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Here is official scoreboard of the Bosnian 1999 final Vas slager sezone:

Yesterday (April 17th) in the Bosnian TV's News program ("Dnevnik") it was again confirmed that "Starac i more" was disqualified. They played a sample of the Finnish song (which is the same sample Jarmo Penttila had provided us with a couple of days ago), after which they also played "Starac i more." The similarity was obvious even to a deaf man.

A brief interview with Hari Varesanovic was aired also. He said that he was deeply sorry, even though this wasn't directly his fault. The reporter told us that Hari did sell his song a few years ago to this Finnish singer, but that he never gave him the official permission to record it. Then the reporter read a statement from a Helsinki recording company (or was it TV company?), in which they said they regret what has happened and are terribly sorry for the circumstances that transpired.

Afterwards, it was announced that Dino Merlin and Beatrice will indeed represent Bosnia in Jerusalem with "Putnici." It was also announced that the song was sent to EBU which has approved it and let Bosnia participate. EBU stated that this was not BHT's fault at all and that inclusion of "Putnici" will hopefully clear Bosnia's name.

Dino Merlin said that he was in a dilemma after hearing that he was going to Jerusalem. "On one hand, I want to be loyal to my fans and my profession, on the other hand, BHT is sending me to this ball [ESC] in a pajamas," which reflects the fact that Dino has minimum amount of time to get ready.

Tonight (April 16th), Bosnian-Herzegovinian Radio Television Company (BHT) has disqualified Hari Mata Hari's Starac i more. They also said that Bosnia-Herzegovina is still eligible to enter another song, but to me it seems very unlikely. This comes more than a month after the regular song submission deadline, which is March 15th this year. 

I am outraged at Hari, because he has let down his fans, his country and the fans of Bosnia as a participant at ESC. He has deceived everyone from the juries who elected him, BHT officials, his loyal fans, the entire country of Bosnia-Herzegovina, all the ESC fans and most importantly the EBU. 

He spent precious BHT money on his song's promotion and the video for the song; the money that is very scarce in these hard times of Bosnia's postwar history. He got what he deserved at the end! I am personally very ashamed at what he did, because he has given Bosnia a bad name! 

This all would have been much easier if his song was any good! I still do not understand why this song, which WILL NOT become a hit in Bosnia came to claim the first place. I pray to God that there is still time for Bosnia to send in Putnici, a wonderful French-Bosnian rap song. Hari is on my s*** list from now on!

Our friend Jarmo of Finland has kindly informed us that there is substantial evidence why Starac i more ought to be disqualified. He received the Finnish singer's CD and listened to Sydanveri. He put a .WAV file of the song on his website and I downloaded it to find out if it is the same as Starac i more. And the songs are identical! It's not like Reise nach Jerusalem and that other song, which had only parts that were identical. These two songs are complete clones of each other. 

Moreover, Jarmo also published the data from the CD, which states that the arranger, producer and the composer was Hari Mata Hari himself! This is just unbelievable. Hari has given so many interviews in past few weeks and he has never mentioned this! I really have a negative view of him now.

As there have been some recent rumors being spread around this weird, modern invention called Internet regarding the Bosnian entry, as a webmaster of the only regularly-updated Bosnian ESC site, I felt it was my obligation to shed some light on this situation.

The rumor was started by Jarmo Penttilla of Finland (webmaster of Eurovision Statistics), who sent the following message to the Allkinds mailing list:

More disqualifications to come!

Bosnia has big problems. The Bosnian entry for ESC 1999 " Starac i more" has been recorded in Finland already two years ago! Finnish singer Janne Hurme has recorded many songs of Hari Mata Hari, also "Starac i more". The song is called "Sydänveri" (Heart blood), the CD is called "Toinen kevät" (Another spring). 

More information later 

Jarmo Penttilä

While this message sounds very official, it is quite the opposite. I contacted Jarmo asking him to give me more information about this and if this were accurate. He replied by saying that two of his friends had heard "Sydänveri" and "Starac i more" and that they thought they are the same song. This might as well be true, but it is not enough for EBU to act on it. 

If this were official, don't you all think EBU would let us know somehow? I mean, I get magazines and newspapers from Bosnia here in US and none of them mention this (nor do their respective websites). I don't want to discredit Jarmo who was kind enough to reply to my e-mail quite promptly, it's just that we have been bombarded with all kinds of rumors since the last ESC.

However, if this situation turns out to be true, I am afraid that Bosnia will be out this year. According to unwritten rules, there is a deadline by which all participating countries need to send in their songs, that is replacements. Even if "Starac i more" were to be qualified, I strongly believe that "Putnici" will not be able to represent Bosnia. It is very unfortunate, as I think we could achieve some major points with this French masterpiece, but the rules are rules.

So that is it so far. You know now everything I know. I will try to acquire more information about this and you will be the first to find out. If any of you have any information, be it official or not, please e-mail it to me. I will be very grateful (and I am sure other fans want to find out about this as much as possible).

Bosnian representative is known! It is a male band Hari Mata Hari with "Starac i more."

This year, at the 32nd "Vas slager sezone," Bosnians will choose their representative for ESC. Since the inclusion in ESC, Bosnia has done public preselection only once, that is in 1993 at the same festival. The years after caused the festival to be paused and this year it is coming back with the same purpose. Before 1993, the festival was a regular regional song contest (which former Yugoslavia had plenty of). 

