. We just need to find time.”
Despite their positive experience, they seem pessimistic about Bosnia & Herzegovina returning to Eurovision in the near future.
Commenting on BHRT’s ongoing problems, Deen said: “You should ask the Head of Delegation Lejla Babovic. Contact her and she will tell you a lot of beautiful things about the situation. They didn’t have a lot of money. It’s a very hard situation for the national broadcasting service and because of that, it is very questionable whether there’ll be any Eurovision Song Contest anymore in the future.”
It really upsets Dalal.
“It’s very sad because Bosnia participated even during the war, so, it’s really, really bad for the artists that could be international, visible and make collaborations with other artists,” she said.
“We had a three-year pause and I am hoping that this doesn’t happen again but the situation is very bad because the public broadcaster doesn’t have any money and it owes a lot of money to the EBU.”
Asked about how Jala fit into their Eurovision 2016 entry, Ana remained positive.
“I think he’s great you know, and this song is completely different. Jala’s rap was something special. If someone likes that, or doesn’t like that…I like Jala personally. He is a great guy and a great musician, and he has big success in the region.”
What a Eurovision experience that fight and their bonding was. Kudos to them for still wanting their country to take part of the contest.
Hope they’ll solve money issues. Good interviews btw, thank you Deban! ESC saw a good bunch of songs which may be called ‘balkan-style’, but maybe it’s time to blend it with more current sound. Bulgarian team proved it so well…
Maya Berovic and Jala Brat with a brand new single:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ9AoYacRI0
*Berovic
If Bosnia & Herzegovina participate next year, they need to send Maya Berovi? ;-;