Sara Jovanović

Sara Jovanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Сара Јовановић; [ˈsǎː.ra jo.ˈʋǎː.no.ʋit͡ɕ]; born 29 October 1993), also known under stage name Sara Jo, is an Italian-born Serbian singer-songwriter. She rose to prominence as the second runner-up on the singing competition Prvi glas Srbije in 2012. Jovanović represented Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with "Ljubav je svuda" as a member of the girl group Moje 3.

Jovanović was also nominated for 2017 MTV Europe Music Awards Best Adria Act.

1993-2010: early life

Sara Jovanović was born on 29 October 1993 in Rome, Italy, to Serbian parents Saša and Jasna Jovanović, and was raised bilingually in Serbian and Italian. Her family moved back to Belgrade, Serbia, when she was fifteen years old. She attended University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology, studying Italian language.

2011-2017: Prvi glas Srbije and Eurovision

In early 2011, Jovanović won a singing contest organized by Serbian magazine Story with the covers she was posting on YouTube. As a reward, she recorded her debut single "Zauvek" (Forever), which she performed on the popular late-night talk show Veče sa Ivanom Ivanovićem, broadcast on Prva TV. The following year Jovanović was featured on four songs released by rapper MCN for his self-titled debut album.

Jovanović became known to wider audience as a contestant and the second runner-up of the second season of Serbian singing competition Prvi glas Srbije. She successfully went through the audition and the battle round to progress to the live show performances. Recognised for her showmanship, Serbian edition of Cosmopolitan cited her as the "new energy on the music scene". Jovanović performed live the following songs:

• Jessie J — "Domino"
• Amy Winehouse — "Valerie"
• Lady Gaga — "Poker Face"
• Ceca — "Beograd"
• Leona Lewis — "Run"
• Rihanna — "S&M"
• Tijana Bogićević — "Tražim"
• Michael Sembello — "Maniac" / Tanja Bošković — "Tango smrti"
• Aleksandra Kovač — "Da te volim" / Britney Spears — "I Love Rock 'n' Roll"
• Madonna — "Like a Prayer" / Aleksandra Radović — "Čuvaj moje srce" / Marija Šerifović — "Ne voliš je, znam"
• Beyoncé — "End of Time" / Zemlja gruva — "Najlepše želje" / Eurythmics — "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"

In February 2013, it was announced that Jovanović, alongside two other show finalists Nevena Božović and Mirna Radulović, would take part in the search for Serbia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden as the girl group Moje 3. They subsequently won the national election with the song "Ljubav je svuda" (Love Is Everywhere). On 14 May, Moje 3 performed last at the first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 and failed to qualify for the final, placing 11th in the semi-final and scoring 46 points. They also received the Barbara Dex Award for the worst dressed act.

In June 2013, Jovanović released a duet, titled "Ujutru" (In the Morning) with Marko Mandić and designed her own t-shirt collection. From September to December, she participated in the Serbian spin-off of Your Face Sounds Familiar, where she finished as the runner-up. During the show, she impersonated following artists and their songs:

• Rihanna — "We Found Love" (7th place)
• Oliver Mandić — "Ljuljaj me nežno" (8th place)
• Milan Stanković — "Ovo je Balkan" (6th place)
• Britney Spears — "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" / "Oops!... I Did It Again" (3rd place)
• Aleksandra Radović — "Kao so u moru" (6th place)
• Miley Cyrus — "We Can't Stop" / "Blurred Lines" (6th place) with Wikluh Sky as Robin Thicke (9th place)
• Bebi Dol — "Brazil" (5th place)
• Shakira — "Loca" / "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" (3rd place)
• Liza Minnelli — "Money" (6th place) with Tamara Dragičević as Joel Grey (4th place)
• Katy Perry — "Unconditionally" (1st place - Winner)
• Olivera Katarina — "Alaj mi je večeras po volji" (3rd place)
• Leona Lewis — "Bleeding Love" (2nd place - Season Runner Up)

In the meantime, Jovanović was featured on the charity single "Molio sam anđele" (I Prayed to the Angels). In June 2014, she released her first solo single, "Ko je ovde ko" (Who Is Who Here), which saw moderate success. She also covered Boban Rajović's song "Provokacija" (Provocation) for the movie Mali Budo. In December, Jovanović released her new single, "Mahovina" (Moss) and in July 2016, "Probaj" (Try), which were less successful. In October, she collaborated with Marko Mandić once again on "Troje" (The Three) for the movie Jesen samuraja.

2017-present: Mainstream success

In May 2017, Jovanović collaborated with Belgrade-based hip-hop record label Bassivity Digital on her electropop single "Nemam vremena za to" ([I] Don't Have Time for That), which saw great success and brought her back to mainstream. In June, she released a dancehall promotional single "Samo ti" (Only You) for Tuborg GreenFest under Universal Music Serbia, which contains a sample from Major Lazer 'Tuborg Beat' courtesy of Mad Decent.

Jovanović successfully continued releasing through Bassivity with her following single "Lava", written by Wikluh Sky, in May 2018.

In 2019, she then released "Bez sna" (Without Sleep) and "Mili, mili" (Dear, Dear) in January and July, respectively. The latter single was noted for the 00s music-inspired aesthetic and sound. During the summer she embarked on a tour, performing at music festivals such as the Exit, while in September she performed at the Belgrade Pride.

In January, Jovanović performed a medley of her hits at the 2020 Music Awards Ceremony.

Studio albums

Singles