Risto Samardžiev

Risto Samardžiev (Macedonian: Ристо Самарџиев), born 17 August 1964 in Skopje,[1] is a Macedonian singer and songwriter.[2] He started his musical career when he was 16 years old. He formed the Cilindar group in 1981,[3][4] which was one of the first New Wave rock bands in Macedonia. He was also the frontman of New Romantic group Haos in Laos.[5] In 1987 he was invited to perform on MakFest, the largest music festival in the country. The song he performed, Chilli Willi (Чили Вили) then became a hit in Macedonia.[6] After that performance he continued to work independently, appearing in festivals[7] as well as in bands (such as Memorija.) He has won MakFest four times as a performer,[8] and has also written songs for other singers.[9] In 2009 he won the pop night of Ohrid Fest in a duet with Vlatko Ilievski titled 'Za ljubov se pee do kraj.'[10] He has also participated multiple times at the Macedonian national preselections for the Eurovision Song Contest.[11]