From Street Entertainers to Eurosong Performers

With a repertoire of old city songs and schlager songs, the Street Kings have built an image as serious street musicians who have been performing on the streets of Zagreb for over twenty years now. They will take a part of those melodies, with their song Romance, to this year’s Eurosong contest.

They truly are the kings of the street. They can be seen most frequently on the main square in Zagreb, where they sing old city songs, invoking memories while elevating the citizens’ moods. They live for their music and this city, at all times, rain or shine, nurturing the program of old city songs and schlagers. Together with their city, they have celebrated their Romance, the Croatian song of the year which will represent us at this year’s Eurosong contest.

The Street Kings were formed in 1987. Over time they have succeeded in building their image as serious street musicians with their repertoire of old city songs and schlagers. Faithful to this kind of music, they have never succumbed to new trends in music, thus preserving numerous old songs and preventing them from falling into oblivion. Throughout their career spent on the street, they have recorded fifteen albums and, thanks to the nature of their job, they have brought the sounds of their music to the squares and streets of all the major Croatian cities and most European capital cities.

The backbone of the Street Kings is a duo comprised of Miran Hadži – Veljković (viola and vocals), who is also the author of the winning song, and Zlatko Petrović (guitar and vocals). The other members are Ladislav Demeterfy (accordion) and Zoran Lovrić (bass and vocals). The Street Kings are also the founders of Cest is d’ Best, the largest street festival in Croatia, which gathers a great number of street entertainers and performers from numerous countries worldwide.