Ana Nikolić ( sr-Cyrl, Ана Николић; ; born 27 September 1978) is a Serbian singer and television personality. Born in
Jagodina
Jagodina ( sr-cyrl, Јагодина, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Pomoravlje District in central Serbia. It is situated on the banks of the Belica (river), Belica River, in the geographical region of � ...
and raised in
Paraćin
Paraćin ( sr-Cyrl, Параћин, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. Located in the Velika Morava river valley, north of Kruševac and southeast of Kragujevac, the town had a population of 22,349 ...
, she rose to prominence by competing in the
Beovizija 2003 music festival with the song "Januar". Nikolić has to date released five studio albums.
Early life
Ana Nikolić was born on September 27, 1978, in
Jagodina
Jagodina ( sr-cyrl, Јагодина, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Pomoravlje District in central Serbia. It is situated on the banks of the Belica (river), Belica River, in the geographical region of � ...
, but grew up in
Paraćin
Paraćin ( sr-Cyrl, Параћин, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. Located in the Velika Morava river valley, north of Kruševac and southeast of Kragujevac, the town had a population of 22,349 ...
.
She has a brother, Marko Nikolić, who worked as her manager. After graduating from
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...
, Nikolić moved to
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
where she attended secondary polytechnic school, studying design.
In 1998, Ana lost her father, whom she dedicated her 2016 song "Da te vratim" to. According to her, the loss of her father also stimulated her to become more independent and to start performing professionally.
During the
1999 bombing Nikolić moved to
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
, where she lived for nine months. There, Ana was further influence to pursue a career in music by singer
Sakis Rouvas
Anastasios "Sakis" Rouvas (, ; born 5 January 1972), also known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Sakis, is a Greeks, Greek singer, actor, businessman and former pole vaulter.
Born in Corfu, Rouvas won medals with Greece's U18 and U20 national sp ...
.
Career
In 1998, Nikolić made her first television appearance on the show ''3K Dur'', where she sang "Kolačići" by
Denis & Denis
Denis & Denis was a Croatian and Yugoslav synth-pop group formed in Rijeka in 1982. They were one of the most prominent and most popular acts of the Yugoslav synth-pop scene.
Formed as a duo consisting of keyboardist and vocalist Davor Tolja and ...
. In April 2003, she rose to prominence by competing on the national selection for the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
, called
Beovizija
''Beovizija'' () was a music festival established in 2003. Since 2007 it was the national selection for Serbia's representative at the Eurovision Song Contest. ''Beovizija'' was organised and broadcast live each year by RTS1, on RTRS in Bosnia, ...
, with her entry "Januar". Despite placing 7th, Nikolić received the award for the best debut performance. Subsequently, in August, she released her
debut studio album through
City Records
City Records (full legal name in Serbian: Предузеће за издавачко-пропагандну делатност City Records д.о.о. Београд/''Preduzeće za izdavačko-propagandnu delatnost City Records d.o.o. Beograd'' ...
under her then stage name Nika. The album also marked the beginning of her collaboration with songwriters
Marina Tucaković
Marina Tucaković ( sr-Cyrl, Марина Туцаковић; 4 November 1953 – 19 September 2021) was a Serbian lyricist and songwriter. Born and raised in Belgrade, Serbia, Tucaković had a degree from the Economic Faculty at the Universit ...
and
Aleksandar Milić Mili. In 2006, Nikolić returned to
Beovizija
''Beovizija'' () was a music festival established in 2003. Since 2007 it was the national selection for Serbia's representative at the Eurovision Song Contest. ''Beovizija'' was organised and broadcast live each year by RTS1, on RTRS in Bosnia, ...
with "Romale romali", finishing as the runner-up. The song received significant success and has become Nikolic's
signature hit. The same year, she also released her sophomore album, ''Devojka od čokolade'', after which she embarked on her first regional tour. Nikolić competed on Beovizija once again in March 2009, where she reached the final only after the statement that the votes had been miscounted. Nikolić subsequently decided to not take part in the final and later sued
Radio Television of Serbia
The Serbian Broadcasting Corporation, more commonly referred to as Radio Television of Serbia (), or RTS (), is the state-owned public radio and television broadcaster of Serbia. RTS has four organizational units – radio, television, music pro ...
.
In October 2014, she claimed victory over Serbian
public broadcaster
Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...
, receiving
€
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...
20,000 in damages.
In September 2009, she entered Serbian
reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
show ''
Farma Farma may refer to:
* ''Farma'' (franchise), the name of a number of reality TV shows originating with ''The Farm'' in Sweden
** ''Farma'' (Croatian TV series)
** ''Farma'' (Czech TV series)
** ''Farma'' (Polish TV series)
** ''Farma'' (Serbia ...
'', but was disqualified after three days for rule breaking. Her third body of work, ''Mafia Caffe'', was released in July 2010.
In the summer of 2013, she released ''Milion dolara'' with several stand out hits, such as the title track featuring
Nikolija
Nikolija Jovanović ( sr-cyr, Николија Јовановић; born 19 October 1989) is a Serbian singer. Born to folk singer Vesna Zmijanac, Jovanović was born in Zagreb and raised in Belgrade. Nikolija debuted in 2013 with the single "Ća ...
and "Đavo". Nikolic's fifth album, ''
Labilna'', was released in May 2016. Produced by
hip hop artists
Rasta and
Coby
Coby or Koby is a male and female name, a surname, or a nickname originating from the name "Jacob" or "Jakob".
