Ana Nikolić ( sr-Cyrl, Ана Николић; ; born 27 September 1978) is a Serbian singer. Born in

Jagodina ) , image_shield = Jagodina-grb.png , image_flag = FLAG Jagodina.png , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = File:Municipalities of Serbia Jagodina.png , map_caption = Location of Jagodina w ...

and raised in

Paraćin Paraćin ( sr-Cyrl, Параћин, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. It is located in the valley of the Velika Morava river, north of Kruševac and southeast of Kragujevac. In 2011 the town had a p ...

, she rose to prominence at the

Beovizija 2003 Beovizija 2003 was the first edition of Beovizija. It was held from April 12 to April 14, 2003. Unlike the other editions of Beovizija, this wasn't involved in choosing the Serbo-Montenegrin entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. Serbia and Mo ...

music festival with the song "Januar". Nikolić has released six studio albums to date; '' Januar'' (2003), ''Devojka od čokolade'' (2006), ''Mafia caffe'' (2010), ''Milion dolara'' (2013), '' Labilna'' (2016) and ''Klinika'' (2020)

Early life

Ana Nikolić was born on September 27, 1978, in

, but grew up in

. 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 school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

, Nikolić moved to

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

where she attended secondary polytechnic school, studying design. It was also reported that she studied music at the

Academy of Arts, Berlin The Academy of Arts (german: Akademie der Künste) is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The Academy's predecessor organization was fo ...

. In 1998, Ana lost her father, whom she dedicated her 2016 song "Da te vratim" (''To Bring You Back'') to. According to her, the loss of her father also stimulated her to become more independent and to start performing professionally. She left Serbia during 1999 bombing and went to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, where she lived for 9 months. There, Ana attended the performance of

Sakis Rouvas Anastasios "Sakis" Rouvas ( el, Αναστάσιος "Σάκης" Ρουβάς, ; born 5 January 1972), also known mononymously as Sakis, is a Greek singer, film and television actor, businessman and former pole vaulter and model. Born in Cor ...

, who according to her made a further influence on her music career.

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 popular acts of the Yugoslav synth-pop scene. Formed as a duo consisting of keyboardist and vocalist Davor Tolja and vocalist Marina Per ...

. In April 2003, she rose to prominence by competing on the national selection competition for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

, called

Beovizija ''Beovizija'' ( sr, Беовизија) was a music festival established in 2003. Since 2007 it was the national selection for Serbia's representative at the Eurovision Song Contest. ''Beovizija'' is organised and broadcast live each year by RTS1 ...

, with her entry "Januar" (''January''). 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 University ...

and Aleksandar Milić Mili. In 2006, Nikolić returned to

with "Romale romali", finishing as the runner-up. The song received significant success and has become Nikolic's

signature hit A signature song is the one song (or, in some cases, one of a few songs) that a popular and well-established recording artist or band is most closely identified with or best known for. This is generally differentiated from a one-hit wonder in t ...

. The same year, she also released her sophomore album, ''Devojka od čokolade'' (''Girl Out of Chocolate''), 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 Radio Television of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, Радио-телевизија Србије, sr-Lat, Radio-televizija Srbije, italics=yes; abbr. RTS/PTC) is Serbia's public broadcaster. It broadcasts and produces news, drama, and sports programming thro ...

. In October 2014, she claimed victory over Serbian

public broadcaster Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

and received

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

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 unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show ''

Farma ''The Farm'' is a reality competition television franchise created by the Swedish producer Strix. Sold to more than 40 countries, ''The Farm'' is one of their most popular formats, including '' Survivor'', '' The Bar'' or ''Fame Factory''. In s ...

'', 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'' (''Million Dollars'') with several stand out hits, such as the title track featuring rapper

Nikolija Nikolija Jovanović ( sr-cyr, Николија Јовановић, born on 19 October 1989) is a Serbian singer and rapper. Born in Zagreb and raised in Belgrade, she is the daughter of singer Vesna Zmijanac. Nikolija initially gained prominenc ...

and "Đavo" (''Devil''). Nikolic's fifth album, '' Labilna'' (''Labile''), was released in May 2016. Produced by hip hop artists Rasta and

Coby Coby or Koby is a male and female given name, and a surname. Notable people with the name "Coby" include A *Koby Abberton (born 1979), Australian surfer *Koby Altman (born 1982), American basketball executive * Koby Arthur (born 1996), Ghanaian ...

, 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 SYCOtv company. It has spawned spin-offs in over 69 countries, in what is now referred to as the 'Got Talent' format, similar to that described by Fremantle ...

'' franchise, alongside Rasta who was her husband at the time. The couple also collaborated on "Slučajnost" (''Coincidence''), which was released in June 2017 and was later included to Rasta's album titled ''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 significant and highly publicized weight gain. In February 2020, Nikolić returned to public life by releasing "Bilo je lepo" (''It Was Nice'') followed by music videos for six other songs, which were all supposed to be a part of the album titled ''Klinika'' (''The Clinic''). The album was, however, eventually scrapped due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. By the end of 2022, Nikolić announced her first solo concert in the

Belgrade Arena Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mill ...

for 7 October 2023 to celebrate twenty years of career.

Controversy

In November 2010, Nikolić was detained in a police station in Rakovica for

driving under influence Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

. Following the

Fukushima nuclear disaster The was a nuclear accident in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan. The proximate cause of the disaster was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which occurred on the afternoon of 11 March 2011 and ...

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 ''Kurir'' first issue appeared at the news stands on 6 May 2003. While Kurir's history is relatively short, it is also a checkered one. It goes back to the state of emer ...

'' had reported that the baby was in fact

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

from a family residing in

New Belgrade New Belgrade ( sr, / , ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. It is a planned city, built since 1948 in a previously uninhabited area on the left bank of the Sava river, opposite old Belgrade. In recent years, it has become the central bu ...

. Nikolić firmly denied the allegations, stating that the baby's parents decided to come "as soon as possible" to take him back to Japan since the media scandal had erupted. In June 2022, she was caught up in another media scandal when she released her

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

of the song "Provereno", which had already been released by

Milica Pavlović Milica Pavlović ( sr-Cyrl, Милица Павловић, ; born 11 August 1991) is a Swiss-born Serbian singer. She gained fame in 2011/12 as a contestant on the singing competition show '' Zvezde Granda''. Pavlović has released four studio a ...

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. In August 2022, Nikolić was condemned for her

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...

statements about the EuroPride event in

, saying that she, "like the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

", disapproves

pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer culture, queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...

s. Nikolić subsequently stated that she has never "turned her back" on the

LGBT community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay men, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a comm ...

Personal life

While working on her 2016 album, Nikolić started dating Serbian

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

and artist

Stefan Đurić Rasta Stefan Đurić ( sr-cyr, Стефан Ђурић; born 16 November 1989), better known as Rasta ( sr-cyr, Раста), is a Serbian rapper and singer from Priština. He gained mainstream recognition with his singles "Kavasaki" (2014) and "Cava ...

. They married on July 28, 2016. Nikolić gave birth to daughter Tara on 3 August 2017. The couple filled for a divorce in November 2018.

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) * ''Ja sam, pičko, Ana'' (2023) ;Non album singles * ''Ekstaza'' (2008) * ''Šizofrenija'' (2008) feat. Aca Lukas * ''Bili smo najlepši'' (2009) * ''Voli me, voli me'' (2015) * ''Slučajnost'' (2017) feat. Rasta * ''Prolazi'' (2021) ;Compilations * ''Platinum collection'' (2008) * ''The best of'' (2014) * ''The best of collection (20 vanvremenskih hitova)'' (2018)

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