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Biography
Infobox musical artist | name = Svetlana Ražnatovic ???????? ??????????| image = Ceca2006.png| caption = Svetlana Ražnatovic during a concert (2006)| image_size =| background = solo_singer| birth_name = Svetlana Velickovic| alias = Ceca| birth_date = Birth date and age|1973|6|14|mf=y| origin = Žitorada , Serbia | genre = Pop-folk , Turbo-Folk , Pop music|Pop , Dance | occupation = Singer| Instruments = Vocals| years_active = 1988–present| label = Kommuna, PGP-RTS, Grand Production, Miligram Music, Ceca Music| associated_acts =| website = URL| http://ceca-online.com|Ceca-online.com Svetlana Ražnatovic (lang-sr-cyr|???????? ??????????, IPA-sr|s?etlana ra?na?to?it?|pron), known stage name|professionally by her nickname Ceca (????, IPA-sr|tse?tsa|pron; born June 14, 1973), is a Serbian pop folk singer, and one of the most popular singers of Serbia . She started her career as a folk singer in 1988. Being one of the highest paid artists in the Serbian music industry, she pursues Music of Serbia|Serbian modern folk-pop-dance music : performing to various types of music, mainly Balkan/Eastern European folk or plain pop with ethnographical elements.
Early career
Ceca had her first public appearance at the age of nine, in her hometown, and at the age of 13 she sang in a hotel on the Montenegro|Montenegrin coast , while being on vacation with her parents. Here, the acclaimed singer and accordion player Mirko Kodic noticed her, and helped her to make her first album (1988). At the age of 15, she performed at the Ilidža Music Festival in Sarajevo , at which her song Cvetak zanovetak ( Nagging flower ) won the competition, and became a hit. Ceca was mentored by Dobrivoje Ivankovic|Dobrivoje "Doca" Ivankovic , a composer and producer of folk music, who launched many careers in the 1970s and 1980s (most notably that of Šaban Šaulic ).
Ceca's first two albums ( Cvetak zanovetak 1988, Ludo srce 1989) were made in Serbian folk music style with some songs having a more modern production ( Lepotan , Volim te ). To Miki to , her third album, was a major hit in the former Yugoslavia , with 350,000 copies sold. Ceca became the best-selling artist of the Radio Television of Serbia|Belgrade TV's record label PGP-RTB and third best-selling female folk artist in Yugoslavia, after Lepa Brena and Dragana Mirkovic . She continued in the same direction with her next album, Babaroga (1991) which included a music video composed of footage from her 18th birthday gala event ( Hej vršnjaci ).
Success
Ceca continued to work with Marina Tucakovic and later with Tucakovic's young protégé Aleksandar Milic Mili, with whom she continues to work today. Her next three albums, Sta je to u tvojim venama/Kukavica ( What is flowing in your veins/Coward , 1993), Ja još spavam u tvojoj majici ( I still sleep in your shirt , 1994) and Fatalna ljubav ( Fatal love , 1995), broadened her popularity. With a more modern production of music, music videos, and an evolving style, her popularity has grown, as demonstrated by her 1996 album Emotivna luda ( Emotional fool ) and 1997's Maskarada ( Masquerade ). The song "Nevaljala" ("Bad girl") from that album became the number one hit in Serbia for 17 consecutive weeks. Her recording schedule has since become erratic because of the birth of her two children, Anastasija and Veljko, and having to deal with family tragedy (see Controversies below). Maskarada (1997), Ceca 2000 (1999), Decenija ( Decade , 2001), Gore od ljubavi ( Worse than love , 2004), Idealno loša ( Ideally bad , 2006) and Ljubav živi ( Love is living , 2011)
Ceca has refused many contracts offered by various European musical companies, citing lack of time. She has sold over 10 million copies, mainly in Balkan countries.Citation needed|date=December 2008 Four books were written about her life, popularity, imprisonment etc.: http://www.yu4you.com/items/sr/knjiga/item_4739.html Ceca - Idealno naša ( Ceca: Ideally ours ), Ceca - Izmedu ljubavi i mržnje ( Ceca: between love and hate ), Ceca - 121 dan ( Ceca - 121 days in prison ), Ceca - Ikona srpskog folka ( Ceca, the icon of Serbian folk ).
