Severina Vučković (born 21 April 1972), better known mononymously as Severina, is a
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
n singer-songwriter and actress. In 2006, the Croatian weekly ''
Nacional'' listed her among the 100 most influential Croats, calling her "the only ''bona fide'' Croatian celebrity", as well as "''Queen of Croatian music''".
She represented Croatia at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2006, held in
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, Greece, with the song "
Moja štikla", finishing 12th.
She won the award "Zlatna ptica" for the best selling artist of the decade in Croatia. In 2015, she was the most searched person on
Google
Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
in
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
and
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
. She is considered one of the most popular figures in Croatia and Croatia's pop-culture, and one of the most popular musicians on
Balkan region, having collaborated with numerous artists like:
Jala Brat,
Ministarke,
Azis,
Marina Tucaković,
Saša Matić,
Miligram,
Petar Grašo,
Kemal Monteno,
Željko Bebek,
Crvena Jabuka,
Goran Bregović,
Boris Novković,
Lana Jurčević,
Danijela Martinović and many others.
She wrote many of her songs including: ''
Ostavljena'', ''
Da si moj'', ''
Ja samo pjevam'', ''
Ajde ajde zlato moje'', ''
Mili Moj'', ''
Pogled ispod obrva'', ''
Djevojka sa sela'', ''
Ante'', ''
Ko me tjero'', ''
Adam i Seva'', ''
Parfem'' and many others.
She is the only person in
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
to accumulate more than 1 billion views on her
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel.
Early life
Severina was born in
Split,
SR Croatia,
SFR Yugoslavia on 21 April 1972, the youngest daughter of Ana (who was from
Drniš) and Sever Vučković.
Aljoša Vučković is her uncle. She also has two older sisters, Zdenka and Marijana. Severina has had a love for music and stage performance from an early age. When asked how did she got her name "Severina", she responded by saying: "''My father wanted me to be Nataša, but my mom adored my father whose name was Sever, and my grandfather was giving his children names by
Cardinal direction
The four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the four main compass directions: north (N), south (S), east (E), and west (W). The corresponding azimuths ( clockwise horizontal angle from north) are 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°.
The ...
s''" (
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...
: Sever - North)
From a young age, she was interested in
music
Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
,
dance
Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
,
acting and the
piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
. She started singing as a girl in KUD Mozaik, which was led by Lepa Smoje, wife of
Miljenko Smoje, who immediately recognized Severina as a future star. Lepa Smoje assigned her the role of Carmela in the musical "''
Frane Štrapalo''". Lepa Smoje once said: "''The moment I saw her on the stage of the Frano Štrapalo musical, I said: this little girl is a born star''" Later, she started singing in the Treća smena group and won first prizes at competitions, one of which was from the Student summer, where she was declared the best singer. After finishing elementary school, Severina enrolled in the
Josip Hatze High School of Music in Split, but she stopped her education in order to devote herself to a musical career.
Career
Beginnings (1982 - 1993)
Severina's career was launched in the late 1980s when she began performing in local festivals and competitions. In 1982, in
Split, at the ''Dječji prvi pljesak'' (Children's First Applause) competition, Severina won with the song ''Moja Milena''. In 1987, at the Croatian amateur singer competition in
Daruvar, Severina won with
Josipa Lisac's song ''
O jednoj mladosti'' ('About one youth'). One of her first major performances came in 1989, when she was 17 in her hometown of
Split. In
Hotel Marjan, she performed "''Tata čuješ li muziku''" ("Dad can you hear the music"). She performed at various festivals, and in 1990 she moved to
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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
where she won the radio competition "Demo X" at
Radio Zagreb, which won her an opportunity to record her first album. Severina started playing music professionally in 1990. In July 1991, she performed "''Vodi me na ples''" ("Take me to dance") at
Split Festival. She released her first self-titled album called "''
Severina''" in 1990. After meeting
Zrinko Tutić in 1992, Severina recorded her second self-titled album "''
Severina''", released by
Croatia Records. The album contained songs like "Vodi me na ples" ("Take me to dance") and "Kad si sam" ("When you’re alone"), "Idemo se ljubiti" ("Let's kiss"), which quickly won the hearts of the audience and became hits. During the collaboration with Tutić, she also recorded the albums "Dalmatinka", "Trava zelena", "Moja stvar" and "Djevojka sa sela". She signed a six-year contract with the production company
Tutico and Zrinko Tutić, who introduced her to Croatian singer and songwriter
Gibonni. At the singer's urging, Zrinko gave Gibonni the chance to record the song "Zlatne godine" (Golden Years), which he had written. In addition to the two of them, she also collaborated with
Dino Dvornik.

