BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA – The representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 1999 and 2011 Eurovision Song Contest, Dino Merlin, is the recipient of this year’s City of Sarajevo Award, which is given to prominent individuals on the anniversary marking the city’s liberation after World War II.
Dino Merlin was the recipient of the award in the field of culture and art. “Dino Merlin has made an enormous contribution to the development of culture in the last three decades with his artistic work, and, not only as the biggest show business personality in the region, but also as an author and performer who promotes Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, its culture and tradition, through his artistic work”, the City Council, which gives out the award, said.
Merlin noted, “It is a great honour for me to receive the Sixth of April Award of Sarajevo – the city where I was born and where everybody knows me. Life has taught me that we can come through even the darkest periods by saying two words: “sorry” and “thanks”. One of the signs that we are moving forward as a society is that we use these two words more often. I am very glad that we did not lose the hope that our reality can become better than nostalgia, but this will only happen if we roll up our sleeves enough. Let’s keep working on it”.
DID YOU KNOW?
Dino Merlin represented Bosnia in Jerusalem in 1999 with the song “Putnici” where he came seventh and in 2011 in Dusseldorf with the entry “Love in Rewind” which came sixth in the grand final. He also composed Bosnia and Herzegovina’s first ever entry in the contest as an independent nation in 1993.
