Dragana Šarić

Dragana Todorović (; ; born 2 October 1962), better known under the stage name Bebi Dol ( sr-Cyrl, Беби Дол, lit=Baby Doll), is a Serbian and Yugoslav singer and songwriter. Born in Belgrade, she made her solo debut in 1981 with the successful single "Mustafa". She rose to further prominence and nationwide popularity with her 1983 debut album ''Ruže i krv''. Bebi Dol represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1991 with "Brazil". She has released four studio albums and a live album to date, had a number of hit songs in Serbia and former Yugoslavia and had collaborated with a number of prominent acts of the Serbian and Yugoslav music scenes.

Early life

Dragana Šarić was born on 2 October 1962 in Belgrade, FPR Yugoslavia, to mother Magdalena, who worked for Television Belgrade and father Milisav, a jazz musician. Three months after she had been born, the family relocated to Copenhagen, Denmark, and later continued moving across Europe because of her father's job, who performed in American military bases. When Šarić turned seven, they eventually moved back to Belgrade so she could attend school there. She was a student at the Mokranjac Music School.

After graduating from the 14th Grammar School in Belgrade, Šarić started studying anthropology at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy.

Musical career

Late 1970–1981: Early career

In the late 1970s, Šarić made her first professional attempt as a singer alongside fellow-music school students as members of a band called Tarkus. Together they won a competition organized by Radio Belgrade and received an offer to make studio recordings. In 1979, Šarić served as a backing vocalist on the album '' Samo napred...'' (''Go Ahead...'') by the progressive and hard rock band YU Grupa, which was her debut appearance on a record, and in 1980 appeared as a guest vocalist on the 1980 album ''Vrt svetlosti'' (''Garden of Light'') by the progressive and psychedelic rock band Igra Staklenih Perli. The following year, she formed short-lived band Annoda Rouge with her boyfriend-at-the-time Goran Vejvoda (guitar), Slobodan Trbojević (bass guitar) and Ivan Vdović (drums).

1980s and 1990s: Solo career and nationwide popularity

In 1981, Šarić made her solo debut with the single "Mustafa" (" Mustapha"), released under PGP-RTB. Bebi Dol found inspiration for the Oriental music-influenced song in Lawrence Durrell's tetralogy '' The Alexandria Quartet'', and co-wrote it with musician and music producer Saša Habić. The song featured a recording of the voice of Slobodan Konjović from the band Kozmetika, who also co-produced the single. The single was released with the song "Na planeti uzdaha" ("On the Planet of Sighs") as the B-side. Šarić released the single under the stage name Bebi Dol, a nickname for her coined by the members of the band Idoli. By the end of the year, Yugoslav music magazine '' Džuboks'' declared "Mustafa" the record of the year.

After the release of the single, Bebi Dol started working on her debut album, ''Ruže i krv'' (''Roses and Blood''), released in 1983 to critical acclaim. The songs for the album were composed by herself, with the exception of the traditional song "Sinu Sunca i bratu Meseca" ("To the Son of the Sun and Brother of the Moon"), dating from the 17th century, Šarić's version featuring samples of dialogues by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman from the film ''Casablanca'', and the song "Lapis lazuli", which was a cover of a song by Angelo Branduardi. The album was produced by Saša Habić, who also played bass guitar and keyboards on the recording, and featured appearances by Goran Vejvoda (on guitar), Du Du A members Dejan Kostić (on guitar and bass guitar) and Zoran Zagorčić (on synthesizer), Beograd member Dejan Stanisavljević (on keyboards), Bebi Dol's father Milisav Šarić (on saxophone), Slobodan Marković (on keyboards), Zoran Konjović (on guitar) and Radio Television Belgrade String Ensemble. In March 1983, Bebi Dol was, alongside Lepa Brena, chosen by Radio Television Belgrade to compete at the Jugovizija 1983 music festival in Novi Sad, the competition for the Yugoslav representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 1983 in Munich, West Germany. Her entry "Rudi", which referred to Rudolph Valentino, eventually placed sixth. The song was later that year released on a 12-inch single along with the cover of " Baby Love" by the Supremes. Her first solo concert was held on 13 June 1983 at Atelje 212 theatre in Belgrade. Subsequently, she joined Zdravko Čolić on his national tour and then moved to Egypt, where she spent two years performing at the Sheraton Hotel in Cairo.