That same year she won the first prize at the Zagreb Festival with the song "Sklopi oči muzika dok svira" (''Close Your Eyes While the Music Is Playing''). She soon became the host of the show ''Top Cup'' on
Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT), which she hosted for a year, and at the end of the year she went on her first tour in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
.
In 1993, Severina with her previous producer Zrinko Tutić recorded the album "''
Dalmatinka''" (''
Dalmatian girl'') for the
same record company, which brought her great popularity. The title song can be considered one of Severina's signature songs. The leading song from her third studio album, ''Dalmatinka'' (''Dalmatian Woman''), became a sensation and captured the emotions of many at the time of release. In the song, Severina sang about her love for her native
Dalmatia, the
color of white and
Virgin Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
. The album had a total of 10 songs among which were "Ne bi' ti oprostila" (''I Wouldn't Forgive You''), "Ne spavaj mala moja" (''Don't Sleep, My Baby Girl'';
Bijelo Dugme cover), "Paloma nera" (''Black Dove''), "Ljubi me noćas" (Kiss me tonight) and others. Both "Paloma nera" and the title track became number one hits on the national top list, and a very successful tour of Croatia and
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
followed.
Further success (1993 - 1998)
In 1995, the album "''
Trava zelena''" (''Green Grass'') was released. Although it did not have as many hits as the previous ones, it was commercially successful. It contains ten tracks: "Trava zelena" (Green grass), "Vatra i led" (Fire and ice), "Mr. Taliman", "Bože moj" (My God), "Bambola", "Lude godine" (Crazy Years), "Poželi me" (Wish for me), "Pruži mi ruku" (Give me your hand), "Ludo moja" (Crazy mine), "Ti si srce moje" (You are my heart) a duet with
Žera from
Crvena Jabuka. Other collaborators on the album were Faruk Buljubasic, Nenad Ninčević,
Rajko Dujmić, and for the first time Severina herself is credited as a writer on three songs. The title track was the most popular song of the year and Severina's primacy on the Croatian media platform rose as a result. It was another collaboration with Tutić.
Her fifth studio album was ''
Moja stvar'' (''My Thing''), released on 5 November 1996. The album was influenced by
rock sounds. The title track was written and composed by Severina herself. To promote the album, Severina held a sold-out concert on 14 November 1996 in
Dom Sportova venue 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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
. She opened the concert with the song "Moja stvar" (My thing). In ''Zrcalo'' interview on
HRT, when asked why the album was not
dance
Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
influenced, she responded by saying: "''Why should we separate music on only dance and
pop?'' ".
Her biggest breakthrough at the time was in 1998 when she released the album ''
Djevojka sa sela'' (''Girl from a village''), which was composed and written partly by Tutić and partly by Severina. Severina wrote six songs. The title track is one of her biggest hits and was used by the
Croatia national football team as their unofficial anthem during
their campaign at the
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...
. ''Djevojka sa sela'' was her last album composed by Tutić and his production company Tutico. They parted ways following its release due to a contract dispute.
Continued success (1999 - 2003)
In early 1999, Severina went on a second tour of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, and in July of the same year she performed at the
Melodies of Croatian Jadran (MHJ) festival with
Đorđe Novković's song 'Da si moj'. She also released a new album ''Ja samo pjevam'', which returned her to the top of all charts and from which the song 'Ante' stood out. Severina cut off her long hair and started wearing more provocative tops.
Severina's seventh studio album, ''
Ja samo pjevam'' (''I'm just singing''), was a continuation of the
pop sounds heard on her previous albums. It was released in 1999 by
Croatia Records, It had a total of 10 songs. The composer of this album was
Đorđe Novković with whom Severina started working on her next album. ''Ja samo pjevam'' is Severina's best selling album till this day, with more than 55,000 copies sold only in Croatia.
The album includes a cover of the song "
Dodirni mi kolena" (''Touch my knees'') by Serbian group
Zana. Four singles from the album "Da si moj" (''If you were mine''), "Ante", "Ja samo pjevam" and "Dodirni mi koljena" were released. The album was not supported by an indoor tour, but on 6 July 2000, she held a solo concert at the
Stadion Stari plac in
Split in front of more than 20,000 people.
