Kristina Kovac
Encyclopedia
Kristina Kovač is a Serbia
n singer and composer. She is a major pop
star in Serbia
. She became famous during the 1990s when she and her sister Aleksandra Kovač
were the big attraction in Serbia and surrounding countries - R&B band K2
. She's back to the spotlight in 2007, thanks to her hit-single "Kolena" which spent more than 15 weeks at #1 on Serbian pop-rock charts and also entered MTV Adria
Top 20.
, Serbia
, SFRJ in 1974. She is the daughter of the prominent Serbian composer Kornelije Kovač
. Kristina travelled a lot while she was a child and also lived in many places in Europe, such as London. She was working in London
for the management company Mismanagement until the second half of the 1990s.
where she performed along with her sister Aleksandra. They have released four albums. In 1989 under their father's guidance, using the name Next of kin the girls recorded an English language album Way to the top in Spain
. The album was also released in their home country in 1990, but failed to make much of a splash without proper media support. In 1991, the duo sang back vocals for Bebi Dol who represented Yugoslavia
at the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest
. They moved to London
in September 1991 to support Labi Siffre
on tour. Towards the end of the year they came back to Belgrade
, before departing for Norway in the summer of 1992 where under the name You dirty sisters they recorded a promo material for composer Sway. Year 1993 brought another trip to England
where the sisters performed in various London
clubs such as Mean fiddler, The orange and Tea room des artistes. After hearing them perform in Mean fiddler in 1993, Errol Brown
(the former singer of Hot Chocolate) booked Aleksandra and Kristina as an opening act and as backing vocals on his tour. For this occasion they performed as The Cornelias. With this, K2 got positive reactions from major records labels - Sony
, Polydor and Warner Bros.
. In the next five years, Aleksandra and Kristina worked with many important names from the music industry, such as Derek Bramble (composer and producer, worked with Whitney Houston
, Nona Gaye
) and the composing duo Rod Argent
-Peter Van Hooke
(composed and produced for Genesis
, Tanita Tikaram
). Their first album Ajmo u zivot released for Komuna Belgrade
in 1995 was very popular and the girls became famous. They released few videos - such as Ajmo u zivot, Dzangl manija, Milo moje. They all were #1 on Serbian pop-rock charts. Only year after the girls started to make new material for the second album. The second album, called Malo soula was released in late 1996 and still had #1 singles. The girls also did few videos - Dabadamdam, Sestre, Bicu tvoja devojka. In 1997 Komuna Belgrade
, their label released a compilation album Time out which contained 2 new K2 songs and some other songs by other Serbian hip hop
artists. A video for Srebro i zlato was released and became one of group's biggest hits. Because of being biggest Serbian attraction, K2 released an album in Spain
in Spanish
for EMI
in 1998. The debut Spanish album was named just K2 and was successful. It contained Spanish versions of their previous songs. For example, their #1 hit Dabadamdam became Debedamdam, Sestre became Hermanas, Ajmo u zivot became Vamos de fiesta etc. The same year the remix album called Vamos de fiesta - Remixes was also released for EMI
.
. But, in 2004 she did music for movie Mi nismo andjeli 2 which was the biggest movie hit in 2004. She also sang one song Sta se dobije kad se dva andjela klade but it was not released as single nor got any media attention. That days she also performed song Pesma za kraj and also made a video—it's one of the most important Kristina songs. Some press wondered if that was song for K2, although it was clear that it's finally a solo Kristina Kovač song.