Concerts
Disputed-section|25 July 2011|date=July 2011Ceca prefers concerts to tours presumably to avoid fatigue. Some of the more important ones were:
1993 - Tašmajdan Sports Centre - Belgrade , Serbia --- 12,000 attendees
(Notable as her first big triumph. She sang her major hit at the time Kukavica 7 times)
1994 - Pionir Hall - Belgrade, Serbia --- 9,000 attendants
1995 - Pionir Hall - Belgrade, Serbia --- 9,000 attendants
June 2002 - Stadion Crvene Zvezde "Marakana" - Belgrade, Serbia --- 80,000 attendantsCitation needed|date=July 2011
(One of the biggest concerts till date in Serbia)
2002 - Borac Banja Luka - Banja Luka , Bosnia and Herzegovina --- 20,000 attendants
2005 - Hala Tivoli - Ljubljana , Slovenia --- 10,000 attendants
January 13, 2006 - Niš , Serbia --- 80,000 attendantsCitation needed|date=July 2011
(Free concert in as a part of the Serbian Orthodox New Year's celebration. People also came from Macedonia (country)|Macedonia , Bulgaria , Montenegro )
June 17, 2006 - Ušce -- Belgrade --- over 110,000 attendantsCitation needed|date=July 2011
September 14, 2006 - Vasil Levski National Stadium - Sofia , Bulgaria --- 15,000 attendants
October 4, 2006 - Jagodina , Serbia --- 30,000 attendants
( Old New Year|Serbian Orthodox New Year's celebration. A day-long event organized by Democratic Party of Serbia - New Serbia coalition, with performers such as Riblja corba , Negative (pop-rock band)|Negative , Eyesburn , Rambo Amadeus , and Ceca as the marquee star, performing from 10:40pm until 12.05am. Among many other public figures, present in the audience were the Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica , Capital Investment Minister Velimir Ilic , poet Matija Beckovic , and Sanda Raškovic-Ivic )
July 8, 2007 - Herceg Novi , Montenegro --- 33,000 attendants
July 13, 2007 - Vrnjacka Banja , Serbia --- 50,000 attendants
June 28, 2008 - Borac Banja Luka - Banja Luka , Bosnia and Herzegovina - 20,000 attendants
(20 years of Ceca)
November 28, 2009 - Gospodarsko razstavišce - Ljubljana , Slovenia - 10,000 attendants
December 31, 2009 - Belgrade Fair - Belgrade, Serbia
July 18, 2010 - Prilep , Republic of Macedonia|Macedonia - 130,000 attendantsCitation needed|date=July 2011
October 1, 2010 - Trg Krajine - Banja Luka , Bosnia and Herzegovina - 50,000 attendants
November 26 & 27, 2010 - Boris Trajkovski Sports Center - Skopje , Republic of Macedonia|Macedonia - 10,000 attendants
December 3, 2010 - Metro City Centre, Perth, Western Australia|Perth , Australia - 3,000 attendants. http://ceca-online.com/cms/koncerti/ceca-oborila-rekord-u-pertu/
December 4, 2010 - State Sports Centre , Sydney , Australia - 12,000 attendants. http://ceca-online.com/cms/koncerti/spektakl-u-sidneju/
Personal life
Ceca was born Svetlana Velickovic (IPA-sr|?elit?ko?it?|pron) in the village of Žitorada , then part of SR Serbia , SFR Yugoslavia . At the age of 18 she left her home for Switzerland . http://www.vreme.com/cms/view.php? id=416198 She was a Body-building champion of Yugoslavia at one time.
In 1995 Ceca married Arkan|Željko Ražnatovic Arkan , a career criminal who was at the time the leader of the paramilitary forces '' Serbian Volunteer Guard|Arkan's Tigers '' and one of the most influential individuals in Belgrade in the 90s. She met Arkan, who was then married to another woman, in Erdut while performing for the Serb Volunteer Guard , when the Party of Serbian Unity was formed, she was asked by Arkan to perform. http://www.pressonline.rs/sr/vesti/magazin/story/54129/BILA+SAM+UDATA+ZA+MAFIJU.html His marriage to Ceca was broadcast on TV, made headlines in newspapers, and was portrayed by Serbian media as a "Serbian fairytale." Arkan was killed on January 15, 2000 in Belgrade, leaving Ceca an arrested widow with two children. Despite having been shot in the head, he remained alive for a brief period of time but died in her arms in the back of the car that was taking them to the ER. After 18 months of mourning, she made her first public appearance in a TV interview. "One part of me died that day...I will always love him, and only him, I'm sure of that...," she said in the interview.
