Marija Šerifović

Marija Šerifović Марија Шерифовић
Marija Šerifović (2009)
Background information
Birth name	Marija Šerifović
Born	November 14, 1984 (1984-11-14) (age 27) Kragujevac, Socialist Republic of Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Genres	Pop, Serbian music
Occupations	Singer
Years active	2003-Present
Labels	City Records (2003-Present)
Website	www.marijaserifovic.org

Marija Šerifović (Serbian: Марија Шерифовић, Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [mǎri̞ja ʃe̞rǐ̞ːfɔ̝v̞i̞ʨ], born November 14, 1984) is a singer from Serbia. She won the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with the song "Molitva". Šerifović was born in Kragujevac, Socialist Republic of Serbia, Yugoslavia and is the daughter of Verica Šerifović, also a notable singer. She was also one of the judges on Eurosong to choose the Irish entry for Eurovision Song Contest 2008 and sung Molitva to close the show. She was also a member of the International Jury in Melodifestivalen 2009, the selection for the Swedish entry to Eurovision Song Contest 2009.

Music career

Albums

Marija Šerifović's debut album Naj, Najbolja (English: The Very, Very Best) was released in 2003 and was well received. The biggest hit from the album was the lead single "Znaj da znam" (English: Know That I Know) composed by Darko Dimitrov. In the summer of 2005, she released the single Agonija, which was a cover version of Greek superstar Despina Vandi's "You're Not Here" (Greek: Olo leipeis).

Her second studio album Bez Ljubavi (English: Without Love) was released in 2006, and was as successful as her debut album. In early 2006, she released first single from the album, the title track. On 28 June 2007 she released an album called: Marija Šerifović: Molitva - The Best Of.

Marija's third studio album Nisam Anđeo (English: I Am Not An Angel) was released in spring 2008, and it contained 9 new songs.

Festivals

In 2003, she participated in the Budva Festival with the song Gorka čokolada ("Bitter Chocolate") again by Darko Dimitrov. In 2004, she took part in the same festival again with a song called Bol do ludila ("pain until madness") and won first prize. The song was a regional chart topper. For the 2005's Beovizija, then the Serbian semifinal of former Serbia and Montenegro's national pre-selection of the Eurovision Song Contest, Evropesma, the song was called Ponuda ("Offer"), and it came 18th. That same year, she entered as a favourite and won the Serbian Radio Festival with a song U nedelju ("on Sunday"), written by Leontina Vukomanović. She also received the award for the best vocal performance.

Concerts

On February 21, 2007, Šerifović held her first solo concert at Belgrade's Sava Centar, considered to be a major break in the Serbian music scene. A 4,000-strong audience attended.

During the Croatian parliamentary election, 2007, Marija Serifovic sang in Zagreb for the Independent Democratic Serb Party.

Beovizija and the Eurovision Song Contest 2007

Šerifović won the Beovizija 2007 with the song "Molitva" (meaning "prayer" in English) on 8 March, winning the combined votes of the jury and televoting and thus qualified to be the first representative of newly independent Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki, Finland. The song was also recorded in English as "Destiny" and in Finnish as "Rukoilen". There is also a Russian version of the song called Molitva (Молитва).

Marija sings in Helsinki

As a part of her Eurovision Song Contest promotional tour, Šerifović visited Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia, Switzerland and Greece.^[1] Although a promotional video was originally planned,^[2] a documentary film will be made which will include both the music video and the preparations for the Eurovision Song Contest.^[3]

On 12 March, the draw of the running order for the semi-final and the final was held. Serbia was the 15th country to participate in the semi-final, and qualified for the final, where they presented their song in the 17th position, following Germany and preceding Ukraine. Her song "Molitva" (Prayer, Serbian Cyrillic: Молитва) won the Eurovision Song Contest 2007.

At the press after Eurovision Marija said: "Tonight I am very proud being a Serb!"

When she landed at the Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, 70,000–100,000 people prepared a mass rally for her in front of the Civic Assembly of Belgrade.

