Severina Vučković

Severina Kojić (ex Vučković, born on April 21, 1972), best known mononymously as Severina, is a Croatian pop singer and one of the most popular singers in Croatia and the Balkans (ex-YU countries). In 2006, Nacional weekly listed her among the 100 most influential Croats, calling her "the only bona fide Croatian celebrity".^[1] She represented Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, held in Athens, Greece, with the song Moja Štikla and finished at 12th place in the Grand Final with 56 points. In 2015, she was the most googled person in Croatia and Slovenia.^[2]

Career

Music

Severina's style can be described as pop with various folk and cabaret influences. As a child, she took smaller parts in theatre and opera productions in her native Split. During the 1980s, having won numerous awards at local festivals, she launched her professional career at an early age, which ultimately resulted in her moving to Zagreb in 1989 to expand her career further. In the same year, she recorded her first studio album titled Severina. During the 1990s, she established herself as a national pop icon with chart-topping hits such as "Dalmatinka" (1993), "Paloma nera" (1993), "Trava zelena" (1995), "Od rođendana do rođendana" (1996), "Djevojka sa sela" (1998), "Prijateljice" (1998), "Ja samo pjevam" (1999), "Ante" (1999) and others.

Following the huge success of her 2001 album Pogled ispod obrva, Severina's 2002 concert tour Virujen u te further confirmed her status of one of the most popular Croatian music artists. After a two-year break, she released her 8th studio album Severgreen in 2004. In 2006, she won the Dora 2006 festival with the song "Moja štikla" and represented Croatia at the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest in Athens, Greece, on May 20, 2006, finishing 13th with 56 points. The song caused some controversy in Croatia when a few journalists and musicologists claimed the song resembled the music of Serbia. However, prominent Croatian ethno-musicians such as Dunja Knebl and Lidija Bajuk disagreed, and both the song's composer Boris Novković and Severina herself have claimed that the song includes Croatian folk music influences from the Dalmatian Zagora (Inner Dalmatia) such as ganga and rere singing and lijerica instrumentation.

Severina's long-anticipated tenth studio album Zdravo Marijo (Hail Mary), mostly composed by Goran Bregović, was released in May 2008. After the first single from the album Gas, Gas was released, accusations followed once again that particularly due to the brass elements and mischievous, prankish lyrics, the song closely resembled pop, another type of music played in Croatia. Additionally, after having made several public appearances wearing clothes depicting religious imagery (most notably a tight shirt with an image of the Virgin Mary with Severina showing ample cleavage), some protested the abuse of religious elements, calling them offensive. However, the album has been popular and Severina released four more official music videos for singles "Tridesete" composed by Sezen Aksu, "Gade", "Haljinica Boje Lila" and "Zdravo, Marijo" (title track) composed by Bregović. On December 15, 2009, Severina released her next single called "Lola", which is the part of the Miligram compilation.

Her album and tour "Dobrodošao u klub" (Welcome to the club) held her at the top of Croatian pop music for a whole 2012 and 2013 year.

In 2013, she released the song Hurem, named after Hürrem due to the popularity of the Turkish soap opera Muhteşem Yüzyıl in Croatia. Composer and writer of Hurem is Andrej Babić, and arrangers are Ivan Popeskić and Branko Berković. In March 2014, she released the song Alcatraz, called after Alcatraz. Composer and writer of Alcatraz is Miloš Roganović and arrangers are Miloš Roganović, Filip Miletić and Dušan Alagić. Soon after, she released the song Brazil in order to support the national football team of Croatia during the World Cup 2014 in Brazil. In July 2014, she released Uno momento (One moment), a duet with Serbian band Ministarke. The song was noted for its highly provocative video clip.^[3] The song was composed by Filip Miletić and written by Miloš Roganović. It turned out to be highly popular across the Balkans, becoming a summer hit in Serbia. In October 2014, she released a song with Serbian singer Saša Matić called More tuge (Sea of sorrow). Composer is also Saša, writer is Miloš Smiljanić-Žuća and arranger is Dejan Abadić.

Theatre and film

In 2003 Severina landed her first theatre role at the Croatian National Theatre in Rijeka (HNK Rijeka) and played the title role in the rock opera Karolina Riječka (English: Caroline of Rijeka). Two years later she produced and acted in the monodrama Čekajući svog čovika (Waiting for my Man) at the Kerempuh theatre in Zagreb. In 2007 she was cast for one of the main roles in HNK Rijeka's musical Gospoda Glembajevi (The Glembays; based upon Miroslav Krleža's 1929 play). Although the decision to cast Severina was met with criticism by some commentators who questioned her acting credentials, the musical premiered in March 2007 with considerable success.^[4]

Severina also starred in a 2006 Bosnian film Duhovi Sarajeva set in Sarajevo. In 2007 she made a 5-minute cameo appearance playing herself in the Slovenian film Petelinji zajtrk (Rooster's Breakfast), one of the most successful Slovenian films in recent decades.

Personal life

On 22 October 2015 Severina married Serbian soccer agent Igor Kojić.^[5]

Discography

Studio albums

• 1989 – Severina
• 1993 – Dalmatinka
• 1995 – Trava zelena
• 1996 – Moja stvar
• 1998 – Djevojka sa sela
• 1999 – Ja samo pjevam
• 2001 – Pogled ispod obrva
• 2004 – Severgreen
• 2008 – Zdravo Marijo
• 2012 – Dobrodošao u klub

EPs

• 2004 – Bojate Bane Buski
• 2006 – Moja štikla
• 2006 – Moja štikla / Moj sokole

Live albums

• 1993 – Paloma nera - uživo
• 2002 – Virujen u te (najbolje uživo!)
• 2010 – Tridesete - uživo
• 2014 – Dobrodošao u klub live

Tours

• Zdravo Marijo Tour (2008–12)
• Dobrodošao u Klub Tour (2013–14)

See also

• Eurovision Song Contest

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Severina Kojić.

• Official website (Requires Adobe Flash Player)
• Severina Vučković at the Internet Movie Database