| Svetlana Ražnatović Светлана Ражнатовић |
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Svetlana Ražnatović during a concert (2006) |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Svetlana Veličković |
| Also known as | Ceca |
| Born | June 14, 1973 |
| Origin | Prokuplje, Serbia, then Yugoslavia |
| Genres | Pop-folk, Turbo-Folk, Pop, Dance |
| Occupations | Singer |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Labels | Kommuna, PGP-RTS, Grand Production, Miligram Music, Ceca Music |
| Website | Ceca-online.com |
Svetlana Ražnatović (née Veličković, pronounced [v̞ě̞liʧkɔ̝v̞iʨ]) (Serbian Cyrillic: Светлана Ражнатовић, pronounced [sv̞ě̞tlana raʒnǎːtɔ̝v̞iʨ]), better known her stage name Ceca (Serbian Cyrillic: Цеца, pronounced [ʦě̞ːʦa]) (born June 14, 1973, in Prokuplje, SFRY, now Serbia) is a Serbian pop folk singer. She started her career as a folk and pop-folk singer. Being one of the highest paid artists in the Serbian music industry, she pursues Serbian modern folk-pop-dance music: performing to various types of music, mainly Balkan/Eastern European folk or plain pop with ethnographical elements.
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Ceca began singing at the age of nine in her hometown of Žitorađa, Serbia, and entered showbusiness in 1988, at the age of 15, when she performed at the Ilidža Music Festival in Sarajevo. Her song Cvetak zanovetak (Nagging flower) was well received. Ceca was mentored by Dobrivoje Doca Ivanković, a composer and producer of folk music, who launched many careers in the 1970s and 1980s (most notably that of Šaban Šaulić).
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 Belgrade TV's record label PGP-RTB and third best-selling female folk artist in Yugoslavia, after Lepa Brena and Dragana Mirković. 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).
Ceca continued to work with Marina Tucaković and later with Tucaković's young protégé Aleksandar Milić 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.
Four books were written about her life, popularity, imprisonment etc.: Ceca - Idealno naša (Ceca: Ideally ours), Ceca - Između 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).
Ceca prefers concerts to tours presumably to avoid fatigue. Some of the more important ones were:
(Notable as her first big triumph. She sang her major hit at the time Kukavica 7 times)
(One of the biggest concerts till date in Serbia)
(Free concert in as a part of the Serbian Orthodox New Year's celebration. People also came from Macedonia, Bulgaria, Montenegro)
(Serbian Orthodox New Year's celebration. A day-long event organized by Democratic Party of Serbia - New Serbia coalition, with performers such as Riblja čorba, 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 Ilić, poet Matija Bećković, and Sanda Rašković-Ivić)
(20 years of Ceca)
In 1995 Ceca married Željko Ražnatović Arkan, a career criminal who was at the time the leader of the paramilitary forces 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.[3] 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 Živojinović, son of retired tennis player Slobodan Živojinović 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.[4]
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.[5]
At the age of 17, Ceca was cast in the role of Koštana, a beautiful gypsy singer and dancer, in Stojan Stojčić's directorial effort of Nečista krv ( Impure blood ), a movie based on the works of Serbian playwright and novelist Borisav Stanković. Even though she had acted alongside actors such as Rade Šerbedžija, Ljuba Tadić, 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.
She inherited the football club Obilić 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 Obilić, 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 Miljanić 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 Vasović. The former 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 Stojković Piksi was elected to the post.
In March 2011, Ceca was charged with embezzlement and was also accused of illegal possession of 11 weapons. Ceca has sold 15 players of FK Obilić 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 Obilić and that the 11 illegally possessed weapons found in her home also belonged to him.[6]
Ceca was appointed the honorary president of the Party of Serbian Unity (SSJ) formed by her late husband, Željko Ražnatović (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 Pelević, on many issues, Ceca withdrew herself from politics completely.
On the night of 17 March 2004, Ceca and Kristijan Golubović (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 churches in Kosovo.
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.
Studio Albums
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Live Albums
Remix albums
Filmography
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