In 2008, newspapers announced that Ceca was dating Filip Živojinovic, son of retired tennis player Slobodan Živojinovic who is husband of popular singer in former Yugoslavia Lepa Brena . Immediately after this, Ceca denied this in the press and said that they are just good friends.cite web|url= http://www.balkanmedia.com/magazin/5206/ceca_raznatovic_dematovala_vezu_sa_filipom_z_-_otvara_ceca_music.html|title=Dematovala vezu sa Filipom Ž. - otvara "Ceca music"|publisher= Balkanmedia |accessdate=2008-05-22 |date=2008-04-19 |author=
In 2011 Svetlana Raznatovic was accused of misappropriation of money from football player transfers and for illegal possession of weapons. Having pleaded guilty, she was sentenced to one year in home prison and EUR 1.5 million fine. The punishment began serving in June 2011. http://www.enovine.info/frame/Vesti/Svetlana-Raznatovic-i-zvanicno-osudjena--175400-7.html
Other activities
Acting
At the age of 17, Ceca was cast in the role of Koštana , a beautiful gypsy singer and dancer, in Stojan Stojcic 's directorial effort of Necista krv ( Impure blood ), a movie based on the works of Serbian playwright and novelist Borisav Stankovic . Even though she had acted alongside actors such as Rade Šerbedžija , Ljuba Tadic , she felt that her role was unimportant and therefore asked for her scenes to be removed because of "low quality." The troubled production took years to complete and received poor critical reception upon its release in 1996.
Football
She inherited the football club FK Obilic| Obilic from her deceased husband and became its president. She often appeared at matches in fur coats and imposed strict monetary punishments on players who performed poorly as Obilic, former champion of Yugoslavia, was sinking on the rankings table. Unfortunately, just as it has quickly arisen from the lower ranks the club has fallen just as fast and lower, currently competing in the amateur local league.
When Miljan Miljanic stepped down from his presidential post at the Football Association of Yugoslavia in September 2001, the press openly cheered Ceca's election for the post campaigning that they would have the most beautiful president . One of the notable supporters to the idea of offering the post to Ceca was Velibor Vasovic . The former AFC Ajax|Ajax captain stated that one of the pros of appointing her as the new president is the fact that at the time she was one of the few people who were investing money in Serbian football.
Instead the former Crvena Zvezda player Dragan Stojkovic|Dragan Stojkovic Piksi was elected to the post.
In March 2011, Ceca was charged with embezzlement and was also accused of Illegal possession of a firearm|illegal possession of 11 weapons . Ceca has sold 15 players of FK Obilic to several international football clubs (like to Fenerbahçe ). Serbian state prosecutors accuse Ceca of taking for personal use an illegal share in the sale of 15 players. Ceca denied having been involved in any kind of illegal activities, saying that her late husband was responsible for FK Obilic and that the 11 illegally possessed weapons found in her home also belonged to him.cite news|url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/29/serb-singer-ceca-charged | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Ed | last=Vulliamy | title=Serb singer Ceca charged with embezzlement | date=March 29, 2011
Politics
Ceca was appointed the honorary president of the Party of Serbian Unity (SSJ) formed by her late husband, Željko Ražnatovic ( Arkan ). She has not been politically active and claims to have only accepted the position in honor of her deceased husband. After clashing with the president of the party, Borislav Pelevic , on many issues, Ceca withdrew herself from politics completely.
On the night of 17 March 2004, Ceca and Kristijan Golubovic (close associate of Arkan ) gathered demonstrators in front of the government building in Belgrade to speak about the situation in Kosovo and the burning of more than 300 Serbian Orthodox Church|Serbian Orthodox churches in Kosovo .
Charity
Ceca is the president of the "Third Child" humanitarian fund. Her organizations prime goal is to increase the birthrate in Serbia and to help families who already have three or more children. She has held several humanitarian concerts raising money for food, clothing, and sundries to benefit the Serbs in Kosovo , after the 2004 unrest in Kosovo in March, 2004.
Commons category|Svetlana Ražnatovic Persondata | NAME =Raznatovic, Svetlana Ceca | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =June 14, 1973 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Raznatovic, Svetlana Ceca Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:People from Žitorada Category:Serbian female singers Category:Serbian actors Category:Pop folk singers