She held a concert in her birth town Kragujevac on 25 May in front of the town hall. She performed in front of about 60,000 people who came to celebrate the triumph at Eurovision. She explained that the concert was very different in Kragujevac, because in that town, she sang before her friends, colleagues, teachers, neighbours and those whom she generally recognised in her every-day life.

Politics

On 24 December 2007 in Kragujevac and 15 January 2008 in Belgrade, Šerifović sang her Eurovision winning hit song "Molitva" (Prayer) at an election rally of the Serbian Radical Party. She also endorsed the presidential candidacy of the party's president Tomislav Nikolić adding that her song was "a prayer for a new, different and more honest Serbia". Many of Šerifović's fans were disappointed with her decision to support Mr. Tomislav Nikolić for president, considering that the Serbian Radical Party's platform is traditionally based on a Greater Serbia ideal (considered dangerous by some countries located near Serbia), and the fact that the Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Šešelj is imprisoned by the post-war ICTY in The Hague. There has been some speculation that song writers Sasa Milosevic Mare, and Vladimir Grajić Graja who wrote the Eurovision song "Molitva", quit working on Šerifović's new album, because of her political views.^[4][5]

The European Union is considering whether Marija Serifovic should be allowed to continue in her role as one of fifteen "intercultural ambassadors" appointed for the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (2008) due to her nationalist leanings.^[6]

However, before Šerifović went to Helsinki, Šerifović participated in an RTS broadcast called "Avalski toranj", where each of four guests give the names of the three most important Serbs ever; as one of her selections, Šerifović chose Dr Zoran Đinđić, ex Serbian Premier and leader of the Democratic Party. Also, in elections for the Croatian Parliament, at the end of 2007, Šerifović went to Zagreb to support Milorad Pupovac, a leader of the Democratic Party of Serbia.

Discography

Main article: Marija Šerifović discography

Non-album tracks

2005

• Ponuda (non-album track), performed at Beovizija 2005, released on the accompanying CD
• Agonija (non-album track)

2007

• Bez tebe (non-album track)
• Molitva (non-album track), winning song of Beovizija 2007 and Eurovision Song Contest 2007
• Molitva - The best of

Konjina

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Result
2007	Marcel Bezençon Awards	Artistic Award	Won

See also

• Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest

References

1. ^ Marija Serifovic - Home
2. ^ Bravo Show, RTV Pink (14 March 2007)
3. ^ "MOLITVA ZA MARIJU" (in Serbian). Press. 25 April 2007. http://www.pressonline.co.rs/sr/vesti/vesti_dana/story/9605. Retrieved 2010-11-30. 
4. ^ "Molitva za tomu". Press. 25 December 2007. http://www.pressonline.co.rs/sr/vesti/vesti_dana/story/26470. Retrieved 2010-11-30. 
5. ^ "Reuters Photos". Reuters (16 January 2008). http://www.daylife.com/photo/09Cd3vQ5Tz53o. Retrieved 2008-01-18. 
6. ^ EU concerned over Eurovision winner's links to Serb nationalists, Agence France-Press/Google News, January 24, 2008

External links

• Official Site
• Official label site
• Marija Serifovic complete discography
• An exclusive interview of the “Eurovision 2007” winner Maria Sherifovich for a «New Portal»

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Lordi with "Hard Rock Hallelujah"	Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2007	Succeeded by Dima Bilan with "Believe"
Preceded by None (first time entry)	Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007	Succeeded by Jelena Tomašević with "Oro"
Preceded by Flamingosi feat Louis	Beovizija winner 2007	Succeeded by Jelena Tomašević
Preceded by Saša Matić Dado Topić	Music Festival Budva winner 2004	Succeeded by / Tijana Dapčević

Persondata
Name	Šerifović, Marija
Alternative names	Шерифовић, Марија
Short description	Singer, winner in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007
Date of birth	14 November 1984
Place of birth	Kragujevac, Serbia
Date of death
Place of death