Dino Merlin

Dino Merlin at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011

Dino Merlin (real name Edin Dervišhalidović ; born September 12, 1962 in Sarajevo ) is a Bosnian singer and producer . He is one of the most successful singers in the former Yugoslavia .

Life

Dino Merlin began his musical career with the rock band Merlin, who released their debut album Kokuzna vremena in 1985.

He moved to Sweden during the Yugoslav Wars. Two of his bandmates died in the war. After the end of the war, Merlin decided to pursue a solo career. The remaining members of the band ended their careers. Merlin released his first solo album Moja Bogda Sna ("A Piece of My Dream") in 1993. The album was a great success. In 1995 he published three "Best of" albums; in the same year his second solo album was released under the title Fotografija .

In the summer of 1999 Merlin performed at the "Baščaršijske Noći", a concert event in Sarajevo with around 30,000 spectators. For the first time, a video recording of his performance was published. On his live album, which he called Vječna Vatra ("Eternal Fire"), the next release was Smijehom Strah Pokrijem ("I hide fear by laughing").

Also in 1999 he took second place with the song Putnici in the national preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest in a duet with the French singer Béatrice. However, since the winning title Starac i more was subsequently disqualified by Hari Mata Hari , Dino and Béatrice were nominated as representatives of Bosnia-Herzegovina for the international Eurovision final in Jerusalem and achieved seventh place among 23 participants, the best placement in the country to date (improved only in 2006 by 3rd place from Hari Mata Hari with Lejla ).

Dino Merlin at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011

In 2000 Merlin released his third solo album, Sredinom .

Other concerts followed, such as B. in the Olympic Stadium Koševo in Sarajevo in front of around 80,000 spectators. A live recording of this concert was also published. Four years followed, during which Merlin toured Europe and America. Finally his new album Burek came out in 2004 . The hymn of Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1992 to 1998 Jedna si jedina ("Only you are unique") was written by Merlin.

On August 15, 2007 Merlin released the single Otkrit ću ti tajnu ("I'll tell you a secret"). At the end of May 2008 Merlin released the single Dabogda ("Geb 'Gott, dass ...") in a duet with the front singer of the Bosnian band Hari Mata Hari , Hajrudin Varešanović . The album Ispočetka ("From the beginning"), on which the two singles are located, was released in June 2008.

Merlin represented Bosnia and Herzegovina with the song "Love in Rewind" at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest . On May 12, 2011, he reached the ESC final with the interpretation of the English-language title. There he reached the 6th place on May 14th with 125 points. After the event, Dino Merlin released the single Undo , which was marketed with the support of M: TEL. In the video for the single, Moamer Kasumović (a well-known actor) played one of the protagonists.

Discography

With the Merlin group

• 1985 Kokuzna vremena (" Hard Times")
• 1986 Teško meni sa tobom (A još teže bez tebe) ("It's hard with you (but even harder without you)")
• 1987 Merlin
• 1989 Nešto lijepo treba da se desi ("Something beautiful should happen")
• 1990 Peta strana svijeta ("Fifth Cardinal Direction")

As Dino Merlin (Solo)

• 1993 Moja bogda sna ("My little dream")
• 1995 Fotografija ("Photography")
• 2000 Sredinom ("Through the Middle")
• 2004 Supermen ("Superman")
• 2004 Burek ("Burek", a traditional main course)
• 2008 Ispočetka ("From the beginning")
• 2008 Da Šutiš ("That you are quiet")
• 2011 Love in Rewind - produced for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011
• 2014 Hotel Nacional

Live albums

• 1999 Vječna vatra ("Eternal Fire")
• 2005 Live Koševo 2004
• 2016 Hotel Nacional - Koševo 2015

Best of

• 1995 Balade
• 1995 Najljepše pjesme
• 1996 Rest of the Best

Live DVD

• 2005 Koševo 2004
• 2009 Koševo 2008
• 2016 Dino Merlin Beograd 2011.
• 2018 Dino Merlin Arena Zagreb 2018

Web links

• Official website (Bosnian)
• Dino Merlin in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Dino Merlin at Discogs (English)