Marija Šerifović

Marija Šerifović ( sr-cyr, Марија Шерифовић, ; born 14 November 1984) is a Serbian singer. Born in Kragujevac as the daughter of Verica Šerifović, she rose to prominence in 2003 with her debut album ''Naj, Najbolja''. Šerifović is arguably best known for representing Serbia and winning at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with "Molitva". To date, she has released five studio albums and several standalone singles of predominately balladic songs. Šerifović is recognized as one of the best female vocalists in Serbia.

In addition to her singing career, Šerifović has served as the judge on the televised singing competition ''Zvezde Granda'' (2015-present).

Personal life

Šerifović was born on November 14, 1984 in Kragujevac to musicians Verica and Rajko Šerifović. According to the column by ''The Guardians Germaine Greer, she is of Romani descent and has been out as a lesbian since 2004. Šerifović reflected on her sexual orientation as well as on personal struggles, such as domestic abuse from her father, in a documentary film ''Ispovest'', which premiered at Belgrade's Sava Centar in November 2013. She graduated from the First Grammar School in Kragujevac.

Career

In 1998, Šerifović made her debut with a television performance of the song "Moje bube", which she recorded with her mother. Her debut album ''Naj, Najbolja'', produced by Darko Dimitrov was released in 2003 under City Records. The following year, she won the first prize at Pjesma Mediterana music festival in Budva with "Bol do ludila". In 2006, Šerifović released her sophomore album ''Bez Ljubavi'', and a year later held her first concert in Sava Centar.

In March 2007, she gained more significant popularity by winning the Beovizija music festival with "Molitva" and becoming the first representative of the Republic of Serbia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki, Finland. In the Eurovision's semi-final on May 7, Šerifović placed first with "Molitva" and thus qualified for the grand final. Subsequently, in the final held on May 12, she was declared the winner with 268 points. Additionally, "Molitva" received the Artistic Marcel Bezençon Award. Šerifović was also ranked among the most deserving winners of Eurovision by the SBS in 2016 and ''The Independent'' in 2019, while a fan blog ''The Eurovision Times'' declared "Molitva" the third best Eurovision song of all time in 2010. Upon returning home, Šerifović was greeted by more than 70,000 people in front of the Civic Assembly of Belgrade, and later also performed in her home town to a crowd of 60,000.

Following her Eurovision victory, she released albums '' Nisam anđeo'' (2008) and '' Anđeo'' (2009). In 2010, Šerifović participated in second season of the reality television show ''Farma'', where she voluntarily left after 27 days. Same year, she announced her first solo concert in the Belgrade Arena for 11 May. Her fifth studio album '' Hrabro'' was released in 2014 alongside her autobiography, titled ''Ispovest''.

During 2015 and 2016, she released a series of three songs: "Pametna i luda", "Sama i nervozna" and "Svoja i tvoja". In September 2015, Šerifović was announced as the judge on the singing competition show ''Zvezde Granda''. As the mentor on the show, she had the winning contestant for two consecutive seasons with Džejla Ramović in 2019 and Mahir Mulalić in 2021. In March 2016, Šerifović held a concert in Zetra Hall, Sarajevo. Same month she also performed at the National Theater in Belgrade, which saw polarizing reception from the general public and indignation from actors' union. In December 2016, Šerifović released the single "Deo prošlosti" under IDJTunes. A year later in November, she released the single "11". Šerifović sang again in the sold-out Belgrade Arena on 25 May 2018.

At the beginning of 2019, Šerifović performed "11" at the 2019 Music Awards Ceremony, where she was also received the Female Singer of the Year award. Between March and May of 2019, she embarked on a tour called ''Druga strana ploče'', where she sang the covers of her favorite songs from other artists as well as her own hits. It featured seven sold out shows, six of which were held in Belgrade's Sava Centar and one in SPC Vojvodina, Novi Sad. The second rendition of the tour began a year later. It was supposed to include four live shows in Sava Centar, however, the last one was eventually cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic shutdown in September 2020, Šerifović started vlogging on her official YouTube channel. Same year, she also released a greatest hits-compilation under Dallas Records. During March 2022, Šerifović held five concerts in Banja Luka, Zagreb and Belgrade under the title ''Druga strana ploče Vol.3''. The one in Zagreb was held to an audience of 10,000 people. In late December 2022, she released the single "Dobar Vam dan", which scored over million views in the first 24 hours.

Discography

*''Naj, Najbolja'' (2003)
*''Bez Ljubavi'' (2006)
*'' Nisam Anđeo'' (2008)
*'' Anđeo'' (2009)
*'' Hrabro'' (2014)

Filmography

Awards and nominations

See also

*Music of Serbia
* List of singers from Serbia
*Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Serifovic, Marija
1984 births
Living people
Musicians from Kragujevac
21st-century Serbian women singers
Serbian pop singers
Eurovision Song Contest winners
Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Serbia
Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2007
Lesbian musicians
Serbian people of Romani descent
Megatrend University alumni
21st-century LGBT people
LGBT Romani people
LGBT singers from Serbia