Sara Jovanović

Early life and career beginnings

Sara Jovanović was born on 29 October 1993 in Rome, Italy, to Serbian parents Saša and Jasna, and was raised bilingually in Serbian and Italian. Her family moved back to Belgrade, Serbia, when she was fifteen years old. Jovanović cites Britney Spears, Jessie J, Rihanna, Ciara, Amy Winehouse and Christina Aguilera as her strongest musical influences. She also trained in classical ballet, modern ballet and hip-hop dance.

In early 2011, Jovanović posted her cover versions of various songs, such as "Halo" by Beyoncé Knowles and "Hold It Against Me" by Britney Spears, on her official YouTube channel in order to take part in a musical contest organized by Serbian magazine Story. She subsequently won the competition and, as a reward, recorded her debut single "Zauvek" (English: Forever). Jovanović promoted the song on Veče sa Ivanom Ivanovićem (An Evening with Ivan Ivanović), a popular Serbian talk show.

In 2012, Jovanović was featured in four songs released by rapper MCN from his self-titled debut album, "Ona" (She), "Momenat" (Moment), "Ti i ja" (You And I) and "Neka ti lice prekrije smeh" (Let a Smile Cover Your Face). The official music video for "Ti i ja" was released on 23 August 2013 on YouTube.

Prvi glas Srbije and Eurovision Song Contest: 2012–13

Jovanović became known to wider audience in Serbia as the contestant and the second runner-up of the second season of Prvi glas Srbije, a Serbian music talent show similar to The Voice. She successfully went through the audition and the battle phase to progress to the live performances. During her participation in Prvi glas Srbije, Jovanović became well known for her fierce performances and dance routines. She was nominated for elimination once, in the semifinal episode on 12 January 2013, but was saved by the judges and progressed to the final, where she placed the third.

Jovanović performed live the following songs:

On 31 January 2013, Jovanović and her Prvi glas Srbije colleagues Nevena Božović and Mirna Radulović participated in charity cooking at the Drinka Pavlović Orphanage in Belgrade. The following day, Jovanović and other finalists of the second season of Prvi glas Srbije held a concert in Podgorica, Montenegro, in front of several thousand people. Later in February, Jovanović appeared on the cover the Serbian edition of Cosmopolitan.

In February 2013, it was announced that Jovanović, Nevena Božović and Mirna Radulović would take part in Beosong 2013, Serbian national election for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, under the name of Moje 3 with the song "Ljubav je svuda" (Love Is Everywhere); their song was written by Saša Milošević Mare, who was part of the songwriting duo that wrote "Molitva", the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. Radulović, Božović and Jovanović explained that they would not be forming a band and that they would perform as a trio only for Beosong. Eventually, Moje 3 convincingly won Beosong, receiving 10,994 votes in the semifinal and 25,959 votes in the final. It was subsequently announced that Moje 3 would perform the last in the first semifinal event, which would be held on 14 May 2013 at Malmö Arena.

Moje 3 went on to perform at the Eurovision In Concert in Amsterdam on 13 April 2013 and release several different versions of "Ljubav je svuda" in both Serbian and English to promote the song. Moje 3 performed at the first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 that was held on 14 May 2013 and failed to qualify for the final, placing 11th in the semi-final and scoring 46 points. The girls subsequently won the Barbara Dex Award, a humorous award given to the worst dressed artist each year in the contest.

Shortly after the Eurovision Song Contest, Moje 3 announced their disbandment as the members continued working on their solo careers.

Recent solo career: 2013–present

In June 2013, Jovanović and her friend Marko Mandić released a duet song "Ujutru" (In the Morning). A month later, in July, Jovanović made her debut as a fashion designer when she released her collection of shirts, Sara Jo by Philosophy, through Serbian fashion brand Philosophy.

From September to December 2013, Jovanović was a participant in Tvoje lice zvuči poznato, a Serbian version of Your Face Sounds Familiar, in which she finished as the runner-up. During the show, she impersonated the following artists and their songs:

In the meantime, Jovanović, along with Tropico Band, Dženan Lončarević and Andrej Ilić, recorded the charity single "Molio sam anđele" (I Prayed to the Angels). In early 2014, she became a spokesperson for Rosal, a line of lip balms. On 19 June 2014, Jovanović released her first solo single since her participation in Prvi glas Srbije, "Ko je ovde ko" (Who Is Who Here). She also covered Boban Rajović's song "Provokacija" (Provocation) for the film Mali Budo (Little Budo). In December, Jovanović released her newest single, "Mahovina" (Moss).

Personal life

Jovanović studies Italian language at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology. From July 2013 to early 2014, she dated Serbian volleyball player Aleksandar Atanasijević. In 2015 she dated Serbian actor Viktor Savić.

Singles