Kristina "Kija" Kockar ( sr-cyr, Кристина "Кија" Коцкар; born 26 May 1989) is a

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

n singer and TV personality, who rose to prominence by winning the first season of Serbian

reality TV show 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 ...

Zadruga A zadruga (, ) refers to a type of rural community historically common among South Slavs. The term has been used by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia to designate their attempt at collective farming after World War II. History Originally, gener ...

''.

Personal life

Kristina Kockar was born on 26 May 1989 in

Zrenjanin Zrenjanin ( sr-Cyrl, Зрењанин, ; hu, Nagybecskerek; ro, Becicherecu Mare; sk, Zreňanin; german: Großbetschkerek) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Central Banat District in the autonomous pro ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

to mother Nadica Zveljković, who worked as restaurant server. After graduating from the Zrenjanin Grammar School, Kija attended Hotelier College in

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 ...

. Before becoming famous, she worked as a flight attendant in Airpink,

Air Serbia Air Serbia (stylised as ''AirSERBIA''; sr, / ) is the flag carrier of Serbia. The company's headquarters is located in Belgrade, Serbia, and its main hub is Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. The airline was known as Jat Airways until it was r ...

and

Etihad Airways Etihad Airways ( ar, شَرِكَة ٱلْاِتِّحَاد لِلطَّيْرَان, sharikat al-ittiḥād li-ṭ-ṭayarān) is one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (the other being Emirates). Its head office is in Khalifa ...

. On 26 September 2016 she married singer and former ''

Pinkove Zvezde ''Pinkove Zvezde'' (Serbian Cyrillic: ''Пинкове Звезде''; "''Pink Stars''") is a Serbian reality television music competition organized by City Records City Records (full legal name in Serbian: Предузеће за изда� ...

'' contestant,

Slobodan Radanović Slobodan ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан) is a Serbo-Croatian masculine given name which means "free" (''sloboda'' / meaning "freedom, liberty") used among other South Slavs as well. It was coined by Serbian liberal politician Vladimir Jovanović w ...

. On 7 August 2018, it was reported that Kija had divorced from Radanović.

Media career

In November 2017, Kockar entered reality series ''

'', aired on

RTV Pink Pink is a privately owned, national radio station and TV channel in Serbia. Pink is the leading commercial station in the Serbian television broadcast market. Pink's parent company is the Belgrade-based Pink International Company Pink Internat ...

, as an anonymous personality after her husband had cheated on her on air with another contestant, Luna Đogani. She immediately attracted sympathies and support from the audience and eventually won the show on 20 June the following year, with more than 55% of the public votes. After the show, she decided to pursue a career in music with her debut single "Ne vraćam se na staro" (''I'm Not Going Back to the Old''), released on 20 July 2018. The official music video for the song has collected more than thirty million views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. Additionally, in October 2019, Kija published her

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, titled ''Moj potpis'' (''My Signature''), in which she reflected on her relationship with Radanović and her time in ''Zadruga''. Although becoming one of the biggest attractions at the

Belgrade Book Fair The International Belgrade Book Fair is one of the oldest and most important literary events in the region. Its basic objective is enabling publishers, authors, booksellers, librarians, book distributors, multimedia companies and other participant ...

, the book received polarizing reception in the public. Between 2018 and 2019, she also served as a judge on two talent shows broadcast on TV Pink, ''Pinkove Zvezde: All Talents'' and ''

Pinkove Zvezdice ''Pinkove Zvezdice'' is a Serbian singing contest on the RTV Pink Pink is a privately owned, national radio station and TV channel in Serbia. Pink is the leading commercial station in the Serbian television broadcast market. Pink's parent compan ...

: All Stars''. In November, Kockar was declared Serbian

gay icon A gay icon is a public figure who is regarded as a cultural icon of some members of the LGBT community. The most widely recognized gay icons are often actresses and singers who garnered large LGBT fanbases, such as Judy Garland, Madonna, Diana Ros ...

of 2018.

Filmography

Discography

;Extended plays * ''Kija'' (2021) * ''Karijera'' (2022) ;Singles * "''Ne vraćam se na staro''" (2018); feat. Ministarke * "''Potpis''" (2018) * "''Ko bi rekao''" (2018); feat.

Stoja Stoja Novaković (; born 4 June 1972), known mononymously as Stoja ( sr-cyr, Стоја), is a Serbian hardcore-folk singer. Recognised as one of the most popular turbo-folk performers, Stoja is noted for her strong voice and often eccentric app ...

* "''Amorova strela''" (2019) * "''Zlatan''" (2019) * "''Sanjam''" (2019) * "''Bejbi''" (2020) * "''Sviđaš mi se''" (2020) * "''Da li si dovoljno lud da meni kažeš da''" (2021) * "''Karijera''" (2021) * "''Pepeljuga''" (2022)

Personal life

Media career

Filmography

Discography

Awards and nominations

References

External links