Kaliopi marked her 60th with a three‑hour spectacle at Boris Trajkovski Arena

Pop diva Kaliopi celebrated her 60th birthday with a three-hour show in a packed Boris Trajkovski Arena in Skopje, using the concert to mark an impressive half-century in music and to connect closely with her audience.

Her musical story, she reminded the crowd, began in 1976 when, as a ten-year-old, she first took the stage at Universal Hall to sing "Mojata ucitelka" at the Zlatno slavejche festival. Addressing fans during the evening, Kaliopi joked that her youthful energy has nothing to do with creams: "When they ask me what cream I use, I tell them: 'Come to my concerts and you'll see.' You are my elixir of youth," she said.

From fast openers to intimate duets

The programme opened with up-tempo numbers that had the entire arena on its feet, then shifted in the middle of the night to deep, emotional ballads. At those moments the venue resembled a starry sky as thousands of illuminated phones glowed from the audience.

Kaliopi included several intimate personal moments. She told the story of her brother Tomche, who two years ago teased her for not singing his favourite song; she responded by performing the ballad "Kako solza" and sent warm greetings to her sister Kornelija. A particularly touching scene came when a boy named Nikola from Skopje joined her on stage to sing the Macedonian folk song "Makedonsko devojche" — a promise kept from the previous year that left the audience moved to tears.

The evening also featured premieres and collaborations: the new song "Laga" ("Lazh") by Romeo Gril was heard for the first time, with regional promotion set to begin immediately after the concert. Kaliopi performed the new single "Bebe" together with the children's choir Piccolo. Rapper Slatkaristika appeared as a guest, saying that the song "Oboi me" has been a favourite since his teens; the two performed a new duet, "Vodi me," described as a song of hope, and also delivered his hit "Da poletam." Pop star Karolina Goceva watched the show from the audience.

Throughout the night Kaliopi paid tribute to Macedonian musical heritage. She sang a medley of evergreens and dedicated the song "Bakni me" to the late composer Todor Bojadjiev. Numbers such as "Volchica" and "Mesechina" held a special place in the set — the latter an original dedication to her son Paco. Before leaving the stage after three hours without a hint of fatigue, Kaliopi returned for an encore and closed the celebration with the evergreen "Bato," written in 1988, capping a rare musical evening that is likely to be remembered for a long time.

Photo: Pragma Music Entertainment