Following the success of her album ''
Pogled ispod obrva'' (''The Look Underneath the Eyebrows'') which was released on 15 May 2001, Severina's 2002 concert tour and live album ''Virujen u te'' (''I Believe in You'') won her an award for best selling live album along with a nomination for hit song of the year.
Virujen u Te was her first major tour during which she performed in most of the big cities on the
Balkans
The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
including
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
, Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Ljubljana, Slovenia and confirmed her status as one of the most popular Croatian music artists. In 2001, she performed again at the
MHJ with the song ‘Ajde, ajde, zlato moje’, and at the end of the year she went on her third tour of Australia. She, along with Dorđe Novković, was the primary author on that album. With the song ‘Virujen u te’, she won the MHJ that same year and won the Grand Prix, and the album ‘Pogled ispod obrva’ became the best-selling album of her career.
The album has sold over 30,000 copies in Croatia.
In 2002, she released the
live album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...
"''Virujen u te (najbolje uživo!)''", which was later awarded the award for the best-selling live album. ‘Pogled ispod obrva’ was nominated for album of the year at the
Porin discography award, and the song ‘Virujen u te’ for hit of the year.
Career setbacks and Eurovision Song Contest 2006 (2003 - 2010)
In 2004, Severina made headlines internationally because of a
sex scandal, when a
sex tape from 2002 featuring her and
Herzegovinian Croat Milan Lučić, leaked on the internet. She said that her manager Tomislav Petrović was the first person to tell her the news and she though it was a lie. According to her, the
video tape was stolen from her property. Milan Lučić was married at the time the video was released and Severina was
engaged to Srećko Vargek. Severina was
publicly scrutinised, and had to call-off the wedding to Srećko Vargek.
After a two-year break, she released her ninth studio album ''
Severgreen'' in 2004. This was her first major project and public appearance after the
sex-tape scandal which occurred in 2003. The album was influenced by
jazz music. Severina also collaborated with
Lana Jurčević on the song "Rođena da budem prva" (''Born to be first''). In 2006, she won the
Dora competition with the song "
Moja štikla" (''My high-heel'') and represented
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, Greece, finishing in 13th place.
The song caused controversy in Croatia when several journalists and
musicologists claimed the song resembled the
music of Serbia.
However, prominent Croatian
ethno musicians such as
Dunja Knebl and
Lidija Bajuk disagreed, and both the song's composer
Boris Novković and Severina herself have claimed that the song includes
Croatian folk music influences from the
Dalmatian Hinterland such as
ganga and rere singing and
lijerica instrumentation. In 2007, she sang the song "Gardelin" for the film "''
Rooster's Breakfast''". She got the role of Baroness Kasteli in the theater play "Gospoda Glembajevi", where her acting skills met with conflicting comments.
left, Severina performing in 2008
After the contest, she started working on her tenth studio album together with
Goran Bregović, one of the most successful music composers in the Balkans, and soon Severina's long-anticipated tenth studio album ''
Zdravo Marijo'' (''Hail Mary'') was released in May 2008 by
Dallas Records The album had songs: "Gas, gas", "Pucajte u tamburaše", "Muškarcu treba samo kurva" (A man only needs a whore), "Gade" (Bastard), "Da nisi možda gej" (If you're not maybe gay), "Ljute cigare" (Spicy cigars), "
Tridesete" (Thirties), "What does she have that I don't", "Hail, Mary". The author and producer is
Goran Bregović, and the texts were written by
Marina Tucaković and
Ljilja Jorgovanović. In terms of sales, the album reached first place on charts in Croatia and
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
, where Severina was presented with a gold plaque. She started her self-titled tour in Zagreb, which she crowned with a performance in the
Belgrade Arena in front of 20,000 people. After having made several public appearances wearing clothes depicting religious imagery (most notably a tight shirt with an
image of Virgin Mary with Severina showing ample cleavage), some protested the abuse of religious elements, calling them offensive. However, the album achieved popularity and Severina released four more official music videos for the singles "
Tridesete" (''Thirties''; cover of
Sezen Aksu's "
Kaçın Kurası"), "Gade" (''Bastard''), "Haljinica boje lila" (''Little Lilac Dress'';
Nikola Pejaković cover) and the title track. Following the release of the album, Severina went on her second major regional tour. On 15 December 2009, Severina was featured on
Miligram's song "Lola", which was included on their self-titled debut album.
