Teya Dora will represent Serbia at Eurovision 2024 with her entry ‘Ramonda’, following her win at Pesma Za Evroviziju 2024!
Here’s everything you need to know about Teya…
Who Is Teya Dora?
Teodora Pavlovska was born in Bor, Serbia back in 1992. She attended music school in Belgrade, before moving to Boston, United States to study at the Berklee College of Music. Graduating in 2014, she switched her base to New York, where she worked as a songwriter before returning to Serbia in 2018.
In music, she goes by Teya Dora instead of Teodora, as her fellow students at Berklee pronounced her birth name as ‘Teya Dora’.
Teya’s Career So Far
Teya Dora began recording her own music in 2019, releasing her first single ‘Da na meni je’ that July. Further singles followed over the next 3 years, including a collaboration with singer and rapper Nikolija in 2022 on the song ‘Ulice’.
Her first hit single came in 2023, titled ‘Džanum’. It went viral on TikTok, reaching #6 on the Billboard Croatia Songs Charts, peaking at #2 globally on Shazam and charting at #4 on Spotify’s Viral Global Charts – currently with 118 million streams on the platform (at the time of writing). Part of the songs success came from the eventual ‘Moye Moye’ meme, which, despite the songs somber lyrics, is used in a more lighthearted way on social media.
‘Džanum’ helped Teya become the first Serbian artist to reach 3 million monthly Spotify listeners, ultimately launching her to recognition in the country and across the Balkans and inspiring her to try her luck in PzE 2024.
Pesma za Evroviziju 2024
Teya was announced as one of 28 artists taking part in PzE 2024 in December, and was instantly one of the favourites to win. It wasn’t her first involvement in the contest however – she was a songwriter behind Filarri’s 2023 entry.
Her song, ‘Ramonda’, references the Ramonda Nathalie flower, which has become one of Serbia’s national symbols due to its significance with their campaign during World War I. The flower is used as a sign of remembrance, but also represents revival and resilience. Teya explained ‘Ramonda’ in an interview with Wiwibloggs….
’Ramonda’ is such a strong symbol, it represents hope for me and that even when the days are dark and even if you feel like there is nothing, that if you have hope and trust in yourself you can find your way out. The way it connects to our country – which I think is beautiful – is that Ramonda, when the first world war ended, […] is a symbol for that. […] Ramonda is a very rare flower, a rare breed and it’s protected, just one drop of water is enough for Ramonda […] to bloom so this is why it represents hope in such a beautiful way, and is such a beautiful metaphor for everything in life and for us as people to remember people in war, our grandparents and veterans who did what they did for us and sacrificed for us, we wouldn’t be here without it.
Teya Dora, Wiwibloggs
After winning the first semi final, Teya went on to win the whole show on March 2nd 2024, winning the jury and coming 2nd in the televote. Unfortunately, her win wasn’t without controversy – supporters of runner up Breskvica, who won the televote, were dismayed that she had lost despite being the public’s choice, and called on broadcaster RTS to recount the votes. Breskvica’s song, ‘Gnezdo Orlovo’ was controversial in itself, with accusations – denied by Breskvica – alleging its lyrical content called for the annexation of Kosovo. Despite calls to protest, RTS stated they would not be changing the results by recounting the votes, meaning Teya Dora was set to be their entry in Eurovision 2024.
Eurovision 2024
At Eurovision 2024, Serbia will perform 2nd – between Cyprus & Lithuania – in Semi Final 1 on May 7th 2024.
With ‘Ramonda’ being one of the few ballads – nonetheless female ballads – in the contest this year, Serbia has the opportunity to really stand out despite being 2nd in the running order. If this qualifies from the semi final, it’ll certainly be one to keep an eye on in the jury vote in the Grand Final.
We wish Serbia & Teya the best of luck at Eurovision 2024!
You can follow Teya Dora on social media!
Instagram – @iamteyadora
TikTok – @iamteyadora
