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North Macedonia’s champions: Ana and Aleksej are in the running

23 October 2024 at 16:00 CEST
Ana and Aleksej will sing for North Macedonia in Madrid Sasho Dokovski
Ready, set, go! Ana and Aleksej are on track for Madrid, ready to represent North Macedonia at Junior Eurovision 2024 with ‘Marathon.’
Ana and Aleksej will be North Macedonia's 19th Junior Eurovision act Sasho Dokovski

Ana and Aleksej are already learning that Junior Eurovision is a Marathon, not a sprint. Before making the long distance to Madrid, they had to impress judges at broadcaster MRT and get through the audition phase. And of course, they took home the gold, winning their places at the Contest.

They’re both from Bitola, in the southwest of North Macedonia, and are used to being on stage. Ana has performed in plenty of music festivals, while Aleksej has wowed judges in competitions.

This duo have a stellar songwriting team behind them for Marathon.

Composer and producer Lazar Cvetkovski has plenty of impressive credits, including contributions to both Junior Eurovision and the Eurovision Song Contest. He was part of the team that got a Top 10 finish at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, with Proud, sung by one of North Macedonia’s leading artists, Tamara Todevska.

The words for Marathon come from the mind of singer and lyricist Magdalena Cvetkovska, who is known across North Macedonia for her meaningful lyrics.

Magdalena and Lazar are the dream team who wrote Fire for Mila Moskov, who represented North Macedonia at Junior Eurovision 2019, finishing in 6th place. Now they're cheering Ana and Aleksej on, and no doubt hoping for a podium finish.

Both Ana and Aleksej love to watch musical performances online. Ana finds that violin performances make her feel calm, whereas Aleksej loves to see unique talents or amazing dances. He’s always impressed by how creativity can be showcased in such a short time — welcome to Junior Eurovision, Aleksej!

Ana’s favourite song ever is the Eurovision classic, Barbara Pravi’s Voilà, which finished in 2nd place for France at the 2021 Contest in Rotterdam. Later that year, Barbara took to the Junior Eurovision stage to perform in the interval, when the Contest was held in Paris.

Ana said: “I love it because it's a very powerful song and it is about the fact that you should love yourself no matter what, and to never hide your originality in the shadows.”

Barbara Pravi - Interval Act - Final - Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021 - La Seine Musicale - Paris EBU / Andres Putting

The song that Aleksej couldn’t live without is Adele’s Skyfall, and he loves both the melody and the lyrics. Adele is one of his favourite popstars, but he also loves Macedonian singer Kaliopi. She represented her country at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 with Crno I Belo and again in 2016 with Dona.

Both artists really enjoy solving maths equations, which isn’t a hobby that many Junior Eurovision stars claim. Ana said that maths is her favourite subject at school, and she feels really good when she gets a puzzle right. If anyone backstage needs help measuring up costumes or calculating the throw distance of a spotlight, these are your people.

Ana also has a very impressive pet, who may or may not help her with her maths homework — to be confirmed. She has a parrot called Doki, who can make kissing noises, and say both “peekaboo” and “zdravo”, which is hello in Macedonian.

Ahead of the Contest, the pair explained the message behind their song Marathon. Aleksej said: “It’s about never giving up on your dreams.”

Ana added: “Your life is not a sprint, it’s a marathon, and you should never give up and you should live it till the end.”

Junior Eurovision is ready for you Ana and Aleksej, so run, don’t walk.

You can learn more about Ana and Aleksej from North Macedonia right here.

Ana and Aleksej will sing for North Macedonia in Madrid Sasho Dokovski

You can now stream the official #JESC2024 album and watch all 17 songs over on the official #JESC YouTube channel

Make sure to keep up to date with all the latest news and BTS action by following #JESC2024 on InstagramTikTok and Facebook, before Junior Eurovision returns LIVE from the Caja Mágica in Madrid, Spain, on Saturday 16 November.

You can watch the show live on the #JESC YouTube channel and don't forget to vote for your favourites over at JESC.TV when voting opens!