After relocating back to Yugoslavia in 1986, she released the maxi single "Prove to All", featuring two songs she had co-written with Saša Habić. In the following years, she had the award-winning performances at the International Music Fair ( MESAM) festival with "Inšalah" (" Inshallah"), "Slatke suze ljubavi" ("Sweet Tears of Love") and "Kad sreća odlazi" ("When Happiness Leaves") in 1986, 1988 and 1989, respectively. For "Inšalah" she was awarded the First Award by the Jury, and for "Kad sreća odlazi" she was awarded the Special Award by the Jury. In 1989, Bebi Dol also performed at the Gold Malaysian Festival in Kuala Lumpur.

She made her return to Jugovizija festival on the Jugovizija 1991, held in Sarajevo in March. There, she ended up winning the contest with "Brazil", which was written by herself and Zoran Vračević. On 4 May, Bebi Dol represented Yugoslavia at the Eurovision Song Contest 1991 held in Rome, Italy, where she received only one point from Malta and thus placed second to last. She was also the last official Eurovision entry from Yugoslavia, as the country '' de facto'' ceased to exist later that year. Šarić stated that after Eurovision she lived in Paris where she signed a two year recording contract, but ultimately decided to move back to Serbia due to political instability in her country.

In 1995, Bebi Dol released her second studio album ''Ritam srca'' (''Rhythm of the Heart''). She recorded the album with guitarist Mario Šeparović of the band Psihopolis, with keyboardist Laza Ristovski making a guest appearance on the record. The album featured songs written by Bebi Dol and Zoran Vračević, as well as Serbian language covers of Madonna's " Take a Bow" (entitled "Pokloni se") and Judy Garland's " Over the Rainbow" (entitled "Iznad duge"). The album also included new versions of "Brazil", "Slatke suze ljubavi" and "Rudi". In 1999, Bebi Dol recorded the song "Ti si moj svet" ("You Are My World") for the various artists album ''Proleće na trgu – Moj Beograd srce ima'' (''A Spring at the Square – My Belgrade Has a Heart''), featuring protest songs against NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. At the 1999 Tomorrow's Children charity concert organized by UNICEF in Helsinki, Finland, Bebi Dol performed the song "Ruža" ("Rose"), composed by Zoran Zagorčić on the lyrics of poet Nina Živančević, and performed as a member of the choir consisting of musicians from around the world.

2000s-present: Later career in music and television

In 2002, Bebi Dol released her comeback album ''Ljuta sam...'' (''I'm Angry...''), produced by Vlada Marković, under PGP-RTS. The album was, as she stated, dedicated to all the people she had lost in her life. Most of the songs on the album were authored by Bebi Dol herself. The album featured Zoran Zagorčić's old song "Cilj" ("Goal"), which was previously unrecorded, and the song "Pesma o Simi" ("Song About Sima"), which featured a musical quotation from the 1981 hit "Mustafa". A year later in April, she entered the Beovizija 2003 festival with "Tvrdoglava" ("Stubborn"), placing 10th.

In late 2006, Bebi Dol released an English language cover album entitled ''Čovek rado izvan sebe živi'' (''One Gladly Lives Out of Himself''), through Mascom Records. She recorded the album with Jelena Glišić (backing vocals, musical arrangements), Bata Božanić (bass), Petar Radmilović (drums) and Goran Potić (guitar). The following year, she released the live album ''Veče u pozorištu'' (''A Night at the Theatre'') from her concert held at the Terazije Theatre on 16 February 2007, when she was accompanied by Bata Božanić and his band. The album featured covers from Lenny Kravitz, Simon & Garfunkel, Pink Floyd, Louis Armstrong and Michael Jackson, as well as the songs from her previous release. In 2008, Bebi Dol released the compilation album ''...Pokloni se...'' (''...Take a Bow...'').