n band Cubismo, and Vinnie Colaiuta
(drums, played with Sting, Eros Ramazzoti, Anastacia
, Pussycat Dolls
), Dominic Miller
(guitar, Sting’s "right hand“) and Paul Turner
(bass for Jamiroquai
and Annie Lennox
) also did some instrument playing on the album. Her first single was "Kolena", the biggest summer hit of 2007 in Serbia. It was a Latin pop
song and featured Cubismo. For now, the single spent 9 weeks on #1. "Kolena" reached the MTV Adria
Top 20. The second single was "Zivot je ljut", which is Kovač's favourite song from her album, according to her. The video and the song are about love, love-troubles and similar. Kovač's fans were also able to act in the making of "Zivot je ljut" video. The second single also reached MTV Adria
Top 20, and was more successful on the chart than previous single, "Kolena". The video gained popularity and awards, such as award for the best video on Beovizija 2009
and Suncane skale
festivals. Kristina chose "Milica i ja" as the third single and made unofficial statement on her official forum that her fans would be able to act in the video too. But, Kovač got pregnant during late 2007, and the release and filming of the video was scrapped. Kristina stated that she would "not film a video for Milica i ja" and that she will do a video for Ko instead, a fan and critic favourite. The video was not filmed, and Kovač gave birth to a girl called Tara on 1 July 2008. Her pregnancy remained almost publicly unnoticed, since Kristina did not want to make it "a public thing". After giving birth, Kovač started to work on organisation of her fist concert in Belgrade
and also continued to work on the story of Ko video.
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n singer and composer. She is a major pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
star in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. She became famous during the 1990s when she and her sister Aleksandra Kovač
Aleksandra Kovac
Aleksandra Kovač is a Serbian singer-songwriter. She is the eldest daughter of eminent composer Kornelije Kovač and the elder sister of singer Kristina Kovač. Alongside her sister Kristina, Kovač came to media prominence as a part of girl group K2, and then launched a successful solo career in 2001...
were the big attraction in Serbia and surrounding countries - R&B band K2
K2 (Kovac sisters duo)
K2 was a Serbian pop, R&B, funk and dance duo, formed by sisters Aleksandra and Kristina Kovač in 1990. They worked with many producers worldwide and released five albums. After eight years, the band finished its work in 1998...
. She's back to the spotlight in 2007, thanks to her hit-single "Kolena" which spent more than 15 weeks at #1 on Serbian pop-rock charts and also entered MTV Adria
MTV Adria
MTV Adria is a localized version of the music and entertainment channel MTV Europe, customized for the Balkan countries that used to be constituent parts of Yugoslavia...
Top 20.
Biography
Kristina Kovač was born in BelgradeBelgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, SFRJ in 1974. She is the daughter of the prominent Serbian composer Kornelije Kovač
Kornelije Kovac
Kornelije "Bata" Kovač is a famous Serbian composer. He is a father of Aleksandra Kovač and Kristina Kovač, both successful Serbian singers.-Early life:...
. Kristina travelled a lot while she was a child and also lived in many places in Europe, such as London. She was working in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
for the management company Mismanagement until the second half of the 1990s.
Popularity & Stardom
Kristina become popular in a group K2K2 (Kovac sisters duo)
K2 was a Serbian pop, R&B, funk and dance duo, formed by sisters Aleksandra and Kristina Kovač in 1990. They worked with many producers worldwide and released five albums. After eight years, the band finished its work in 1998...
where she performed along with her sister Aleksandra. They have released four albums. In 1989 under their father's guidance, using the name Next of kin the girls recorded an English language album Way to the top in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. The album was also released in their home country in 1990, but failed to make much of a splash without proper media support. In 1991, the duo sang back vocals for Bebi Dol who represented Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
at the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1991
The Eurovision Song Contest 1991 was the 36th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 4 May 1991 in Rome. Due to the Gulf War and mounting tensions in Yugoslavia, RAI decided to move the contest from Sanremo to Rome, which was perceived to be more secure....
. They moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in September 1991 to support Labi Siffre
Labi Siffre
Labi Siffre is a British poet, songwriter, musician and singer most widely known as the writer and singer of " So Strong", "It Must Be Love" and "I Got The", the sampled rhythm track which provides the basis for a number of well-known hip hop tracks such as Eminem’s breakthrough hit single, "My...
on tour. Towards the end of the year they came back to Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, before departing for Norway in the summer of 1992 where under the name You dirty sisters they recorded a promo material for composer Sway. Year 1993 brought another trip to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
where the sisters performed in various London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
clubs such as Mean fiddler, The orange and Tea room des artistes. After hearing them perform in Mean fiddler in 1993, Errol Brown
Errol Brown
Errol Brown MBE is a singer and songwriter, best known as the frontman of Hot Chocolate. He has British citizenship by marriage to Ginette and they live in The Bahamas...
