The Eurovision Song Contest final will take place on May 13 and among the acts competing for the trophy in Liverpool will be Serbia’s Luke Black.
The indie-techno-pop singer made it through the first semi-finals with his song Samo Mi Se Spava, which means “I’m just sleepy” in Serbian. Black sing in English and Serbian on the moody techno track, which has lyrics like “I just wanna sleep forever (s-spavam), I like it better when I dream.”
He told Serbian news outlet Nova Show that the meaning of his song is “the awakening of humanity to all that is happening in the world and that as humanity we should make some change”.
Who is Luke Black?
Dubbed the “Serbian pop alchemist” Luke Black (real name Luka IvanoviÄ) is a 30-year-old techno-pop artist from ÄaÄak, Serbia. His music is influenced by Queen, Elton John and Lady Gaga, with Samo Mi Se Spava seemingly inspired by Gaga’s Marry the Night.
He is sure to have thousands of fans backing him on Saturday night, as Black has more than 250,000 monthly Spotify listeners, and his Eurovision track has been played more than two million times.
In the last year, Black has toured China and played Berlin’s Berghain nightclub but his Eurovision performance may be UK audiences’ first introduction to the Serbian pop star. He is finally heading to the Eurovision stage after nearly appearing in the song contest in 2016, but Sanja VuÄiÄ’s Goodbye (Shelter) was ultimately chosen.
Serbia’s act features “pulsing bass and video game graphics” and has been described as “dark and surreal and hypnotic” by the Eurovision Live Blog. Black’s staging features a “giant alien pod” and what is said to be “pleasantly unnerving choreography”.
The Eurovision contestant lives in London, after moving to the city to study music. He later worked as a graphic designer at a publishing house, and has a pet dog called Zoi, who he calls “the smartest and cutest pug in the world”.
Black’s fans are thrilled that he will appear in the final, with one fan, Rachie, writing on Twitter: “You did incredibly, Luke! Your performance was out of the world and I'm sure that Serbia (and the whole world) is proud of you.”
Another said: “You did amazing, I have watched your performance like 10 times already and get chills every time.”