In 2010, Severina started dating Serbian businessman Milan Popović, and in 2012 gave birth to their first child - a son Aleksandar. She gave birth in
Split, and baptized him in
Rijeka
Rijeka (;
Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...
.
International success (2010–2014)
Her album ''
Dobrodošao u klub'' (''Welcome to the Club'') held her at the top of Croatian pop music for all of 2012 and 2013, and established her position as the most popular pop singer in
former Yugoslav countries. The album had a total of 12 songs, seven of them singles. In 2011, at the final of the
reality show "''
Big Brother''", she announced her new album by singing the single "Brad Pitt", which received a phenomenal response from the audience. "Brad Pitt" became one of the biggest hits of 2011. A few months later, she promoted the track "
Grad bez ljudi", which reached a record number of views on YouTube. On
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
, in just 24 hours after its release, 'Grad bez ljudi', was listened to more than 180,000 times, which was a record for a domestic artist at the time. The songs were composed by Filip Miletić and Miloš Roganović. "Italiana", released in the summer of 2012, was viewed more than half a million times in the first 24 hours, till this day accumulation of that song has 95 million views on YouTube. Later on, she released "Uzbuna" (''Alert''), the title track "Dobrodošao u klub" and "Tarapana" (''Agitation''). In support of the album she embarked on her
Dobrodošao u Klub Tour. She performed, yet again, in every large city in the region. The tour started in
Rijeka
Rijeka (;
Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...
in March 2013 and continued in
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
(in front of 20,000 people),
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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
(in front of 19,000 people),
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
(in front of 15,000 people),
Ljubljana (in front of 11,000 people) and her native
Split (in front of 12,000 people). The whole tour sold more than 250,000 tickets.
In 2013, Severina released the song "Hurem", named after
Hürrem Sultan. It was composed and written by Andrej Babić, and the arrangers were Ivan Popeskić and Branko Berković. In March 2014, she released the song "Alcatraz", named after the
Alcatraz Prison. Soon after, she released the song "Brazil" to support the
Croatia national football team's campaign at the
2014 FIFA World Cup in the country.
In 2014, Severina made headlines again, posing completely naked with only a crown on her head on the cover of the February issue of ''
Elle magazine'', has also attracted attention beyond the border. The famous designer duo
Dolce&Gabbana posted the cover on their official Twitter account with the caption "''stunning Croatian pop-folk singer Severina Vučković in Elle Croatia''".
In July 2014, she released "Uno momento" (''One Moment''), a duet with Serbian band
Ministarke.
The song was noted for its provocative music video. The single was viewed over 728,000 times on YouTube in just 24 hours, breaking the regional record held at the time by the single 'Italiana', which was streamed 500,000 times in its first day. It turned out to be highly popular across the Balkans, becoming a summer hit in Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, accumulating more than 130 million views on YouTube.
In October 2014, she released a duet with Serbian singer
Saša Matić called "More tuge" (''Sea of Sorrow''). At the end of 2014, she released the song "Generale" (''Hey,
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry.
In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
'') with the Croatian band Učiteljice, which has more than 70 million views on YouTube.
''Halo'' (2019)
At the beginning of 2017, she released "Kao" (''Like''), the lead single from her twelfth studio album ''Halo'' (''Hello''). On 27 March 2017, she released the second single, "Otrove" (''You Poison'') featuring Bosnian rapper and producer
Jala Brat. Its music video was viewed around 15 million times in less than a month, and 29 million times after two months, and overall 105 million views on her YouTube channel.
The third single along with its music video, "Mrtav bez mene" (''Dead Without Me'') was released on 5 June. In June 2018, she released two music videos for collaborations with Croatian singer
Petar Grašo named "Unaprijed gotovo" (''Over in Advance''), and with Serbian child singer Ljuba Stanković named "Tutorial". In July 2018, she released the music video for the single "Magija" (''Magic''), featuring Jala Brat once again.
''Sorry'' & Superstar Hrvatska (2023)
On 4 July 2023, she released an
EP titled "''Sorry''" with 5 new songs: ''Sorry'', ''Metak'' (Bullet) collaboration with Serbian Rapper
Nucci, ''Nebo'' (Sky) with
Sandi Cenov & KIMMV, ''Pravda za ljubav'' (Justice for Love) and ''100 Stepeni'' (100 Degrees) with L'Amiral.