(the former singer of Hot Chocolate) booked Aleksandra and Kristina as an opening act and as backing vocals on his tour. For this occasion they performed as The Cornelias. With this, K2 got positive reactions from major records labels - Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
, Polydor and Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
. In the next five years, Aleksandra and Kristina worked with many important names from the music industry, such as Derek Bramble (composer and producer, worked with Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
, Nona Gaye
Nona Gaye
Nona Marvisa Gaye is an American singer, former fashion model, and screen actress. The daughter of soul music legend Marvin Gaye and granddaughter of jazz great Slim Gaillard, she began her career as a vocalist in the early 1990s...
) and the composing duo Rod Argent
Rod Argent
Rod Argent is an English rock musician and a founding member of the 1960s English pop group The Zombies and the 1970s band Argent....
-Peter Van Hooke
Peter Van Hooke
Peter Van Hooke was drummer in the English band Mike + The Mechanics as well as having drummed for Cliff Richard, Van Morrison's band, Headstone, and Ezio. During the 1980s he successfully co-produced many of Tanita Tikaram's hits.Van Hooke grew up in Stanmore, Middlesex and attended Mill Hill...
(composed and produced for Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
, Tanita Tikaram
Tanita Tikaram
Tanita Tikaram is a British pop/folk singer-songwriter, best known for the hits "Twist in My Sobriety" and "Good Tradition" from her 1988 debut album, Ancient Heart...
). Their first album Ajmo u zivot released for Komuna Belgrade
Komuna Belgrade
Komuna is a Serbian record label and media production house. Established in 1985, its headquarters are in Belgrade, Serbia with a branch office Budva, Montenegro...
in 1995 was very popular and the girls became famous. They released few videos - such as Ajmo u zivot, Dzangl manija, Milo moje. They all were #1 on Serbian pop-rock charts. Only year after the girls started to make new material for the second album. The second album, called Malo soula was released in late 1996 and still had #1 singles. The girls also did few videos - Dabadamdam, Sestre, Bicu tvoja devojka. In 1997 Komuna Belgrade
Komuna Belgrade
Komuna is a Serbian record label and media production house. Established in 1985, its headquarters are in Belgrade, Serbia with a branch office Budva, Montenegro...
, their label released a compilation album Time out which contained 2 new K2 songs and some other songs by other Serbian hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
artists. A video for Srebro i zlato was released and became one of group's biggest hits. Because of being biggest Serbian attraction, K2 released an album in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
for EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
in 1998. The debut Spanish album was named just K2 and was successful. It contained Spanish versions of their previous songs. For example, their #1 hit Dabadamdam became Debedamdam, Sestre became Hermanas, Ajmo u zivot became Vamos de fiesta etc. The same year the remix album called Vamos de fiesta - Remixes was also released for EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
.
Hiatus, Break, Splitting Up
In 1997 they released a compilation with Serbian hip hop artists, which also included two new K2 songs: "Srebro i zlato", and "Da li znaš". Video for Srebro i zlato was also released. In later days, turbo folk music got more attention in Serbia, so the girls split up and started doing solo projects.Behind The Scene
Kristina started to mostly compose. She composed melodies for many advertisements, and also formed the boy band Peti element in 2001 which was quite popular that days. She also did music for many music stars - from Tanja Banjanin to Karolina GočevaKarolina Goceva
Karolina Gočeva, often credited as Karolina Gocheva is a Macedonian singer. She represented Macedonia in the 2002 and 2007 Eurovision Song Contests, ranking 19th and 14th, respectively...
. But, in 2004 she did music for movie Mi nismo andjeli 2 which was the biggest movie hit in 2004. She also sang one song Sta se dobije kad se dva andjela klade but it was not released as single nor got any media attention. That days she also performed song Pesma za kraj and also made a video—it's one of the most important Kristina songs. Some press wondered if that was song for K2, although it was clear that it's finally a solo Kristina Kovač song.
Going solo
Kovač started to work on her debut album in summer of 2006. The album is called U Nebranom Grožđu and KK Production released it in summer of 2007. The album contains ten songs. All songs were produced and written by her. The album features CroatiaCroatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n band Cubismo, and Vinnie Colaiuta
Vinnie Colaiuta
Vincent Colaiuta is an American drummer based in Los Angeles. Originally from Republic, Pennsylvania, he began playing drums as a child and received his first full drum kit from his parents at the age of 14...
