Biography
Hajrudin "Hari" Varesanovic is a Bosnian musician. Known for his impassioned lyrical tenor vocals, distinct stage presence and specific brand of poetic lyrics, Varesanovic remains the vocal soloist, primary composer and lyricist for the musical group Hari Mata Hari.
In 1979, Hari joined the group Zov with whom he recorded the hit song "Poletjela golubica sa Bascarsije." The song is still very popular. Next, Varesanovic sang with the group "Ambasadori", with whom, it is said, that he matured into a professional artist. After his serving mandatory military service in the town of Nis, he appeared on the music scene by himself releasing the (1984) album "Zlatne kocije".
His professional career has lasted over a quarter of a century and he has performed at over 1,000 concerts. In 1999, Varesanovic performed his song "Starac i More" in hope of representing Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Eurovision Song Contest 1999. However, after "Starac i More" had won it turned out the song had already been recorded, since Varesanovic had sold the song to record label Unirecords in Finland, and Finnish artist Janne Hurme recorded that song in 1997 in name "Heart Blood" ("Sydänveri"). Hari Mata Hari was disqualified. The runner-up, Dino Merlin, was sent to the ESC instead.
In 1999, he recorded a duet with a famous fellow Bosnian singer, Hanka Paldum. The song, "Crni snijeg", was featured on her album Nek' je od srca and was covered later the same year by Serbian singer Ceca on her album Ceca 2000.
On 9 February 2006, the Bosnian television network PBSBiH announced that he would represent Bosnia and Herzegovina with the song "Lejla" at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The announcement confirmed rumors circulating throughout the country for more than two months.
On 20 May 2006, he and his group Hari Mata Hari reached third place at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 held in Athens, Greece.
In 2011, he composed the music to and wrote the lyrics to "Brisi me", a song sung by Bosnian singer Lepa Brena for her sixteenth studio album "Zacarani krug". He also wrote the lyrics to her 2014 song "Zaljubljeni veruju u sve".
