Đorđe Novković

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Đorđe Novković (Serbian: Ђорђе Новковић; born September 2, 1943 in Šabac, Nedić's Serbia) is a prolific Croatian songwriter of Serbian ethnicity, also known as the father of popular singer Boris Novković.

Novković's musical talent was discovered very early, and he joined musical school at the age of 6. After graduating from Musical Academy in Sarajevo, he founded a band Pro Arte during the fall of 1967. In 1973 the band merged with another Sarajevo pop group Indexi, but the experiment lasted only several months. Pro Arte existed in continuity until 1980, as well as off-and-on throughout the 1980s.

After that Novković switched to writing songs, creating material for some of the biggest hits in the history of the former Yugoslavia.

Novković composed music for the infamous thank-you schlager "Danke Deutschland" produced in January 1992 by Croatian state television as a show - widely perceived in rather dubious taste - of gratitude to Germany for their role in international recognition of their independence. ("...Thank you Germany, my soul is burning! Thank you Germany, for the lovely gift.")

In 1993 he wrote the song "Don't Ever Cry" for Put, the first Croatian representative in the Eurovision Song Contest. ("...Don't ever cry, my Croatian sky!")

In 2003 Novković gained a lot of popularity as judge of Story Supernova Music Talents, a reality show aired on Nova TV. The audience was amused by his sarcastic comments directed at contestants and his co-judge Miroslav Škoro.