Bojan Ilievski Wins Zvezde Granda 2026, Jury Honors Tamara
In a final aired late on June 20, Macedonia's Bojan Ilievski took the title on viewer votes, while the new jury award went to the season's youngest contestant, Tamara Danilovic.
- Macedonia's Bojan Ilievski won the Zvezde Granda final with more than 50,000 viewer SMS votes.
- The season's youngest contestant, Tamara Danilovic, received the newly created 'Aleksandar Sasa Popovic' jury award.
- Mirjana Mitreva finished second on votes with around 46,000, with Sasa Stojakovic third.
- Both winners came from the team of mentor Djordje David, named the season's best mentor.
Bojan Ilievski, a contestant from North Macedonia, was declared the winner of Zvezde Granda in the final broadcast late on June 20 on TV Prva, as reported by Novosti and Telegraf. He took the title on viewer votes, gathering more than 50,000 SMS votes, enough to edge out every rival in the season’s 40th and final episode of 2025/2026.
For the first time in the competition’s history, the season produced two winners. Alongside Ilievski, chosen by the audience, the jury handed out the newly created ‘Aleksandar Sasa Popovic’ award, named after the late founder of the competition. That prize, decided by the expert panel, went to Tamara Danilovic, the youngest contestant this season, making her name the first inscribed in the new category.
Who won, and how was it decided?
The audience vote and the jury decision ran in parallel this year. Ilievski led convincingly with more than 50,000 votes, while Mirjana Mitreva placed second with around 46,000 and Sasa Stojakovic finished third. The margin between first and second was tight enough to keep viewers on edge until the very end.
Notably, both winners, Ilievski and Danilovic, came from the team of mentor Djordje David. He was also named the best mentor of the season, giving his team a double triumph. For a single mentor to produce both the audience winner and the jury award recipient in the same season is a result rarely seen.
The new award, named after Aleksandar Sasa Popovic, the longtime face and founder of the competition, was introduced this year as a permanent honor. That it went to the season’s youngest contestant speaks symbolically to a generational shift on the music scene.
Tears on stage and a tribute to his mother
The moment that defined the final was not the announcement itself but the winner’s reaction. Once the results were read, Ilievski dropped to his knees and wept on stage. He dedicated the win, as he put it, to his late mother, a moment that left the studio audience and viewers at home breathless.
The emotional finish turned the final into one of the season’s most memorable episodes. For a contestant from North Macedonia, winning the region’s most-watched music competition is a ticket to the stage that follows every winner of this format.
The 2025/2026 season will be remembered for its unusual outcome and its first-ever double winner. Will the two-title model, one chosen by the audience and one by the jury, become standard practice in the seasons ahead?
