Svetlana Ražnatović

Svetlana Ražnatović ( Veličković; sr-cyr, Светлана Ражнатовић, ; ; born 14 June 1973), better known by her stage name Ceca ( sr-cyr, Цеца, ), is a Serbian singer and television personality. Often referred to as the "Serbian mother", she is recognized as one of the most popular pop-folk singers in Serbia. Ceca has released sixteen studio albums, which have collectively sold around seven million records, making her one of the best-selling Balkan artists of all time. During her Poziv Tour in 2013, she held a concert in Belgrade with over 150,000 attendants - making it one of the biggest concerts in history.

Early life

Svetlana Veličković was born on 14 June 1973 in Prokuplje to parents Mira and Slobodan Veličković. She grew up in the nearby village of Žitorađa. Ceca has a younger sister named Lidija.

Veličković graduated from the high school of agriculture, studying pig farming.

Career

While vacationing with her family on the coast of Montenegro as a teenager, Ražnatović was discovered by the prominent accordion instrumentalist Mirko Kodić, who helped her to pursue a recording career. In 1988, she debuted with '' Cvetak zanovetak'', which was released through PGP-RTB. The title song was also awarded at the Ilidža Folk Music Festival. Following several moderately successful albums, in 1993, she started collaborating with song-writing duo Marina Tucaković and Milan Radulović on her fifth album ''Kukavica'', released under Juvekomerc. It was promoted with her first national tour and her first solo concert held at Belgrade's Tašmajdan Center. ''Ja još spavam u tvojoj majici'' was subsequently released in June 1994. The following year, she released ''Fatalna ljubav'' through PGP-RTS, featuring one of her greatest hits - "Beograd" (''Belgrade''), which was written by Bosnian musician Dino Merlin. The album was succeeded with a concert at Hala Pionir. Ceca also starred as Koštana in the 1996 film adaptation of Borisav Stanković's novel ''Impure Blood'', but was eventually cut out from the picture due to poor critical reception. A year later, she released ''Maskarada''. Her tenth album, titled ''Ceca 2000'', was released in 1999.

After the release of ''Decenija'' (2001) through Grand Production, in June 2002, Ražnatović performed at the Marakana Stadium in Belgrade to 70.000 people. Album ''Gore od ljubavi'' was released in May 2004 and ''Idealno loša'' was released in June 2006. The latter was promoted by Ceca's first concert at Belgrade's Ušće Park in 2006.

Her album ''Ljubav živi'' was released in June 2011. In 2012, she played the main character on the Serbian period piece TV show “Tajna neciste krvi”, airing on the local channel Happy TV. Ljubav živi was followed by her fifteenth album, titled ''Poziv'', was released in June 2013 under City Records. On Vidovdan 2013, Ražnatović held her second live show at Belgrade's Ušće in front of 150,000 fans according to her management, which makes it one of the highest-attended concerts by a solo artist in the world. Album ''Autogram'' was released in 2016. Additionally to singing, she has served as a judge on the televised singing contests ''Pinkove Zvezde'' (2014–2016) and ''Zvezde Granda'' (2021–present).

In October 2022, Ceca's reality show, titled ''Ceca Show'', also began airing on Blic TV.

Personal life

In 1993, Ceca was introduced to career criminal and paramilitary commander in the Yugoslav Wars, Željko "Arkan" Ražnatović by singer Oliver Mandić, while performing for the soldiers at a military camp in Erdut. They got married on 19 February 1995. Their wedding, which was broadcast internationally, was portrayed as the "Serbian fairytale" by the local media. The couple has two children - Veljko ( 1996) and Anastasija ( 1998). He was assassinated on 15 January 2000.

Legal issues

Following the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić in March 2003, Ražnatović was arrested for illegal firearm possession as a part of the police Operation Sabre and subsequently spent 121 days in commitment.

In 2011, Ražnatović, who had pleaded guilty, was also charged for embezzlement from the transfers of football players as the head of her husband's club, FK Obilić, and was sentenced with €1,5 million fine and to a year in house arrest.

Moreover, due to her legal issues, Ražnatović is officially banned from entering Croatia, being proclaimed ''persona non grata''.

Politics

Ceca has also been involved in politics by serving as the honorary president of the Party of Serbian Unity before Arkan was assassinated.

She publicly endorsed Aleksandar Vučić at the 2017 Serbian presidential election, as well as in the following elections. In January 2019, Ražnatović, alongside President Vučić, representatives of the Serbian Government and Irinej, Serbian Patriarch, was at the official welcoming party for Vladimir Putin at the plateau of Church of Saint Sava.

Ražnatović has also maintained close ties with the Bosnian Serb politician Milorad Dodik and has publicaly endorsed him and his party SNSD. In June 2021, according to the reports of '' Insajder'', Ceca was flown in by the Government-owned helicopter from Belgrade to Dodik's hometown of Laktaši in Republika Srpska to attend a private wedding party.

Discography

* '' Cvetak zanovetak'' (1988)
* ''Ludo srce'' (1989)
* ''Pustite me da ga vidim'' (1990)
* '' Babaroga'' (1991)
* '' Šta je to u tvojim venama'' (1993)
* ''Ja još spavam u tvojoj majici'' (1994)
* ''Fatalna ljubav'' (1995)
* ''Emotivna luda'' (1996)
* ''Maskarada'' (1997)
* ''Ceca 2000'' (1999)
* ''Decenija'' (2001)
* ''Gore od ljubavi'' (2004)
* ''Idealno loša'' (2006)
* ''Ljubav živi'' (2011)
* ''Poziv'' (2013)
* ''Autogram'' (2016)

Filmography

Tours

* ''Šta je to u tvojim venama'' Tour (1993)
* ''Ceca Tour '94'' (1994)
* ''Fatalna ljubav Tour'' (1995)
* ''Decenija'' Tour (2002)
* ''Ceca Tour '05'' (2005)
* ''Grom Tour'' (2006-10)
* ''Ljubav živi World Tour'' (2012-13)
* ''Poziv Tour'' (2013-16)
* ''Autogram Tour'' (2016-20)
* ''The best of Ceca Tour'' (2021)

References

External links

Official website
(partial archive)
*
*

"Arkan & Me"
''The Observer'' interview dated 4 January 2004

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ceca
1973 births
Living people
People from Žitorađa
20th-century Serbian women singers
21st-century Serbian women singers
Serbian turbo-folk singers
Serbian folk-pop singers