Marija Šestić

Marija Šestić in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2007

Marija Šestić (born May 5, 1987 in Banja Luka ), also known as Marija , is a singer from Bosnia and Herzegovina . She represented her country at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 (ESC) in Helsinki and finished 11th with 106 points.

biography

Marija Šestić was born in 1987 in Banja Luka, in what was then Yugoslavia , and comes from a family of artists. Her father, Dušan Šestić , was among other things responsible as a composer for the new national anthem of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the " Intermeco ". Her parents discovered her musical talent at an early age and she made her first public appearances at the age of six. Šestić took part in various national and international youth competitions and was awarded several prizes for piano playing and singing. In 1996 she won the St. Georges Festival in her hometown and won the competition for young talents in Zenica three times in a row . At the age of 13, she began studying piano at the Banja Luka Conservatory, graduating as the youngest student in the institution's history. She is currently working there as a piano professor.

Marija Šestić drew international attention in 2000 when she, together with Irina Kapetanović and Sanja Volić, was one of the first singers from former Yugoslavia to perform at MTV Europe in Berlin . The song Zgrabi Svoju Sreću ( German : “Grab your luck”), performed live there, was commissioned by the OSCE for the state elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was also accompanied by the production and publication of a music video. In the same year, Šestić released her first album, which was followed three years later by winning the young talent award at the international pop music festival in Banja Luka. In 2004 she successfully took part in the festival Golden Star in Romanian Bucharest and won a diploma from the International Federation of Festival Organizations (FIDOF).

In 2005 Šestić took part in the Bosnian preliminary decision for the 50th Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev , where she finished fourth. Two years later she was the national television BHRT determined internally, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Euro Vision Song Contest 2007 in Finland to represent Helsinki. The song "Rijeka bez imena" (German: "River without a name" ) was composed by the Belgrade artist Aleksandra Milutinovic , the text is penned by the Serbian Goran Kovacic from Banja Luka. After Šestić went on a promotional tour to Serbia (in the intermediate part of the Serbian preliminary decision Beovizija ), Slovenia , Croatia , Belgium and the Netherlands , she opened the final of the Top 24 on May 12 with the folkloric pop ballad "Rijeka bez imena" with which she reached 11th place. The song was also recorded in Russian ("Bezimyanaya reka") and in English ("Never wake me up") . In her concerts she also repeatedly presents the traditional folk song Moj dilbere ( My Beloved ), which comes from the Bosnian tradition Sevdalinka .

Awards

• 1995: 3rd place at the St. Georges Festival in Banja Luka
• 1996: 1st place at the St. Georges Festival in Banja Luka
• 1998: Special price at Naša Radost in Podgorica
• 1999: 1st place at Zlatno Zvonce in Novi Sad
• 2000–2002: 1st place at the International Festival for Young Talents in Zenica
• 2003: Young Talent Award at the International Pop Music Festival in Banja Luka
• 2004: Golden Star in Bucharest

Web links

Commons : Marija Šestić  - collection of images

• Marija Šestić at eurovision.de

Footnotes

1. ↑ cf. Song Of BIH 2000 General Elections To Be Presented On MTV Europe , ONASA News Agency, November 2, 2000.