Toše Proeski was a popular Macedonian singer known as the "Elvis Presley of the Balkans". He rose to fame in the late 1990s and gained popularity across the Balkans for his strong vocals and performances at festivals. Proeski released several successful albums and represented Macedonia at Eurovision in 2004 before tragically dying in a car accident in 2007 at the age of 26. He left behind a legacy as one of the most beloved singers in the Balkans region.

1. Toše Proeski
Six hours to heaven
Todor "Toše" Proeski was a Macedonian multi-genre singer, songwriter and actor.
He was popular across the entire Balkan area and was considered a top act of
the local Macedonian music scene. He was dubbed "Elvis Presley of the Balkans"
by BBC News. He died in a car crash on Zagreb–Lipovac A3 highway, near Nova
Gradiška in Croatia at the age of 26.

2.  Following this public exposure, he was awarded for his
strong vocal capabilities. This led to his rise to fame when
he participated in the music festival Makfest in Štip with
the song "Pusti Me" ("Let Me Go") in 1997. His fanbase
quickly grew and he continued to make use of festivals,
such as SkopjeFest and OhridFest, as a platform for
promotion and publicity. Proeski collaborated with one of
Macedonia's acclaimed lyricists and composers, Grigor
Koprov, to produce some of the greatest hits of his career
such as "Usni na Usni" ("Lips over Lips") and "Sonce vo
Tvoite Rusi Kosi" ("Sun in Your Golden Hair"). In 1999, he
released his debut album, Nekade vo Nokta (Somewhere in
the Night), which contained eleven tracks. In the summer
of the same year, Proeski performed his first solo concert
in Skopje.

3.  Early years
 Toše was born in Prilep and grew up in Kruševo
as the son of an Aromanian family. After his
musical talent was discovered at the age of 12,
he was chosen to perform at the popular
children's song festival Zlatno Slavejče (eng.:
Golden Nightingale) in Skopje, performing the
song "Јаs I mојоt dеdо" in Aromanian language.
This was his first public music performance;
however, his successful career began in 1996
when he participated in the teenage music
festival Melfest in Prilep.

4.  After spending his time in recording studios in Athens,
Greece, Proeski released his third album "Ako me
Pogledneš vo Oči" ("If You Look into My Eyes") on October
2went on a tour throughout Macedonia doing intense
promotion. He also went to Serbia, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, and Bulgaria for further promotion. Proeski
won Beovizija in Belgrade on April 2003, with "Čija Si" ("To
Whom Do You Belong?"), a song which became a huge hit
in Macedonia and the other former Yugoslav republics.
This song was due to represent Serbia and Montenegro in
the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 but the EBU stated that
too many countries wanted to enter in that year and so
some would be forced to withdraw. Serbia and Montenegro
(who participated as one country at the time) were one of
them.

5.  To improve his singing, Proeski took classes in New York
from maestro William Riley, who was also coach to famous
tenor, Luciano Pavarotti. When he returned, Proeski held
humanitarian concerts throughout Macedonia. He was
awarded with the Mother Theresa Humanitarian Award and
in 2003 he became a Regional UNICEF Ambassador.
 In 2004, MKTV chose Proeski to represent Macedonia at the
2004 Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul, Turkey, and in
February, he performed eight songs, where a jury,
televoting, and his own opinion chose the song. The song
"Angel Si Ti" ("You're an Angel") was chosen by all three. In
April, Proeski released his album "Dan ZaNas" ("A Day For
Us"), which featured the eight songs from the Eurovision
selection in Macedonian.

6.  Apart from songs in Macedonian, Bosnian, Croatian
and Serbian, he also recorded one song in Slovene,
"Moja" ("Mine") in 2007, and one in Italian, "Aria"
("Air"), with Italian superstar, GiannaNannini. The list
of artists who collaborated with Proeski includes
AnjaRupel, AntonijaŠola, Bora Čorba, Karolina
Gočeva, EsmaRedžepova, GiannaNannini, GocaTržan,
GrigorKoprov, Jeff Beck, Tony Cetinski,
ŽeljkoJoksimović and other notable musicians. Prior
to his death, he was a student in his final year in the
solo singing department of the Skopje Music
Academy.

