Songs for the 'Ilidža 2024' Folk Music Festival Presented, Performance by Music Greats Announced

(Patria) - The Ilidža Folk Music Festival celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, and this year's edition of the most famous folk music festival in the region will be held on August 27 and 28 at the Summer Stage.

Last year's edition and the excellent cooperation between the Ilidža Municipality and BHRT, to everyone's satisfaction, continued this year as well, and today the order of songs for the Festival's Competition Evening was drawn at the Municipality building.

This year, 70 songs were submitted to the Competition, from which the Composition Selection Committee, consisting of Armin Šaković, Benjamin Isović, Fadil Šabović, Ashar Kurtović, Adnan Mušanović, Admir Đulančić, Nenad Tešić, Admir Vatreš, Vedran Čičak, Jasmin Ferović, and Ivan Radoja, selected 15 numbers.

As a local community that is a tourism leader in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ilidža takes the importance of the Ilidža Folk Music Festival very seriously, seeing it as part of its identity, which is confirmed by the words of the Municipality Mayor Nermin Muzur.

- Our goal is to make a breakthrough with the Ilidža Festival in the coming years, that is, to maintain its form and tradition, but to extend the duration of the Festival to several days. This is certainly a brand that gives us the right to think and build and strengthen the Ilidža brand, but to tie tourism, economy to it... The confirmed arrival of big names from the world of music shows that we deserve attention - said Mayor Muzur.

The General Director of BHRT, Belmin Karamehmedović, emphasized that the successful cooperation between the Public Service and the Ilidža Municipality has continued to mutual satisfaction, following the excellent results of 2023.

- As the General Director of BHRT, I can highlight the cooperation with the Ilidža Municipality as one of the most exemplary we have had in all these previous years. The Ilidža Festival as an institution and an unprecedented event, not only in Bosnia and Herzegovina but also in the region, perhaps best demonstrates that. We brought that great event back into the public focus, not only in BiH but throughout the entire region. It is an extremely positive story for both the Ilidža Municipality and BHRT. I wish there were more such projects in the country that we would gladly support - said Karamehmedović, and added:

- The entire cooperation regarding the festival was truly without any problems, at a very professional level with full understanding between the two sides.

This year's Festival will also have certain novelties, presented by Jasmin Ferović, President of the Organizing Committee of the Folk Music Festival "Ilidža 2024" and Head of the Music Production Department of BHRT.

- On the second festival night, renowned authors and singers will present new songs. We are proud that Enes Begović, Hanka Paldum, Miroslav Škoro, Duško Kuliš, Muharem Serbezovski, Dragan Kojić Keba, Nihad Alibegović, Elvira Rahić, Semir Cerić Koke, and Šako Polumenta will perform with completely new numbers. All of them and their songs will be in competition for the "Golden Microphone" award - said Ferović.

He explained that this is an award that will be given to the most listened-to song among those premiered on the second festival night, which will also be called "Golden Microphone", and emphasized that Snežana Đurišić and Ferid Avdić will perform in the revue part of the program.

This year, too, the Composition Selection Committee did not have an easy job.

- In today's time, it is not popular to organize a music festival, but everyone has great respect for the Ilidža Festival, which has produced the most beautiful songs, excellent singers, and authors. The criteria for selecting compositions was to look for a good song, lyrics, and melody, and among the selected 15 songs, there are those that lean towards sevdah and are in that spirit - said Ashar Kurtović, professor of musicology and music producer at MP BHRT.

At the end of the press conference, by drawing balls from a drum, the Mayor of Ilidža Municipality, Nermin Muzur, and the General Director of BHRT, Belmin Karamehmedović, determined the order in which the selected songs will perform during the Competition Night.

Compositions and order of participation in the competition:

1. Careva ćuprija (Lepa Đorđević)
2. Let (Bajro Planjanin)
3. Tamburaši, svirajte mi (Mostarski tamburaši)
4. Moj babo (Enis Todić)
5. Djevojačke suze (Nihada Kapetanović)
6. K’o da nisi ni postojao (Džihad Polić)
7. Ko prvi djevojci, djevojka njegova (Edo Jahić)
8. Kišo stani (Edin Džigal)
9. Vraćam ti se, moja grudo rodna (Saša Lazarević Kudra)
10. Da na kraj svijeta odem (Adnan Kadrić)
11. Živjet’ će duša (Jasmin Burek)
12. Voli me (Milan Dodić)
13. Mojoj Tuzli (Mirta Hamzić)
14. Rano, boliš me (Mirza Pandur)
15. Bolovanje (Nedim Ćoralić)

What is important to know is that the festival lasts two evenings, August 27 is the Competition Night, and a day later the "Golden Microphone" is on the program.