#Dora Kovačević

[eurovision-revisited]

1995 Dublin - Number 25 - Julija - "Baby sitter"

Dora has changed. For one, it has actual postcards before each of the acts. Although the contest is still in the same venue in Opatija, the Hotel Kvarner, it's gone from acts standing on a fairly bare stage, to a much more involved production. Even though it's always had a wide variety of songs, this year it feels as if HRT thought enough with all the ballads and deliberately went for up-tempo numbers. This year there is choreography, there are dance breaks, there is bubblegum pop (more of which later on).

Julija brings Babysitter with some light choreography, an anthemic chorus full of close harmonies, and a very excitable synth part and whoever programmed the drum machine just went wild. There's also a sax solo, probably that would be Željko Kovačević, one of the writers. It's fun, with a touch of the euphoric would surely have got the crowd up on their feet if there weren't all sat round tables in a Hotel waiting for a ballad. I love it.

So it's a shame that I don't know who Julija is. Or what her last name is. Or even if Julija is her actual name. The two writers went on to form a short lived band called Kova & Co. a few years later, while Željko, the saxophonist had actually played in a TV orchestra so this was his shot at stepping onto the mainstage and giving it some welly. This finished 14th out of 20 songs with the bulk of its points coming from a single regional jury - the Zagreb regional jury. Whoever Julija is or was, Babysitter is her burning brightly for slightly under three minutes of fame.

[eurovision-del]

Before Serbia select their Eurovision entry tonight, I've taken another look at the Pesma za Evroviziju finalists

Zorja – Lik u ogledalu

Zejna – Najbolja

Keni nije mrtav – Dijamanti

Konstrakta – Novo, bolje

Marko Mandić – Dno

Hristina – Bedem

Breskvica – Gnezdo orlovo

Džordži – Luna park

Teya Dora – Ramonda

Iva Lorens – Dom

Dušan Kurtić – Zbog tebe živim

M.IRA – Percepcija

Nemanja Radošević – Jutra bez tebe

Milan Bujaković – Moje-tvoje

Lena Kovačević – Zovi me Lena

Bojana & David – No No No

I generally enjoyed the semifinal performances, though unfortunately one of the ones I least enjoyed was actually Filarri’s – it was a shame since he had my favourite song, but the staging was offputting. I loved his outfit, and I do appreciate the overall message of the song, but I feel there could have been far better ways to convey it than using the human figures projected on the screen in that way. I understand it not qualifying, but Ko je ta žena is definitely a song I’ll come back to.

However, I have a new favourite! I already liked Lik u ogledalu, looking at just the songs I put it as one of nine I’d be happy winning, but after seeing it performed this is now my clear personal winner! I thought everything about it was incredible, the staging was great, with the way the harsh spotlight against the darkness isolated her at the start, to the way they incorporated the titular mirrors, to the moment of vulnerability at the end where she faces herself in the shattered mirror – I found it really moving. Zorja also has a fantastic voice, she sounded beautiful throughout and nailed the top notes!

While there are still plenty of other songs I like – Konstrakta’s performance was great and I find it really interesting how Novo, bolje serves as a continuation of In Corpore Sano, making a point of using all the same staging aspects to highlight how things haven't changed, and I still love Najbolja and Dijamanti as songs, even though I could have done with a little more energy actually from both of the performances with how high-key the songs are – I want to see Lik u ogledalu win tonight. Zorja could take that performance as is to Eurovision and would sail through the semis, and hopefully far up the scoreboard in the final! That said, while she’s become my clear standout, I do still feel that Serbia should comfortably qualify with most of the options they’ve got.  

[eurovision-del]

The first semi final of Pesma za Evroviziju is starting soon, but I’ve managed to finalise my ranking of all 28 competing entries this year just in time!

