Todor "Toše" Proeski (Macedonian: Тодор "Тоше" Проески, pronounced [ˈtɔʃɛ ˈprɔɛski] (audio speaker

iconlisten); 25 January 1981 – 16 October 2007) was a Macedonian multi-genre singer and songwriter.
Considered a top act of the local Macedonian and Balkan music scene, Proeski's music was popular
across multitude of countries of Southeast Europe. He was dubbed the "Elvis Presley of the Balkans" by
BBC News. He died in a car crash on the Zagreb–Lipovac A3 highway, near Nova Gradiška in Croatia, on
the morning of 16 October 2007, aged 26.[1]

Early years

Proeski was born in Prilep[2] and grew up in Kruševo[2] into an Aromanian family.[3][4] 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 the
Aromanian language.[5][6][7] 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.

Following this public exposure, he was acclaimed 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 "Pušti 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 his most successful songs, 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 noḱta (Somewhere in the Night). In the summer of the same year,
Proeski performed his first solo concert in Skopje.

In the year 2000, Proeski participated in the Eurovision pre-selection for Macedonia in SkopjeFest. He
sang "Solzi pravat zlaten prsten" ("Tears Make a Golden Ring"), which won the televoting from the
public; however, he finished third overall behind Karolina Gočeva and the winners XXL. During that
period, he began recording tracks for his second album, Sinot božji (The Son of God), which was
promoted by the end of June 2000. The album included songs such as "Nemir" ("Restless") (a duet with
Karolina Gočeva), "Vo kosi da ti spijam" ("Sleeping in Your Hair"), "Izlaži me ušte ednaš" ("Lie to Me One
More Time"), as well as "Iluzija" ("Illusion") (Grand Prix at the festival Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk) and
"Tajno moja" ("Secret of Mine"). Two songs are composed by Kire Kostov (winning second prize at the
festival Sunčane Skale, held in Herceg Novi, now Montenegro).

The Serbian production house BK Sound purchased the rights to release Proeski's latest album in the
other former Yugoslav republics, which led to his victory of the Oscar of Popularity in those former
republics for the year of 2000, and his sold-out shows in Skopje and Belgrade. Proeski embarked on an
Australian tour along with other Macedonian singers in 2001.

Rise to regional stardom

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") in October 2002 in Macedonian and Serbian. After the
release, Proeski went 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 that 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.

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.

Proeski on the rehearsal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 held in Istanbul, Turkey.

In 2004, MKTV chose Proeski to represent Macedonia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 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 za nas" ("A Day For Us"), which featured the eight songs from the Eurovision selection in
Macedonian.

In May, Proeski finished 14th with the song "Life", which was the English version of "Angel si ti". Prior to
the contest, he was popularised by reporters due to his tremendous opera singing ability, at his press
conferences.

All eight songs were recorded in English, but only the winning song of the national final, "Life", was
released. During the TV national final show, after each song was performed, a clip of the song was
played in English to show viewers how it would sound if that song won the contest and was performed
in English at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 final.

In 2004 Proeski was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and recorded the song "This World" which
became the UNICEF anthem. Proeski signed a contract with Dallas Records so his next album could be
released in Croatia and Slovenia. To establish himself in these countries, Proeski recorded "Krajnje
vreme" with Slovenian singer, Anja Rupel. In 2005, Toše's fifth album Po tebe (After You) was released
throughout ex-Yugoslavia. Po tebe is one of the most successful Balkan albums ever. It topped music
charts for months in Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Božilak (Rainbow) was a compilation of 14 selected traditional Macedonian songs arranged by Saša
Nikolovski Gjumar, Ilija Pejovski and Soni Petrovski. The artist was backed up by a symphony orchestra
on the album.

His last album Igri bez granici (Macedonian title)/Igra bez granica (Serbo-Croatian title) ("Game Without
Limits") was released all over ex-Yugoslavia in August 2007.

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, Gianna Nannini. The list
of artists who collaborated with Proeski includes Anja Rupel, Antonija Šola, Bora Čorba, Karolina Gočeva,
Esma Redžepova, Gianna Nannini, Goca Tržan, Grigor Koprov, Jeff Beck, Tony Cetinski, Željko Joksimović
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.

Songwriting

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 "Polsko
cveḱe" ("Field Flower"). In 2004, Proeski composed "Muza" ("Muse") for Martin Vučić, the Eurovision
Song Contest 2005 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.

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.[8][9]

Nekade vo nokta 1999.

Sinot Božji 2000.

Ako me pogledaš u oči 2002

Dan za nas 2004

Pratim te 2005

Božilak 2006

Igra bez granica 2007