On 31 March 2022, she published her music video with
Bulgarian superstar
Azis titled "Fališ mi" (''Missing you'') on her
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
Channel. Till this day the
music video accumulated more than 78 million views.
In June 2023, Severina was announced as one of the four judges on
RTL's singing reality television series
''Superstar'', along with
Nika Turković,
Tonči Huljić and
Filip Miletić.
The first season of ''Superstar'' aired from September to December 2023. Severina re-joined the judging panel for the show's second season, which premiered in September 2024.
Superstar Hrvatska 2nd Season & New songs (2024)
Severina continued as a judge on singing reality show series ''Superstar Hrvatska'', and on the finale of the show, she performed her new song she wrote: "Tako ti je sine moj" ("''That's how it is my son''"), which was released on 15 December on her YouTube channel. The performance of that song gained positive responses. When talking about the song she said: "It is a lesson that a mother tells her child. I started writing it at the beginning of the year, in order to "shake off" the sadness and anger that came over me after that decision of the
Supreme Court, in which they said that my child should be taken away because of a "procedural error" - the singer continued, then concluded: "Then she seemed sad to me, and I didn't care for anything, so I put her aside To Serbia, which fights for justice and does not want to sell honor, and which was supported by fellow students in Croatia - wrote the singer."
For
New Year's Eve 2025, Severina performed a concert in
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
with a record audience of 55,000 people and said: "''My heart beats for this city!''"
Theatre and film
In 2003 Severina landed her first theatre role at the
Croatian National Theatre in Rijeka (HNK Rijeka) and played the title role in the
rock opera ''Karolina Riječka'' (''Caroline of Rijeka''). Two years later she produced and acted in the
monodrama ''Čekajući svog čovika'' (''Waiting for My Man'') at the
Satirical Theatre Kerempuh in Zagreb. In 2007, she was cast for one of the main roles in HNK Rijeka's musical ''Gospoda Glembajevi'' (''The Glembays''; based upon
Miroslav Krleža's
1929 play). Although the decision to cast Severina was met with criticism by some commentators who questioned her acting credentials, the musical premiered in March 2007 with considerable success.
Severina also starred along
Davor Janjić and
Enis Bešlagić in a 2007 Bosnian film ''Duhovi Sarajeva'' (''Ghosts of Sarajevo''), set in Sarajevo. In 2007, she made a five-minute
cameo appearance playing herself in the Slovenian film ''Petelinji zajtrk'' (''Rooster's Breakfast'').
Personal life
Sex tape scandal
In 2004, Vučković was involved in an internationally reported
sex scandal after a
sex tape featuring her and
Herzegovinian Croat businessman Milan Lučić leaked onto the Internet, which was reported by the Croatian online tabloid
Index.hr
Index.hr is a Croatian Tabloid journalism, tabloid-like online newspaper, launched in December 2002 and based in Zagreb. It was founded by Matija Babić and was originally designed as a News aggregator, news aggregation website, providing news co ...
. The graphic nature of the video and the fact that Lučić was married when the tape was filmed shocked the public. Vučković sued the website that released the tape for damages, claiming that the video was stolen from her and that it was her intellectual property. In 2004, part of the lawsuit about intellectual property was dismissed by the court, but violation of privacy was approved with a compensation of 100,000
kunas.
Relationships
At the beginning of her career, Severina was reported to have been in a relationship with the singer Zrinko Tutić, who was married at the time. Afterwards, she entered into a relationship with singer Alen Marin of the band Kojoti.
She later entered into a relationship with music producer Ante Pecotić. In 1999, Severina entered into a brief relationship with the Croatian model
Adnan Taletović, whom she met while filming her "Da si moj" (''If You Were Mine'') music video. In 2000, while still in a relationship with Bosnian-Herzegovinian Croat general Stanko Sopta, she began an affair with Milan Lučić, a married businessman with whom she recorded
a sex tape, which was leaked to the public in 2004. At the time of the tape's release, Severina was reported to be in a relationship with Srećko Vargek, but the two soon broke up. Severina soon entered into a relationship with the economist Mate Čuljak. The relationship lasted a year and a half, but the couple broke up one week before Severina's 35th birthday. Severina soon began dating sports entrepreneur Slavko Šainović. After two and a half years of dating, the couple broke up.
In December 2010, Severina met wealthy Serbian businessman Milan Popović at his birthday celebration, where she was hired to perform. They soon began dating, and in August 2011 she announced that she was pregnant with her first child.
