Danijela Martinović

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Danijela Martinović, also known simply as Danijela (born July 15, 1971 in Split, Croatia, Yugoslavia), is a popular Croatian singer with success across all of the Balkans.

Born in a family of well-to-do local butchers, Danijela began to sing from her early age. Her big break came in early 1990s when she joined local pop band Magazin. Just as Magazin began to dominate the Croatian music scene, so Danijela become one of the biggest national icons.

In the late 1990s she left Magazin to pursue a solo career, but she continued to cooperate the band's leader and prolific songwriter Tonči Huljić. That cooperation resulted with Danijela winning the 1998 Dora contest with the popular ballad "Neka mi me svane" ("May the Sun Never Rise") and becoming Croatian representative at the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest, where she came 5th with 132 pts.

Around that time, she shocked the Croatian public when news of her divorce from controversial musician and right-wing icon Marko Perković was divulged. This was the first time that the public found about her being married, and many speculated that the marriage had been kept secret at the request of Tonči Huljić. Since Perković as a devout Catholic is unable to remarry during Martinović's lifetime, graffiti accusing Martinović of national treason appeared in Split.

This scandal, however, didn't affect Martinović's career in the long run. She is still one of the most popular icons of Croatian music industry.

In 2006, Martinović and Thompson (Marko Perković) managed to get an official church divorce hence allowing them both to remarry in church, if they want to. The official representatives of the Catholic church in Croatia remained silent on the reasons of the divorce.

Danijela has a sister, Izabela , who also pursued a music career through Split-based pop act Stijene.