Teodora Pavlovska (Serbian Cyrillic: Теодора Павловска; born 1 May 1992), known professionally as Teya Dora (Serbian: Теја Дора / Teja Dora),[1] is a Serbian singer, songwriter, and producer. Born in Bor, she debuted in 2018 and rose to popularity with the 2023 single "Džanum", which went internationally viral on TikTok.

Teya Dora
Теја Дора
Teya Dora wearing a black outfit, singing onstage, surrounded by smoke
Teya Dora performing in 2024
Background information
Birth nameTeodora Pavlovska
Born (1992-05-01) 1 May 1992 (age 32)
Bor, Serbia, FR Yugoslavia
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • producer
Instruments
Years active2018–present
Labels

She represented Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden, with the song "Ramonda", finishing in 17th place.

Early life

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Pavlovska was born on 1 May 1992 in Bor, FR Yugoslavia. Her father was a painter and a graphic designer. Her mother is a writer and journalist with Večernje novosti, whose expertise is Vlach magic and culture.[2][3] After moving to Belgrade, Pavlovska started attending music school, through which she received a scholarship to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, United States.[4] At her audition, she sang "No One" by Alicia Keys.[5] While at Berklee, she shared classes with Charlie Puth.[6] She graduated from college in 2014, and at her graduation ceremony, she received her diploma from Jimmy Page.[5] After graduating, Pavlovska lived in New York City, where she worked as a songwriter.[4]

Career

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After returning to Serbia in 2018, Pavlovska initially began collaborating with singer Nikolija, by writing her 2018 single "Nema limita". She continued writing songs for other Serbian artists, including Nataša Bekvalac and Anastasija Ražnatović. She made her own recording debut, under the name Teya Dora, with the single "Da na meni je", released in July 2019 under Bassivity Digital.[7] Her chosen stage name stems from the fact that while studying at Berklee, Americans didn't know how to pronounce her name; "Teya Dora" was the closest that they could get to pronouncing Teodora.[8]

After several other singles, Teya Dora gained prominence in 2023 with the song "Džanum", recorded for the television series Južni vetar: Na granici.[9] The song went internationally viral on TikTok, generating the internet meme "Moye moye". "Džanum" was especially used on the platform during protests following the 2023 Belgrade school shooting.[4] The official music video for the song has accumulated over 75 million views on YouTube and over a hundred million streams on Spotify. Furthermore, the single peaked at number four on Spotify's Daily Viral Songs Global chart on 22 May, and Teya Dora became the third Serbian artist to have over a million monthly listeners on the streaming service. The other two, Konstrakta and Luke Black, achieved that during their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest.[4][10] "Džanum" also entered the top ten on Billboard's Croatia Songs chart.[11]

In December 2023, Teya Dora was announced as a contestant on Pesma za Evroviziju '24, with the song "Ramonda".[12] After qualifying for the second semi-final, she eventually won the competition on 2 March 2024, by coming first in the jury vote and second in the televote, and thus became Serbia's entrant in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden.[13] Teya Dora qualified from the first semi-final on 7 May 2024, placing 10th out of 15, with 47 points. In the grand final on 11 May 2024, she placed 17th out of 25, with 54 points.[14][15] Teya Dora also composed Mimica's entry for Dora 2024, "Koeko", but the song did not make it into the contest.[16]

Discography

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Singles

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Title Year Peak chart positions Album
AUT
[17]
CRO
Billb.

[18]
LTU
[19]
"Da na meni je" 2019 * Non-album singles
"Oluja" 2020
"Ulice"
(with Nikolija)
2021
"U ilegali" 2022
"Vozi me"
"Džanum" 2023 43 6
"ATaMala"
(with Albino)
"Ramonda" 2024 19 66
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
" * " denotes chart did not exist at that time.

Guest appearances

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List of non-single guest appearances, with other performing artists, showing year released and album name
Title Year Other artist(s) Album
"Zavejan" 2022 Yungkulovski [sr] Demoni
"Pusti me" none Skale 2022
"U jbt" 2023 X Svi će znati ko je Iks

