 |
| Marija Šerifović won Eurovision in 2007 |
Today, The Grandma has been talking with The Watsons about Marija Šerifović, the Serbian singer who won the Eurovision Song Contest representing her country in 2007 singing Molitva.
Serbia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 12 times since making its debut in 2007.
Serbia previously participated as part of Yugoslavia (both the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1961 to 1991 and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992) and as Serbia and Montenegro (2004–2006).
Serbia won the contest on its debut as an independent country in 2007, with Molitva performed by Marija Šerifović. The country's only other top five result is their third place in 2012, with Nije ljubav stvar. Serbia's other top ten results are sixth place (2008) and tenth place (2015).
Before talking about Dana, The Grandma has offered a new Cambridge Key English Test A2 Example to The Watsons.
Marija Šerifović (born 14 November 1984) is a Serbian singer and record producer.
She is best known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with Molitva, making her Serbia's first and only Eurovision winner to date. Šerifović is recognised for her powerful and emotional vocal performances.
Marija Šerifović was born on 14 November 1984 in Kragujevac in central Serbia. Her father, Rajko Šerifović, was a drummer, and her mother, Verica Šerifović, is a popular folk singer. She comes from a mixed marriage of a Muslim/Orthodox father and an Orthodox mother.
When Verica was nine months pregnant with Marija, her husband left her for another woman with whom he had a son, Danijel, who is also a singer and a vocal coach. Šerifović described her father as an abusive alcoholic who would regularly beat her mother.
Šerifović released her
debut album Naj, Najbolja in 2003 under City Records. The following year
she won at the Budva Music Festival with Bol do ludila. She also
claimed victory at the Radio Festival in 2005 and released her sophomore
record Bez Ljubavi in 2006. A year later she held her first concert in
Sava Centar, Belgrade.
 |
| Marija Šerifović won Eurovision in 2007 |
In the search for the newly formed independent Serbia's entry for 2007 Eurovision Song Contest, Šerifović with Molitva was chosen winner according to the jury and the public vote.
On 10 May, she performed fifteenth, placing first with 298 points. Two days after, she claimed victory with 268 points, becoming Serbia's first and to date only Eurovision winner. Returning home, she was greeted by more than 70,000 people in front of the Civic Assembly of Belgrade. She also held a concert in her home town in front of 60,000 co-citizens.
The following year, Serbia hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, where Šerifović performed her winning song and handed over the title to Dima Bilan from Russia. She was also in the jury to choose the Irish entry for Eurovision Song Contest 2008 and Swedish for Eurovision Song Contest 2009.
Molitva was included in the list of the 10 best Eurovision winners according to the SBS in 2016 and to The Independent in 2019, while The Eurovision Times, a fan blog, ranked it as the third best Eurovision song of all time.
In
2008, Šerifović released her third album titled Nisam anđeo, and a year
later her fourth Anđeo. In May 2010, she held a concert in the Belgrade
Arena. Her documentary series, Confession, was broadcast on Prva TV in
2013, in which she talked about her difficult childhood, rose to fame
and coming out as a lesbian. In 2014 she released her fifth record,
Hrabro.
In July 2015, Šerifović released single Pametna i luda. In September, she became a judge on the televised singing competition Zvezde Granda alongside Jelena Karleuša. While in October, Šerifović also saw success with Sama i nervozna.
More information: Eurovoix
In March the following year, she held a concert in Zetra Olympic Hall in Sarajevo. Then, Šerifovć released Svoja i tvoja in May. She ended the year with another single, Deo prošlosti.
In March of 2018, she also released Nije ljubav to. Šerifović then performed in the sold out Belgrade Arena and in July at the Koševo City Stadium in Sarajevo.
Between March and May of 2019, Šerifović embarked on a tour, titled Druga
strana ploče, during which she covered her favorite songs from other
artists as well as performed her own hits. It listed seven sold out
shows, six of which were in Sava Centar in Belgrade and one concert in
SPC Vojvodina in Novi Sad. Additionally, in June, Džejla Ramović,
mentored by Šerifović, won the 13th season of Zvezde Granda.
Molitva is a song with
music by Vladimir Graić, lyrics by Saša Milošević Mare, and sung by
Serbian singer Marija Šerifović.
It was the winning song of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2007. It was Serbia's Eurovision debut as an
independent nation, the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro having
dissolved in June 2006. The song was released as a CD single in nine
different versions on 27 July 2007 by Connective Records.
 |
| Marija Šerifović won Eurovision in 2007 |
Molitva also won the semi final in the 2007 competition, collecting 298 points, which was until the 2016 Russian entry the biggest number of points received in a semi final. However, the song achieved this under the new scoring system, which was introduced in the 2016 contest.
It was succeeded as the Serbian Representative by Oro by Jelena Tomašević and as the winning song by Believe by Dima Bilan from Russia.
Molitva was the first song containing no English language lyrics to win since Dana International's win for Israel in 1998 with Diva.
Molitva was the last entirely non-English song to win the Contest until the 2017 edition, where Portugal's Salvador Sobral won with Amar pelos dois, as well as being the first time a ballad had won since televoting became the standard and the first one of the so-called Balkan Ballads that came to prominence since the late 1990s to win the contest.
The song is also notable for its stage presentation because it lacked dance routines, revealing or showy costumes, pyrotechnics and other gimmicks. The Eurovision Song Contest is often accused of concentrating on these things instead of the music itself. Many elements of Molitva contrasted with the previous winner, Hard Rock Hallelujah.
Marija's performance was complemented by the notable presence of the five backing singers, who joined together afterwards to form Beauty Queens. They later joined her with a Serbian flag at the end.
More information: ESC Bubble
The English version is titled Destiny, the Russian version is titled Молитва (Molitva), and The Finnish version is called Rukoilen and was performed by the Beauty Queens, not Marija. The song has also been released as a dance remix and a remix named Jovan Radomir mix by Swedish TV-presenter Jovan Radomir, who also wrote the English lyrics. The UK oompah band Oompah Brass recorded an instrumental version of Molitva on their album Oompocalypse Now (2008), premiered at the 2007 Belgrade Beer Festival.
Molitva has been often played for many successes Serbia has had in the year 2007. It was played at a welcome party for Serbia's tennis players after their French Open successes.
During Wimbledon 2007, Molitva was often used during clips displaying the courts and players on the BBC. It was mainly used before and after footage or interviews with the Serbian players.
At the final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 24 May, Šerifović sang Molitva as the opening.
The short 10 sec instrumental theme of the song can be heard even today on Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), between scheduled broadcasts as short intermezzo or when presenting RTS programme/image.
In 2012, Šerifović performed this song during the interval act of the second semi-final at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku. She was accompanied by traditional Azeri musical instruments.
In 2015, the chorus of the song was played on Day 102 of the soap opera parody Kalyeserye of the Philippine noontime variety show Eat Bulaga!.
Molitva was included in the list of the 10 best Eurovision winners according to the SBS in 2016 and to The Independent in 2019, while The Eurovision Times, a fan blog, ranked it as the third best Eurovision song of all time.
More information: Wiwi Blogs
Ni oka da sklopim,
Postelja prazna tera san,
A život se topi
I nestaje brzo, k'o dlanom o dlan.
I'm wide awake
An empty bed drives my dreams away
Life melts like ice
Disappears in the twinkling of an eye.
Postelja prazna tera san,
A život se topi
I nestaje brzo, k'o dlanom o dlan.
I'm wide awake
An empty bed drives my dreams away
Life melts like ice
Disappears in the twinkling of an eye.
Marija Šerifović