(drums, played with Sting, Eros Ramazzoti, Anastacia
Anastacia
Anastacia is an American singer-songwriter. Anastacia has been highly successful in Europe, Asia, South Africa and South America, but has had only minor success in her native United States...
, Pussycat Dolls
Pussycat Dolls
The Pussycat Dolls are an American pop girl group and dance ensemble based in Los Angeles; currently consisting of Lauren Bennett, Vanessa Curry, Kristal "Lyndriette" Smith, Tiffany "Taz" Zavala, Kia Hampton and Paula Van Oppen. The Pussycat Dolls were founded by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995...
), Dominic Miller
Dominic Miller
Dominic Miller is an Argentine-English guitarist who toured and recorded with World Party and King Swamp, worked on Phil Collins' solo album ...But Seriously and played guitar on every Sting album and tour since 1990...
(guitar, Sting’s "right hand“) and Paul Turner
Paul Turner
Paul Turner may refer to:* Paul Turner , Welsh rugby union footballer* Paul Turner , Welsh film director* Paul Turner , American football coach...
(bass for Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai is a British jazz funk and acid jazz band formed in 1992. Jamiroquai were initially the most prominent component in the early-1990s London-based acid jazz movement, alongside groups such as Incognito, the James Taylor Quartet, and the Brand New Heavies. Other Acid Jazz artists such as...
and Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox, OBE , born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s with The Tourists, with fellow musician David A...
) also did some instrument playing on the album. Her first single was "Kolena", the biggest summer hit of 2007 in Serbia. It was a Latin pop
Latin pop
Latin pop generally refers to pop music that has what may be perceived a Latin American influence...
song and featured Cubismo. For now, the single spent 9 weeks on #1. "Kolena" reached the MTV Adria
MTV Adria
MTV Adria is a localized version of the music and entertainment channel MTV Europe, customized for the Balkan countries that used to be constituent parts of Yugoslavia...
Top 20. The second single was "Zivot je ljut", which is Kovač's favourite song from her album, according to her. The video and the song are about love, love-troubles and similar. Kovač's fans were also able to act in the making of "Zivot je ljut" video. The second single also reached MTV Adria
MTV Adria
MTV Adria is a localized version of the music and entertainment channel MTV Europe, customized for the Balkan countries that used to be constituent parts of Yugoslavia...
Top 20, and was more successful on the chart than previous single, "Kolena". The video gained popularity and awards, such as award for the best video on Beovizija 2009
Beovizija 2009
Beovizija 2009 was the 7th Beovizija music festival, Serbian selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. The semi-finals were held on March 7, 2009 while the finals were held a day later on March 8...
and Suncane skale
Suncane Skale
Sunčane Skale is a pop music festival held every summer in Herceg Novi, Montenegro. The festival first began in 1994. ProMonte has been the sponsor of Sunčane Skale for 10 years so far.-The Festival:...
festivals. Kristina chose "Milica i ja" as the third single and made unofficial statement on her official forum that her fans would be able to act in the video too. But, Kovač got pregnant during late 2007, and the release and filming of the video was scrapped. Kristina stated that she would "not film a video for Milica i ja" and that she will do a video for Ko instead, a fan and critic favourite. The video was not filmed, and Kovač gave birth to a girl called Tara on 1 July 2008. Her pregnancy remained almost publicly unnoticed, since Kristina did not want to make it "a public thing". After giving birth, Kovač started to work on organisation of her fist concert in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
and also continued to work on the story of Ko video.
With K2
- K2 (1995)
- Malo SoulaMalo SoulaMalo Soula is a 1996 album by Serbian pop duo K2. It was released in spring 1996.The album contains 10 songs. The producers of all the songs off album were sisters Kovač themselves, with Kristina being the main and Aleksandra, a co-producer. The main single was "Dabadamdam", was released in...
(1996) - Vamos de Fiesta (1998)
- Vamos de Fiesta: Remix (1998)