On 21 February 2012, she gave birth to a boy named Aleksandar in Split. During the period she lived between Belgrade,
Vršac and Zagreb. In October 2012, Severina announced that she and Popović have separated and that she has moved back to Zagreb. At the same time it was announced she had her son baptized in a
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
church in Rijeka. Several months later the couple reunited until separating for good in August 2013. Since then the couple have been embroiled in
custody disputes, with Popović claiming he was not allowed access to see their son, a claim Severina denied.
On 22 November 2015, Severina married 15-year younger Serbian footballer
Igor Kojić (son of Serbian Musician
Dragan Kojić Keba) in
Bale,
Istria. Severina and Igor's wedding deservedly won the title of wedding of the year because 50,000 euros were invested in it and they had 600 guests. The celebration was held at the "Genex Impuls Hall" hotel in
New Belgrade, and the couple came to the "stojadina". The song to which they played the first dance was "Zlato moje", sung by
Petar Grašo. The wedding was attended by a large number of people from the entertainment industry such as
Lepa Brena,
Rada Manojlović,
Željko Joksimović,
Nada Topčagić,
Goran Karan,
Džej Ramadanovski,
Aca Lukas and others. After 6 years the couple formally divorced in Zagreb on 19 August 2021.
In 2013, she publicly supported the
LGBT community in Croatia ahead of the
2013 Croatian constitutional referendum.
Controversies
On 25 August 2024, when scheduled to perform at a birthday party in
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
, Vučković was denied entry into Serbia on the Bajakovo border crossing. According to media and herself, she was denied entry due to her comments on the
Srebrenica genocide which she made shortly after the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
designated 11 July as the annual International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica. Additionally, she claimed that
Serbian police asked her about
Operation Storm,
Jasenovac and
Franjo Tuđman. She blamed this incident on
Aleksandar Vučić and his political regime and claimed that he was the one who prohibited her from entering Serbia. Shortly after news of the incident broke, she stated that she will never enter Serbia while Aleksandar Vučić is in power. Serbian Minister of Internal affairs
Ivica Dačić later stated that she will be removed from their list of "verbal offenders".
At a New Years concert in Sarajevo on January 1, 2025, in front of the Eternal Flame on Ulica Maršala Tita, Severina told an audience of 55,000 "May this year bring peace to all of us and to the entire region, or rather to all of Yugoslavia – a Yugoslavia that politics has divided, but we are uniting it", leading to criticism from Croatian nationalists and veterans who described the comments as insulting.
Discography
Studio albums
* ''Severina'' (1990)
* ''
Severina'' (1992)
* ''
Dalmatinka'' (1993)
* ''
Trava zelena'' (1995)
* ''
Moja stvar'' (1996)
* ''
Djevojka sa sela'' (1998)
* ''
Ja samo pjevam'' (1999)
* ''
Pogled ispod obrva'' (2001)
* ''
Severgreen'' (2004)
* ''
Zdravo Marijo'' (2008)
* ''
Dobrodošao u klub'' (2012)
* ''
Halo'' (2019)
EPs
* ''Bojate Bane Buski'' (2004)
* ''Moja štikla'' (2006)
* ''
Moja štikla / Moj sokole'' (2006)
* ''Sorry'' (2023)
Live albums
* ''Paloma nera – uživo'' (1993)
* ''Virujen u te (najbolje uživo!)'' (2002)
* ''Tridesete – uživo'' (2010)
* ''Dobrodošao u klub live'' (2014)
Singles
Other charted songs
Filmography
Films starred
*''
Gdje je nestala Slovenija?'' (2004)
*''
Duhovi Sarajeva'' (2005)
*''
Rooster's Breakfast'' (2007)
*''
The Last Serb in Croatia'' (2019)
Documentaries
*''Kad se pretvorim u Severinu'' (When I turn into Severina)
(2009)
Tours
Headlining
*''Zdravo Marijo Tour'' (2008–12)
*''
Dobrodošao u Klub Tour'' (2013)
*''
The Magic Tour'' (2019)
Notes
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Severina
1972 births
Living people
Musicians from Split, Croatia
Croatian pop singers
Croatian folk-pop singers
21st-century Croatian women singers
Hayat Production artists
Croatian expatriates in Serbia
Croatian LGBTQ rights activists
Croatian women activists
Controversies in Croatia
Sex scandals
Eurovision Song Contest entrants