7.  Proeski also established himself as a songwriter.
He wrote several hits for himself including "Ima Li
Dan Za Nas" ("Is There A Day For Us"), "Slušaš li"
("Are You Listening"), "Malečka" ("Little One") and
"PolskoCveḱe" ("Field Flower"). In 2004, Proeski
composed "Muza" ("Muse") for Martin Vučić, the
2005 Eurovision Song Contest representative for
Macedonia. It became the title track for the
young artist's second album. In interviews,
Proeski stated that he had written over 100
songs but was waiting for the right moments to
record them as they were still in demo form.

8.  Toše's last concert was held on 5 October 2007
for the Primary Education Project for USAID. The
concert raised tens of thousands of euros for the
primary schools of Macedonia. The concert was
attended by over 40,000 people and viewed all
over the world.
 The night before his death, Proeski gave his final
interview to the Macedonian Television Station
Kanal 5. He talked about his intention to finish
his Musical Academy studies, his search for his
soul mate, and his new album in the works.

9.  Proeski's body arrived at midnight in Skopje by
helicopter of the Macedonian army, and was
transported by car to his home town of Kruševo.
Grieving citizens gathered to pay their last respects at
the airport and also in Macedonia Square. The
Embassy of the United States of America, the USAID
and the Diplomatic mission of the European Union
published official statements on the death of
TošeProeski. 17 October was pronounced a national
day of mourning in Macedonia. The three days
following his death were pronounced days of
mourning in the City of Kruševo.

10.  During the early morning of 16 October 2007, at
approximately 6:20 a.m., Proeski died in a car
accident on the Zagreb–Lipovac highway near
Nova Gradiška, Croatia. He was a passenger
along with his manager LjiljanaPetrović in a
Volkswagen Touareg driven by
GeorgijGeorgijevski. The Touareg crashed into
the back of a truck and then into the median
barrier, killing Proeski instantly, crushing the
third vertebrae of his neck, although the truck
sustained no damage. Proeski was asleep in the
front passenger seat at the time of the crash. Of
the other two passengers, only the driver
suffered serious injuries (head trauma).

11.  On 5 October 2008, the anniversary of Proeski's last concert before
his death a tribute concert was held in Skopje. Over twenty singers
from various Balkan countries performed.
 A documentary about the work of TošeProeski was released on 12
February 2009 in cinemas all over Macedonia.Another concert was
held on 24 January 2010, the day before what would have been
Toše's 29th birthday. Immediately after Toše Proeski's death was
announced, the citizens of Skopje and people from all around
Macedonia, as well as foreigners, started to gather at the Macedonia
Square bringing candles, flowers and messages of condolence in his
memory. Also many institutions such as schools, universities, sport
clubs and business companies joined the spontaneous
commemorative campaign. Similar gatherings took place in many
other cities around the country, but also around the Balkans,
especially in the former Yugoslav countries and the diaspora. A
mourning ceremony was organized in Sarajevo, Bosnia and
Herzegovina near Skenderija, where around 2000 people gathered to
light candles in memory of Toše Proeski.

12.  ● NekadeVoNokta (Macedonian language) (1999)
 ● SinotBožji (Macedonian language) (2000)
 ● Ako Me PoglednešVoOči (Macedonian language version) /Ako Me
Pogledaš U Oči (Serbian language version) (2002)
 ● Den ZaNas (Macedonian language version) /Dan ZaNas (Serbo-
Croatian language version) (2004)
 ● Po tebe (Macedonian language version)/PratimTe (Serbo-Croatian
language version) (2005)
 ● Božilak (Traditional Macedonian folk songs) (2006)
 ● Igribezgranici (Macedonian language version) /IgraBezGranica
(Serbo-Croatian language version) (2007)
 ● The Hardest Thing (English version), posthumous release (2009)
 ● Toseiprijatelji, posthumous release (2010)
 ● Tose: Poslednjipozdrav, posthumous release (2011)
 ● S ljubavlju od Toseta , posthumous release (2011)
 ● The Best Of, posthumous release (1/03/2013)
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 Made by: PetarAleksovski; IX-1