Filarri – Ko je ta žena

Zejna – Najbolja

Keni nije mrtav – Dijamanti

Marko Mandić – Dno

Kavala – Vavilon

Konstrakta – Novo, bolje

Breskvica – Gnezdo orlovo

Filip Baloš – Duga je noć

Zorja – Lik u ogledalu

Hydrogen – Nemoguća misija

Hristina – Bedem

CHAI – Sama

Yanx – Kolo

Džordži – Luna park

Nadia – Sudari

Iva Lorens – Dom

Ivana Vladović – Jaka

Teya Dora – Ramonda

Dušan Kurtić – Zbog tebe živim

Durlanski – Muzika

M.IRA – Percepcija

Kat Dosa – Tajni začin

Martina Vrbos – Da me voliš

Saša Báša & Virtual Ritual – Elektroljubav

Lena Kovačević – Zovi me Lena

Milan Bujaković – Moje-tvoje

Nemanja Radošević – Jutra bez tebe

Bojana & David – No No No

I never really think of Serbia as having one of the national finals I always look forward to, but looking back over the past few years I’ve been really positive about their selections, and this year is no exception! I had a great time listening to all these songs – I give every song a score out of 10 to help me put my rankings together, and this selection has the highest average score out of every national final this year.

Because of that, choosing a favourite was hard! I was very excited to see both Filip Balos and Konstrakta back, and both delivered, but there was also so much else here that really appealed to me. I love the opening of Vavilon, it’s really beautiful, and I think the overall sound of the song that follows is great too. I also love sound of Dno, the folk beat created by the drums and strings is so catchy and makes me want to move to it, there’s a real fire to it. Another song that gets me going is Najbolja, with how fast paced and energetic is it. I do love those guitars too, that very rapid percussive rhythm they use honestly wouldn’t sound out of place in a metal song, but works super well here too. It’s enough to just outrank Dijamanti, which is my favourite of the rock songs on offer here (not that the others are bad!). Finally, Filarri’s entry this year is such a huge step up from his attempt last year! A lot of songs in this selection are very full on, creating a very intense sound, which to be fair is probably why I’m so excited about the selection in general, but Ko je ta žena is the absolute pinnacle of it, with the way the beat hits. I especially love it in the second verse where it’s punctuated by the strings, every single beat ramps up the tension! I want to turn up this song to full volume and just lose myself in it!

Serbia have so many options – I’d be thrilled with any of my top 9 here, and think they’d all have a lot of potential at Eurovision, but there’s also plenty further down my list that’s promising. Hopefully the I enjoy the live performances as much as I enjoyed the studio tracks!

[gtaradi]

Dora Kovačević: Živjeti život bez nasilja

Zamislite samo kako bi lijepo bilo

Živjeti život bez straha,

Bez boli, bez briga,

Bez svih naših problema.

Bez straha od nekog

Uličnog nasilnika.

Bez saznanja o nekom

Koga su jučer, prekjučer pretukli,

Ili čak ubili.

Bez nečijeg izrugivanja

Na račun tvog izgleda,

Boje tvoje kose,

Veličine naočala.

Bez nečijeg ruganja

Zato što si u nečemu bolji.

Nemojmo i mi biti takvi,

Budimo primjer,

Budimo…

[gtaradi]

Dora Kovačević: Znatiželjna slova

Sastala  se na proplanku znatiželjna slova: b, c, č, ć, d i s njima slovo a.

Razgledali šumu, drveće i grmlje.

Posakrivali se svi, to sad znate vi.

B se u bor sakrilo.

C je u cvijetu zaspalo.

Č  se u čahuru leptirovu uvuklo,

A ć se s ćukom igralo.

A je na auto naišlo, pa se s njim provozalo.

D se s drvom zapričalo i sve se to odužilo.

I tako oni nestadoše.

Slovo r krenulo ih tražiti.

Zavirilo u…

[gtaradi]

Dora Kovačević: Rekla - kazala

Opet mene s vama! Mene, i još jedne zgode koju mi je, naravno, baka pripovidala. Ah, šta volim te bakine divane. Baš ju je milina slušat. Tako mi je jedanput kazala i vu zgodu, veli – da se jako osramotila. Evo šta se desilo…

Bilo je ljeto, upržilo, što se kaže – ko u paklu, bar mi je tako divanila. I tako veli ona meni (što i sama znam!), da ona jako voli gledit s pendžera na drum. Kaže da je…

[gtaradi]

Dora Kovačević: Moj tata

Znate li da je moj tata

Majstor svog zanata?

Super peče lepinjice,

Te ozari moje lice.

Njegove su oči pune ljubavi,

Na lice često osmijeh stavi.

