Ivana Ranilović-Vrdoljak (born 1 September 1970 in
Koprivnica
Koprivnica () is a city in Northern Croatia, located 70 kilometers northeast of Zagreb. It is the capital and the largest city of the Koprivnica-Križevci county. In 2011, the city's administrative area of 90.94 km2 had a total popu ...
,
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
,
SFR Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...
), better known by her stage name Vanna, is a
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
n
pop singer
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
.
Biography
As a child, Vanna won prizes in various national children and youth festivals. Her debut was at the 1990 Zagrebfest, a music festival held in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
. In that year she left her hometown to live and study in Zagreb and whilst studying, she performed in a band called
BOA
Kwon Bo-ah (; born November 5, 1986), known professionally as BoA, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer and actress. One of the most successful and influential Korean entertainers, she has been dubbed the " Queen of K- ...
singing back vocals.
In 1992 her professional career as a singer was launched. She joined a
eurodance
Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...
band called
Electro Team
Electro Team (ET) is a hip hop/eurodance band from Croatia, active since 1987. and was popular elsewhere across the former Yugoslavia republics.
In 1997, Vanna left Electro Team to start a solo career and record her first album, ''I to sam ja'' which brought her own versions of country, blues and jazz standards. As solo artist she turned to more mature urban europop and r′n′b with elements of pop rock in some songs. Her first author album "Ispod istog neba" mostly oriented to electronic r′n′b was published in 1998 at the end of the decade and won two Porin awards for best female vocal and best vocal cooperation in duet "Ja ću budna sanjati" with singer songwriter Zlatan Stipišić Gibonni . She has since recorded three more solo albums and has won several other awards. She came first at Zadarfest (held in
Zadar
Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...
) three years in succession (1999, 2000 and 2001). Her album ''24 sata'' which brought more faster europop songs was published in 2000. and reached gold..
In 2000., she came in second in Dora, the Croatian national final for the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
with a song written by
Bruno Kovačić
Bruno Kovačić is a Croatian musician and composer.
Biography
His career began in the 1980s when he formed the band called D-Day. Afterwards he worked with all the important musicians and singers in and around Croatia as a musician, composer o ...
and Ivana Plechinger. Being runner-up, she decided to participate again in 2001 and won with
Tonči Huljić
Tonči Huljić (; born 29 October 1961) is a Croatian musician, songwriter and music producer. He is best known as the founding member, songwriter and producer of one the most famous Croatian pop bands, Magazin.
During his career spanning more ...
's song ''Strune ljubavi''. Shortly after Dora, she gave birth to daughter Jana. Vanna represented Croatia in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2001
The Eurovision Song Contest 2001 was the 46th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Fly on the Wings of Love" by Olsen Brothers. Organised by the E ...
in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
on 12 May 2001 and finished 10th. She sang the song in Croatian and in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
, now entitled "
Strings of My Heart
Croatia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 with the song "Strings of My Heart" written by Tonči Huljić, Vjekoslava Huljić and Ante Pecotić. The song was performed by Vanna. The Croatian broadcaster Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT ...
".
After Eurovision, Vanna released a live album called ''Vanna u Lisinskom'' published in 2001 and won Zadarfest again with "Više nisi moj". She won prizes in several other festivals. In 2003, a fourth album "Hrabra kao prije" was published and brought more organic r′n′b oriented pop sound with more elements of pop rock. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, Vanna took a successful turn to more solid power pop and pop rock music with some acoustic ballad on albums "Ledeno doba" from 2007, and "Sjaj" from 2011, which proved that she can successfully sing any style not just pop and dance music.
In 2012., she had a guest appearance on the track "Za tvoje oči" from the album ''Praštam'' of Serbian rock band
Neverne Bebe
Neverne Bebe ( sr-cyr, Неверне Бебе, lit=The Unfaithful Babies) are a Serbian rock band, originally formed in Valjevo in 1993 and currently based in Belgrade. The band was formed in 1993 by keyboardist Milan Đurđević. On their first ...
. After seven years of discography hiatus, her last studio album "Izmješane boje" was published in 2019., brought return to pop, dance and r′n′b music and won award Porin for the best pop album of the year.
Vanna is married to Andrija Vrdoljak, son of Croatian film director
Antun Vrdoljak
Antun Vrdoljak (; born 5 June 1931) is a Croatian film actor and director, sports official, and head of Croatian Radiotelevision during the Yugoslav Wars. Between the 1960s and early 1990s he was mainly a film artist. In the early 1990s he becam ...
, and they have two children, Luka (born c. 1997.) and Jana (born c. 2001.). The family lives in Zagreb.
Discography
Albums
* ''Electro Team'' (1992, with Electro Team)
* ''Second To None'' (1994, with Electro Team)
* ''Anno Domini 1996'' (1996, with Electro Team)
* ''I to sam ja'' (1997)
* ''Ispod istog neba'' (1998)
* ''24 sata'' (2000)
* ''U Lisinskom'' (2001)
* ''Hrabra kao prije'' (2003)
* ''Ledeno doba'' (2007)
* ''Sjaj'' (2010)
*''Izmiješane boje (2019)''