Famous Lepa Brena

". . . . the most popular singer of the former Yugoslavia." - Wikipedia 

Found on Novinite.com - probably a picture from around 2004. 

A month after arriving in Serbia, I remember seeing massive billboards announcing a concert by some short-spiky-haired-blond named Lepa Brena. Then a little later, in October, I heard that this Lepa Brena sold out the Belgrade arena on not one night, but two nights in a row! That means that for two nights, 40,000-ish people were screaming her name and just dying to get their posters signed after the show.  Didn't "lepa" mean "pretty" in Serbian? 

So who was this "Pretty Brena" woman anyway? 

Found on Wikipedia - picture from her 2011 Belgrage show. 

I got really interested in this former Yugoslavian pop-star-sensation, so of course, I went straight to Wikipedia. 
Where else?

According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, Fahreta Jahić Živojinović (her given name), was born in 1960 and by the time she was 22, she released her first album called, Cacak, named after her home city. Her second album title translates to "Mile Likes Disko," and when my friends were trying to explain this pop sensation to me, "Mile Voli Disko" was the first song they had me listen to. Click on the link if you want to hear it for yourself. 

By 1991, she had released 13 albums, become an undisputed sex symbol, traveled through the Balkans performing to sold out audiences, acted in a few movies, and even managed to become a symbol of a united Yugoslavia. She married a Serbian tennis player named Slobodan Živojinović in 1991, and they moved to the States.  In 2000, she released a 14th album that was not very well received; so as a result, she retired for 8 years. Apparently she has a few homes in Florida, an apartment in Monte Carlo, and of course a home in Belgrade, Serbia, so it seemed that her and her family lived a good life in "retirement." Of course there is a lot more to her story, but those are just a few highlights. 

She returned to the music scene in 2008 and has since released two hit albums. She celebrated her 51st birthday by performing two sold out shows in the Belgrade Arena. Those where the shows that got me interested in this 51-year-old-pop-star-sensation.

She has loads of songs that can be found on YouTube, but this song just cracks me up. The translation is most likely skewed, but regardless, the theme of the song is pretty hilarious. 

Lyrics to Uske Pantalone (Tight Pants):

I love her as tight pants
these carry only the prima donna,
I love her as tight pants
these carry only prima donna ...
From alley to alley in the ...
all the sighs of the guys in the ...
What is sweeter than sugar candies,
tight pants, tight pants
what it adorns my white grandmother,
tight pants, tight pants
Guys say I'm fine material
I am girl which is rarely found,
I tell guys that's fine material
that girl as I rarely find ...
From alley to alley in the u. ..
all the sighs of the guys in the ...

Found in a Google search - Has to be from the 80's!

Thanks Balkanmedia.com for letting me use your pic. This is sort of what she looks like now. 

I decided that while I am not a fan of her music style (not to mention I cannot understand a word of it without Google Translate), I wanted to see Lepa Brena in concert before I left Serbia. 

Stay tuned for the next blog!