Songwriting credits

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List of songs written or co-written for other artists, showing year released and album name
Title Year Artist(s) Album Credits
"Nema limita" 2018 Nikolija Yin & Yang
  • Composer
  • co-lyricist
"Yin & Yang" 2019
  • Composer
  • lyricist
  • co-arranger
  • backing vocalist
"Dođi mami" Nataša Bekvalac non-album singles Co-composer
"Jasno mi je" 2020 Zoi [sr] Composer
"Pazi se"
(featuring Coby)
Jovana Nikolić [sr]
  • Co-composer
  • co-lyricist
  • backing vocalist
"No plaky" Nikolija Composer
"High Life"
  • Co-composer
  • co-arranger
  • backing vocalist
"Sve bih" 2021
  • Co-composer
  • backing vocalist
"Gotovo" Anastasija
  • Composer
  • backing vocalist
"Vidim te" Meta [sr]
  • Co-lyricist
  • backing vocalist
"Divlja orhideja" Nikolija
  • Co-composer
  • backing vocalist
"Januar" 2022 Meta Co-composer
"Zabranjeno" Filarri [sr] Composer
"Pogana" Tam [sr]
  • Co-arranger
  • backing vocalist
"Dodole" Nikolija Aurora [sr]
  • Composer
  • co-arranger
"Gucci Mama" Composer
"U tami" 2023 Filarri non-album singles
"Brani me" Anastasija
"Posle mene" Filarri
"Avlije avlije" Nikolija
"Neodoljivo" Aleksandra Radović
"Kriva" Dragana Mirković Co-composer
"Koeko" 2024 Mimica Composer
"Viski"
(featuring Inas)
Nikolija Lavina
  • Composer
  • backing vocalist
"Namami"
"Čuka"[20] Teodora Žena bez adrese Composer

References

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  1. ^ a b "Ko je Teja Dora – naša predstavnica na "Pesmi Evrovizije"". Radio Television of Serbia (in Serbian (Latin script)). 3 March 2024. Archived from the original on 4 March 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  2. ^ Netović, Andrea (4 March 2024). "Smrtni slučaj u porodici ju je zauvek obeležio: Ovo su otac i majka Teye Dore, popularniji su od nje (FOTO)". Story.rs (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  3. ^ Denda, Nina (5 March 2024). "(VIDEO) Majka pobednice Beovizije za "Blic" otkrila nepoznate detalje privatnog života: "Dala sam otkaz da bih je školovala"". Blic (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 9 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d Dašić, Miloš (3 March 2024). "Ko je Teya Dora, predstavnica Srbije za Evroviziju 2024, pevačica čiju pesmu već zna ceo svet". Danas (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 5 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  5. ^ a b Teya Dora – O pobedi na PZE2024 on YouTube
  6. ^ "Teya Dora prešla svaku granicu! Završila "Berkli", napravila hitove mnogim srpskim zvezdama, a "Džanum" joj donela milione". 24sedam.rs. 26 July 2023. Archived from the original on 28 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  7. ^ "Teya Dora: O muzici, školovanju na Berklee College of Music i inspiracijama". Wannabe Magazine. 23 July 2019. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  8. ^ "Novo Jutro – Dea I Sarapa – Teodora Pavlovska – Teya Dora – 26.08.2019". YouTube. 26 August 2019.
  9. ^ Kundačin, Aleksandra (25 March 2023). "Teya Dora otkriva sve o novoj pesmi i spotu za seriju Južni vetar: Na granici". Journal.rs. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  10. ^ "Samo tri domaća izvođača su prešli broj od milion slušanja na Spotifaju". City Magazine. 6 June 2023. Archived from the original on 16 January 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Billboard Hrvatska: Jala i Buba "skinuti s trona" nakon pet uzastopnih tjedana". Muzika.hr. 11 April 2023. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  12. ^ "Pesma za Evroviziju 2024 – 28 pesama se bori za kartu za Malme". Radio Television of Serbia (in Serbian). 21 December 2023. Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Srbiju će na Eurosongu predstavljati Teja Dora". Radio Television of Serbia (in Serbian). 2 March 2024. Archived from the original on 2 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  14. ^ Holdiness, Timothy. "Eurovision 2024 Semi-Final One Qualifiers". ESCXTRA. Archived from the original on 14 May 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  15. ^ Sturtridge, Isaac. "Revealed: The Eurovision 2024 semi-final and final jury/televote detailed voting results". ESCXTRA. Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  16. ^ "Ni ova pjesma nije prošla na Doru: "Pitam se – pa tko je tu lud?"". Index.hr (in Croatian). 28 February 2024. Archived from the original on 16 May 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  17. ^ "Discographie Teya Dora". AustrianCharts.at (in Austrian German). Archived from the original on 29 February 2024. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  18. ^ Peak positions in Croatia:
  19. ^ "2024 20-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. 17 May 2024. Archived from the original on 17 May 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  20. ^ Mišić, Vladan (16 May 2024). ""Radiću nešto na sebi ako krenem da se raspadam!" Teya Dora o plastičnim operacijama, Evrosongu i majci". 24sedam.rs (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
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  Media related to Teya Dora at Wikimedia Commons

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest
2024
Succeeded by
TBD