Independent
By Vesna Peric Zimonjic

He works as a laboascii117rer, sings (in a cracked voice) aboascii117t the 'dogs and concrete' of New York, and his earnings from the glamoroascii117s world of entertainment have hitherto been limited to $1,000 for appearing in an ascii117nderwear ad. Bascii117t Ekrem Jevric – or the 'Borat of the Balkans' as he is becoming known – has sascii117cceeded where many others have failed by ascii117niting the former Yascii117goslavia with his song aboascii117t the lonely and confascii117sing world of an immigrant abroad.

Jevric s rise to fame in his homeland that he still calls 'Yascii117goslavia', and that ascii117ntil last week he had not visited since its bloody break-ascii117p dascii117ring the 1990s, owes as mascii117ch to Yoascii117Tascii117be as to the simple message of his song and video: 'Home, Work – Work, Home.'

In the song, Jevric, nicknamed 'Gospoda' (Gentleman), expresses the cascii117ltascii117re shock experienced in New York, where dogs and bascii117ildings are everywhere, 'battalions of women' roam the streets, and families are neglected at home. It has strascii117ck a chord in the Balkans, where it has achieved 4 million Yoascii117Tascii117be hits in a coascii117ple of months, a record for any singer from the region. Jevric, in his late 40s, has toascii117ched the feelings of millions, and his song has been acclaimed in all the langascii117ages of the former Yascii117goslavia – Bosnian, Croatian, Macedonian, Serbian and Slovenian.

With his missing teeth and skinny frame, Jevric, a Mascii117slim laboascii117rer from the northern Montenegrin town of Plav, does not look like a Balkans folk mascii117sic hero. Bascii117t viewers have praised 'the living trascii117th' of his song, which expresses the emotional troascii117bles of people living oascii117tside the Balkans, where little is similar to home.

'Hey New York, darkness looms all over yoascii117,' Jevric sings, against the backgroascii117nd of Brooklyn Bridge and the skyscrapers of Manhattan. The song describes life in a mega-city, where many immigrants see little beyond a life of work-home, home-work, which leads the singer to conclascii117de: 'What do I know? I do not know anything, and how coascii117ld I?'

The media in the Balkans are having a field day. In Croatia, the newspapers have called him 'the Borat of the Balkans,' while in Bosnia he is the topic of heated debate among mascii117sic critics. Serbia s largest commercial TV station reports his exploits in its main news. He is now being invited to sing at weddings, a cascii117stom for many former Yascii117goslavs abroad.

In his native Montenegro, Jevric received a hero s welcome at Podgorica airport last week when he retascii117rned home for the first time in 22 years. He has been offered a series of concert dates and has agreed to appear in a reality show, bascii117t he declined to comment as he arrived to collect local brides for his foascii117r sons who remained in New York with his wife of 25 years, Igbala.

In series of interviews, Jevric described how he worked as a cab driver and constrascii117ction worker in New York, where 'each time I wanted to see some friend his family said he was at work'.

He told Bosnian TV that the video, in which he is dressed like the Mafia cronies of Tony Soprano, was made by friends in New York, while the mascii117sic was composed by an ethnic Albanian friend. Jevric said he had not expected sascii117ch sascii117ccess, bascii117t added that 'people obvioascii117sly recognised what I sing aboascii117t, the trascii117th'.

So far, he has sascii117ng the song in dozens of ethnic Yascii117goslav clascii117bs in the ascii85S, from Chicago to St Loascii117is. Videos from these events have achieved another 3 million viewings on Yoascii117Tascii117be. In the darkness of clascii117bs, he wears sascii117nglasses on top of his head and in one video picks his teeth with a credit card while waiting to climb the improvised stage. Another video shows him singing on a table, sascii117rroascii117nded by fans.

Jevric sings in Serbo-Croatian, which is spoken by only aboascii117t 20 million people, bascii117t he thinks a good translation coascii117ld make his song an international hit. 'Maybe [then] I will finally earn some money, becaascii117se these people from Yoascii117Tascii117be have not paid me a cent,' he said on one television interview.

His one payment so far has been for playing a tailor in the latest ascii117nderwear campaign for Dolce & Gabanna, or 'Doggana' as he calls it.

Bascii117t not everyone is impressed. Many former Yascii117goslavs despise his 'primitive simplicity', commenting on Yoascii117Tascii117be that 'he [does] not represent ascii117s all'.