Collaborations

During her career, Bebi Dol made a number of guest appearances. She appeared on albums by YU Grupa, Igra Staklenih Perli, KIM, Kozmetika, Leb i Sol, Idoli, Bulevar, Du Du A, Zona B, Bajaga i Instruktori, Oliver Mandić and Massimo Savić. In 1983, she briefly collaborated in Germany with British singer and songwriter Howard Devoto, and in 1989 she briefly worked with American avant-garde composer Neil Rolnick. She has written lyrics for YU Grupa, Cactus Jack, Generacija 5 and other acts.

Theatre, film and television series

In 1985, Šarić provided singing voiceover for the character of Ana, played by Sonja Savić, in Boro Drašković's movie ''Life Is Beautiful''. She starred in Žika Mitrović's 1986 film ''Protestni album'' (''Protest Album''). In 1987, she portrayed Ophelia in Titograd National Theatre's production of ''Hamlet''. In 2020, she made a cameo appearance in the series ''Tajkun'' (''Tycoon''), directed by Dragan Bjelogrlić, as a folk singer named Martina, performing "Rano je za tugu" ("It's Early to Be Sad"), originally performed by Haris Džinović. She had also made cameo appearances in the TV series '' Bolji život'' (''A Better Life'') and ''Lisice'' (''Vixens'').

Television

In 2003, Šarić hosted her own talk show ''Bla Bla Bebi'' on TV Art. Since 2009, Šarić has competed in several reality television shows, including '' Farma'', ''Dvor'' and '' Zadruga''. During 2017, she was also a contestant on the fourth Serbian season of '' Your Face Sounds Familiar'', winning the first episode as Emeli Sandé.

Personal life

In the late 1970s and early 1980s Šarić dated guitarist Goran Vejvoda, and during the 1980s, she dated singer Massimo Savić, with whom she recorded duet "Sunce sja, trava miriše" ("The Sun Is Shining, the Smell of Grass Is in the Air").

On 27 September 2014, she married Los Angeles-born Serbian professor of Russian language and literature, Aleks Todorović, after four years of dating. It was also reported that she has changed her name to Dragana Todorović.

Legacy

In 2006, the song "Rudi" was ranked No. 43 on the B92 Top 100 Domestic Songs list.The B92 Top 100 Domestic Songs list at B92 official site

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Ruže i krv'' (1983)
* ''Ritam srca'' (1995)
* ''Ljuta sam...'' (2002)
* ''Čovek rado izvan sebe živi'' (2006)

Live albums

* ''Veče u pozorištu'' (2007)

Compilations

* ''...Pokloni se...'' (2008)

Singles

* "Mustafa" / "Na planeti uzdaha" (1981)
* "Rudi" (12-inch single; 1983)
* "Inšalah" / "Ruža na dlanu" (split single with Zana Nimani; 1986)
* "Prove To All" / "How Good Not To Love" (1986)
* "Brazil" (1991)

Other appearances

*"Ti si moj svet" (''Proleće na trgu – Moj Beograd srce ima'', 1999)

Filmography and television appearances

See also

* Popular music in Yugoslavia
* Music of Serbia
* List of musicians from Serbia

Notes

References

External links

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{{Authority control

1962 births
Living people
Serbian rock singers
Serbian women rock singers
Serbian pop singers
Serbian women pop singers
Serbian singer-songwriters
Serbian women singer-songwriters
20th-century Serbian women singers
21st-century Serbian women singers
Yugoslav rock singers
Yugoslav women singers
Singers from Belgrade
Synth-pop new wave musicians
Eurovision Song Contest entrants