On March 6th, starting at 20:30 (19:30 GMT), the Bosnian preselection will take place. It includes 17 songs, chosen from 74 received by an open concourse organized by BHT. Originally, there were 18 songs, but one was disqualified for unknown reasons. 

All of the songs are sUng in one of the three official languages in Bosnia: Croatian, Serbian and Bosnian. As expected, there aren't any English songs, as people aren't really fond of English, such as Swedes, Netherlanders, Germans and Austrians might be. However, song "Putnici" is partially sung by Amina (France 1991), so you might hear French in Bosnian final highly likely.

And here are the songs:

1. "Volio, obolio" (I Loved and Got Hurt) - Eldin Huseinbegovic.
The composer is Nedzad Delibegovic and he comes from Tuzla. The performer is not a popular artist. 

2. "Kunem te ja" (I Am Swearing You) - "Beat House Project."
The composer is Mahir Sulejmanovic, the leadman of the band. They play dance music and are quite known in Bosnia. They are Sarajevo-based.

3. "U ritmu novom" (In the New Rhythm) - "Krug."
This band comes from a town in Nortwestern Bosnia called Bihac. They are pretty new band with no hits in their repertoire so far.

4. "Daj, spusti se" (Come On, Get Down) - "7 Up."
A boy band a la "East 17," "Backstreet Boys" and the like. Quite popular and were expected to enter this year's preselection. One of the band members (Fuad Backovic) is a son of a local and influental politician and a nephew of the Bosnian National Bank vice-governer. This fact brings their possible winning in an awkward position, since many people won't believe their vocal abilities, but rather Fuad's being a member of such an influential family.

5. "Proveo sam zivot pod mostovima" (I've Spent My Life Under Bridges) - Drazen Zeric-Zera.
Zera is the singer of a famous rock/pop band "Crvena Jabuka." The band was very famous in former Yugoslavia and in Bosnia. They are currently concentrating on Croatia's market and are recording songs in Croatia. It's quite a surprise Zera is in Bosnian final. It might be because they were rejected by Croatians when they tried to enter Dora a few years back, due to the fact that they're not Croatian citizens. Their newest album is called "Svijet je lopta sarena" (The World Is A Colorful Ball).

6. "Budi tu" (Be Here) - Dunja Galineo/Nurudin Vatrenjak.
The composer is Narudin Vatrenjak. Other than that, I am clueless. However, judging by the title, the song might be a ballad. 

7. "Šampion" (The Champion) - "Sarajevo Old Stars."
The composer is Sasa Losic Losa (right, with Plavi orkestar), who also composed Slovenia's 1997 entry, "Zbudi se." Seeing him in Bosnian final is quite a surpise too, since he, much like Crvena Jabuka in Croatia, recorded mostly in Slovenia.

8. "Dala bih ti zivot" (I'd Give You My Life) - Zejnaida Mesihovic.
The performer is a young woman from Sarajevo. That's it so far. 

9. "Bog mi je svjedok" (God Is My Witness) - Zeljka Katavic Pilj.
Zejlka has been in previous ESC's. She has been a backing vocalist for both Amila and Alma ('96 and '97). 

10. "Jedini, ljubim te" (My Only One, I Love You) - Sanja Volic. Sanja Volic is from Travnik. She is 20ish; no more information available yet. 

11. "Stare melodije" (Old Melodies) - Sead Memic-Vajta.
A bit forgotten author and performer. He hasn't had a hit in quite a while. He represented former Yugoslavia in 1981 with "Lejla." 

12. "Priznat cu ti sve" (I'll Admit Everything) - Elvana Ducic. 
The performer is also the composer and she is 17. 

13. "Starac i more" (The Old Man And The Sea) - "Hari Mata Hari."
A very famous band. They're also recording in Croatia, but are far more popular in Bosnia. The song is rumored to be a parody of the same-titled Hemmingway's book. Their newest album is "Ja nemam snage da te ne volim" (I Haven't The Strength Not To Love You).

14. "Putnici" (Travellers) - Dino Dervishalidovic & Amina.
THE biggest surprise of the entire year, quite possibly. Dino is the composer of Bosnia's 1993 entry. And Amina is, of course, the woman who represented France in 1991 with "C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison" and almost won. I will be cheering for them. Apparently, the two met in France and he prepositioned the song and she liked it. Some say they're singing together only because she is a Muslim, like Dino.

15. "Glumica" (The Actress) - Igor Vukojevic.
An artist from Doboj, a city in Serb Republic (Republika Srpska). Never before, has one artist from the Serb part of Bosnia taken part in Bosnia's preselections, so this is a definite first. It's quite amazing. To give you some idea of how big this is, imagine Cyprus having an artist from the Northern Cyprus included in their final. 

16. "Zelja" (A Wish) - "Sarajevska ruza."
A very unknown band! 

17. "Ostavi suze" (Leave The Tears) - Andrej Pucarevic.
Another performer from the Serb Republic. He is from the second biggest city of Bosnia, Banja Luka.

So there you have it. The final is filled with surprises. Obviously, Alma Cardzic (Bosnia 94, 97) and Amila Glamocak (Bosnia 96) aren't in the final list, though they had been rumored to have been included in the final. I, personally, think that we have seen too much of both.