Zeljko Sasic at mts Hall: I Do This for the Audience
The singer played a solo show in Belgrade, and both before and after it he said the guests are not the reason he puts the concert on.
Singer Zeljko Sasic played a solo concert last night, October 14, at the mts Hall in Belgrade, under the title “Mali je ovo grad” (This Is a Small Town). Before the show he spoke to the press, and afterward he told Vecernje Novosti the same thing he had said earlier: he does not put the program together for the sake of guests.
What did Sasic say before he went on stage?
The interview with Kurir was recorded just before the concert. Asked about stage fright, Sasic said the pressure comes from people around him, who have been calling in recent days to ask how he is doing:
“These days my close people, everyone calls me and asks if I’m okay, if I’m normal, I’m trembling with that, and they pile on the nerves. And I kind of defend myself. I guess I’ll manage to defend myself.”
The subject of guests at colleagues’ concerts occupied him in particular. He told Kurir the approach is foreign to him: “It’s awkward, my dears. You are the new generations. To me that is awkward.” He added: “I’m not doing this because of guests.”
He did not rule out colleagues entirely. He told Kurir: “There will be quite a few colleagues, I invited every one of them from the heart.”
By his account, he left the seating arrangement in the front rows to the organizers at the mts Hall. He had already spent half the day in the hall and went home only briefly.
Will he sing the song with Maja Nikolic?
No. Before the concert Sasic said the duet he recorded with Maja Nikolic is not on the setlist. He told Kurir: “But it won’t happen. It’s no shame, but it won’t.”
What happened in the hall, and who came?
According to Vecernje Novosti, the audience sang along to almost every song. The set included “The Sea Burns, the Mountains Melt”, “She Tells the Story of My Life” and the title song “This Is a Small Town”, along with hits from different periods of his career.
After the concert Sasic told Vecernje Novosti:
“I’m doing the concert for the audience, not for the guests.”
Novosti also report that he had no stage fright. He explained that he spent almost the whole day backstage in the hall, preparing for the show. That differs from what he told Kurir before the concert about pressure from those close to him, so both statements are given here as he made them.
Among the familiar faces who came to support him were singers Teodora Tokovic and Milos Radovanovic and TV host Bojana Lazic. His daughter was also with him during the evening. The number of attendees has not been published.
