Marija Šerifović

Marija Šerifović was born on 14 November 1984 in Kragujevac, central Serbia, to Rajko, a Muslim/Orthodox drummer, and Verica Šerifović, an Orthodox folk singer.[1] While Verica was nine months pregnant with Marija, Rajko left Verica for another woman with whom he had a son, Danijel, who is a singer and vocal coach. Marija described her father as an abusive alcoholic who would regularly beat her mother.[2]

Šerifović released her debut album Naj, Najbolja (The Very, Very Best) in 2003 under City Records.[3] The following year, she won the Budva Music Festival with 'Bol do ludila' (Pain until Insanity). She claimed victory at the Radio Festival in 2005 and released her sophomore record Bez Ljubavi (Without Love) in 2006.[4] A year later, she held her first concert in Sava Centar, Belgrade.

With the song "Molitva" (Prayer), Šerifović was chosen to represent Serbia in the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest. She won both the semi-final on 10 May (with 298 points) and the final on 12 May (with 268 points), becoming Serbia's first—and to date, only—Eurovision winner.[5] Returning home, she was greeted by more than 70,000 people in front of the Civic Assembly of Belgrade, and also held a concert in her home town in front of 60,000 co-citizens. Šerifović performed her winning song in the 2008 contest in Belgrade, and was part of the jury that chose Ireland's entry for the 2008 contest and Sweden's entry for the 2009 contest. "Molitva" was included in the list of the 10 best Eurovision winners according to the SBS in 2016 and to The Independent in 2019, while The Eurovision Times, a fan blog, ranked it as the third best Eurovision song of all time.[6][7][8]

In 2008, Šerifović released her third album, titled Nisam anđeo (I'm not an angel), and a year later, her fourth Anđeo (Angel).[9][10] In May 2010, she held a concert in the Belgrade Arena. In 2013, Prva TV aired a documentary about Šerifović titled Confession, in which she talked about her difficult childhood, rise to fame and coming out as a lesbian.[11] In 2014, Šerifović released her fifth record, Hrabro (Bravely).[12]

In July 2015, Šerifović released the single "Pametna i luda" (Smart and Crazy). In September of the same year, she became a judge on the televised singing competition Zvezde Granda alongside Jelena Karleuša.[13] In October, Šerifović saw success with "Sama i nervozna" (Alone and Nervous). In March 2016, she held a concert in Zetra Olympic Hall in Sarajevo. Between May 2016 and March 2018, Šerifovć released "Svoja i tvoja" (My Own and Yours), "Deo prošlosti" (Part of the Past), "11" and "Nije ljubav to" (Love isn't That). Šerifović then performed in the sold-out Belgrade Arena and, in July 2018, at the Koševo City Stadium in Sarajevo. Between March and May 2019, Šerifović embarked on a tour called 'Druga strana ploče' (The Other Side of the Record), during which she covered her favorite songs from other artists and performed her own hits. It listed seven sold out shows, six of which were in Sava Centar in Belgrade and one in SPC Vojvodina in Novi Sad.[14] Additionally, in June 2019, Džejla Ramović, mentored by Šerifović, won the 13th season of Zvezde Granda.[15]