Notable people with the name "Coby" include
A
* Koby Abberton (born 1979), Australian surfer
* Koby Altman (born 1982), American baske ...
, it saw significant departure from her previous work to a more
urban
Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to:
* Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas
* Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities
Urban may also refer to:
General
* Urban (name), a list of people ...
sound. Same year, she went on to appear as a judge on the fifth season of the
Serbian spin-off of the ''
Got Talent
''Got Talent'' is a British talent show TV format conceived and owned by Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment. It has spawned spin-offs in over 60 countries, in what is now referred to as the 'Got Talent' format, similar to that described by Frema ...
'' franchise, alongside Rasta who was her husband at the time. The couple also collaborated on "Slučajnost", which was released in June 2017 and was later included to Rasta's album ''Indigo''. After giving birth to her daughter in August 2017, Nikolić decided to take a break from music to focus on motherhood and her body image issue regarding a highly publicized weight gain.
In February 2020, Nikolić returned to public life by releasing "Bilo je lepo" followed by music videos for six other songs, which were all supposed to be a part of the album titled ''Klinika''. The album was, however, eventually scrapped due to
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. By the end of 2022, Nikolić announced her first solo concert in the
Belgrade Arena
The Belgrade Arena ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Београдска арена, Beogradska arena, separator=" / ") is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Belgrade, Serbia. It is designed as a universal hall for sports, cultural events and other programs. ...
for 7 October 2023 to celebrate twenty years of career. In August 2023, Hype Production, which was responsible for the concert's organization, announced that the tickets had been withdrawn from sale due to lack of "technical conditions". Although they highlighted that the concert had not been cancelled, Nikolić's live show in the Arena was eventually never realized.
Controversy
In November 2010, Nikolić was detained in a police station in
Rakovica for
driving under influence
Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether recreational or ...
.
Following the
Fukushima nuclear disaster
The Fukushima nuclear accident was a major nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan, which began on 11 March 2011. The cause of the accident was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which ...
in 2011, Nikolić claimed she was foster caring a
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
baby boy. She subsequently faced scrutiny after Serbian daily newspaper ''
Kurir
''Kurir'' is daily tabloid newspaper published in Belgrade, Serbia.
History
The first issue of ''Kurir'' appeared at newsstands on 6 May 2003. While Kurir's history is relatively short, it is also a checkered one. It goes back to the state of ...
'' had reported that the baby was in fact
Chinese
Chinese may refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China.
**'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
from a family residing in
New Belgrade
New Belgrade (, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade. It was a Planned community, planned city and now is the central business district of Serbia and South East Europe. Construction began in 1948 in a previously un ...
. Nikolić firmly denied the allegations, stating that the baby's parents decided to come "as soon as possible" to take him back to Japan after the media scandal had erupted.
In December 2014, she described the then
Prime Minister of Serbia
The prime minister of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, премијер Србије, premijer Srbije; feminine gender, feminine: премијерка/premijerka), officially the president of the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, председн ...
,
Aleksandar Vučić
Aleksandar Vučić, (born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as President of Serbia since 2017. A founding member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he previously served as President of the SNS from 2012 to 2023, Deputy Prim ...
, as "irresistible". In May 2023, she invited followers on
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
to join the
government-organized counter-demonstration organised by Vučić's
Serbian Progressive Party
The Serbian Progressive Party (, SNS) is a major populist, catch-all party, catch-all List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. It has been the Ruling party, ruling party since 2012. Miloš Vučević, the former prime mi ...
against the
2023 Serbian protests.
In June 2022, she was caught up in another media scandal when she released her
demo of the song "Provereno", which had already been released by
Milica Pavlović
Milica Pavlović ( sr-Cyrl, Милица Павловић, ; born 11 August 1991) is a Serbs in Switzerland, Swiss-born Serbian singer. She came to prominence as a contestant on the singing competition show ''Zvezde Granda'' in 2011. Pavlović ha ...
as a part of her album ''
Posesivna''. Pavlović disclosed her intentions to file a lawsuit against Nikolić several days after. No legal actions were eventually taken regarding the incident.
Personal life
On 28 July 2016, Nikolić married music artist
Stefan Đurić Rasta
Stefan Đurić ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Ђурић; born 16 November 1989), better known as Rasta ( sr-Cyrl, Раста), is a Serbian rapper, singer, songwriter and producer from Priština. Recognized as one of the most popular Serbian artists ...
. Their daughter, Tara, was born on 3 August 2017. The couple filled for a divorce in November the following year.
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
Januar'' (2003)
* ''
Devojka od čokolade
''Devojka od čokolade'' is the second studio album by Serbian recording artist Ana Nikolić. It was released in 2006 by City Records, and most of its songs were written by Aleksandar Milić Mili, Ljiljana Jorgovanović and Marina Tucaković, who ...
'' (2006)
* ''Mafia caffé'' (2010)
* ''Milion dolara'' (2013)
* ''
Labilna'' (2016)
* ''Klinika'' (2020)
EP
* ''
Hvala, Doviđenja'' (2024)
Notes
Filmography
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikolic, Ana
1978 births
Living people
21st-century Serbian women singers
Serbian pop singers
Serbian folk-pop singers
People from Paraćin