Fans sometimes talk about the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest as if Toše appeared from nowhere. In fact the road to Istanbul took more than a decade of festivals. Here is the short version; the festival timeline has the full table.
A child in Skopje
At twelve, encouraged by the musician Hristo Hristovski–Mularot, he sang at the children's festival Zlatno Slavejče in Skopje — in Aromanian, the language of his family.
A Beatles song in Prilep
In 1996, aged fifteen, he won Melfest in Prilep, his birthplace, singing "Yesterday". A year later came MakFest and "Pušti me".
1998: the breakthrough
Second jury prize at Ohrid Troubadours, then the Grand Prix at Eurofest in Skopje in November. Songwriters Grigor Koprov and Ognen Nedelkovski were now writing for him.
2000: first try at Eurovision
At Skopje Fest, the national selection, he won the televote but finished third overall. His second album, Sinot Božji, topped the charts that year anyway.
2003: Belgrade
He won Beovizija with "Čija si", written by Leontina Vukomanović and Željko Joksimović. It would have been Serbia and Montenegro's Eurovision entry, but the country did not take part that year. The same year he trained in New York with the vocal coach William Riley.
2004: Istanbul
Chosen by Macedonian Radio Television, blessed by Archbishop Stephen before he left, he sang "Life", the English version of "Angel si ti", and finished 14th of 24 with 47 points. Read more on the Eurovision 2004 page.
What the road shows
Talent was only part of it. Each step needed a new song, a new jury and a willingness to lose — as he did in 2000 — and come back. That persistence is one reason fans who grew up with him still talk about the festival years with such affection.