Moj tata čisto srce ima,

I pomaže svima.

Za mene uvijek vremena ima,

Ja sam njemu uvijek među prvima.

uz mog tatu uvijek je i zabava,

Najbolji smo prijatelji moj tata i ja!

Dora Kovačević, Bošnjaci

[gtaradi]

Dora Kovačević: Pogled s pendžera

Moja baka jako voli uređivat naš pendžer, tako da vam je on vječito cakum-pakum. Točno se čoek more naogledat u nj, a na njem uvik šlinga, friško uštirkana, mustra do zemlje. I ne daj Bože da joj neko rukama malja po njemu, ne smeš ni punit u njega, odma se baka brine šta će svit ondak kast. Uvik sve uredito pa nećemo valjda sad imat musave pendžere, jal? Ah, a nju stalno zanima šta će svit kast,…

[gtaradi]

Dora Kovačević: Koja osoba na mene najviše utječe?

U svijetu je danas puno poznatih osoba. One se u medijima predstavljaju idealistički, prikazuju svoj život savršenim te tako utječu na živote djece i mladih. Mnogi se mladi trude biti poznati, misle da će time postići savršenstvo, živjeti lagodno, postići svoj cilj, pronaći smisao života. Ne znaju da smisao života neće moći pronaći u slavi, neće ga pronaći u bogatstvu niti u raskoši. Smisao…

[gtaradi]

Dora Kovačević: Ljubav moje bake i dide

Evo još jedne priče o mojoj baki i mom didi. Baš su mi zanimljivi, mogla bi stalno o njima pripovidat. Kod nji se uvik nješta novo događa.

Vaj put ću vam ispričat šta sam kod nji skužila. Kad je dido dobio novi poso sve manje vrimena provode zajedno. Dok dido radi, ona stalno govori da joj je dosadno bez njega i da joj jako fali. Al uvik se, dok su zajedno, svađaju. Ma, nisu to ‘ne svađe šta se…

[gtaradi]

Dora Kovačević: Ljubav na kraju sokaka

Svake nedjelje, dok baka peče kolače, dido mi priča o zgodama iz svog života. „E, lipo moje, pripovidat ću ti o tvojoj baki…da ti znaš kako smo se mi bili zaljubili.“ Obradovala sam se početku priče. „O, dido, pa došli smo i do ljubavi.“ Zadirkujem ga. „Samo nemoj kao neki novinari, naslov zanimljiv, a kad ono ništa od toga u tekstu, sve nešto deseto.“

„De, nemoj me prekidat“, reče dido, a ja se…

[gtaradi]

Dora Kovačević: Leptiri

Leptiri su lijepih boja

Krila su im čudna kroja.

Leptiri lete s cvijeta na cvijet,

Livada je cijeli njihov svijet.

Cvjetni sok sisaju,

Na livadi se igraju.

Vole se glupirati,

A znaju se i posvađati.

Oni lete i prave piruete.

U zraku akrobacije izvode,

A nekad skaču i iz vode.

Dora Kovačević, Bošnjaci

[gtaradi]

Dora Kovačević: Haiku poezija

Čuva olovke

da se ne pokidaju

-mala pernica.

  Pišem, još pišem

dok ne završim pjesmicu

-haiku poezija.

  Brojim pa množim,

a onda dijelimo

-matematika.

Dora Kovačević, Bošnjaci

[gtaradi]

Dora Kovačević: Čemu služi snijeg u Bošnjaka

Kad u Bošnjaka pada snijeg

ne zabijeli brijeg.

Bake iđu van pa metu drumove,

a djeca saone s tavana skidaju

pa se sanjkaju.

Bude tu i grudanja,

al’ ne bude skijanja.

Za brda treba daleko ić’,

ne može se brzo stić’.

Dora Kovačević, Bošnjaci

[gtaradi]

Dora Kovačević: Baka

Moja baka nije baš k’o svaka.

Priča viceve i šali se,

skoro uvijek smije se.

Ona najbolje pitalice zna,

moja baka je baš posebna.

Igra se sa mnom,

i baš uvijek pobijedi.

Volim biti sa svojom bakom

jer me uvijek razveseli.

Dora Kovačević, Bošnjaci