Maja Nikolić

Marija "Maja" Nikolić (Serbian: Маја Николић, born 11 April 1975 in Niš, Serbia, Yugoslavia) is a Serbian singer and reality television personality.[1] She built her music career on festivals where she won 26 first prizes so far. She has published 6 studio albums.

Maja Nikolić
Background information
Birth nameMarija Nikolić
Born (1975-04-11) 11 April 1975
Niš, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Genres
  • Pop
  • Dance
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • television personality
InstrumentsVocals
Years active1988–present
Labels
Websitemajanikolic.com

Life and career

Early life

Marija Nikolić was born in Niš on 11 April 1975 into a family of musicians and from an early age showed inclination toward music.[2] At seven years of age, Nikloić started participating in children's music festivals with her brother. She won several first prizes and was offered a recording contract with the Zagreb-based label Jugoton, which she lost due to Warfare in Yugoslavia. She graduated from Svetozar Marković gymnasium in Niš.

Career in music

In 1993, Nikolić started collaborating with Serbian composer Vladimir Graić, who wrote a song for her debut solo performance at Pjesma Mediterana festival in Budva, Montenegro. Nikolić has also cited Serbian pop singer Maja Odžaklijevska as a big influence and support at the beginning of her career. She successfully continued competing in the regional music festival as a professional. In 1994, following several festival first prizes, Nikolić released her debut album Sad me promađi (Find Me Now) under PGP-RTS. In May 1998, she participated in the prestigious international festival Slavianski Bazar in Odessa, Ukraine and Saratov, Russia where she sung "Više nisi moj" and "Đelem, Đelem" arranged by Grajić and Željko Joksimović. As the winner, Nikolić performed at the Moscow Red Square. In the same year she released her sophomore record, Uzmi me (Take Me), which saw great commercial success. She held her first solo concert on 25 February 1999 in Sava Centar, Belgrade.

Following her third album Iz inata (Out Of Spite), released in 2000, Nikolić left Serbia and moved to the United States where she performed in Harry's Velvet Room club in downtown Chicago, Illinois. She was also the opening act at Diana Ross charity concert for disabled children in China Club in New York City. From there, she went to Los Angeles, California, where she graduated in jazz singing from the Stella Adler Academy. Nikolić performed "Something To Talk About" from the 2002 movie About A Boy at the 7th Golden Satellite Awards.

She released her fourth album, Za moju dušu (For My Soul), in 2006 and her fifth, Crveno (Red), in 2011, the latter being released under City Records, but without any significant success. Nikolić also unsuccessfully competed in Serbia's national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, called Beovizija, in 2003, 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018.[3]

Personal life

Nikolić has two sons, Novak (b. 1997) and Lazar (b. 2006).

In 2011, she was ejected from the reality TV show Dvor along with Serbian folk singer Miloš Bojanić, due to their anti-semitic remarks.[4] In July 2014, they were eventually acquitted of the charges for hate speech and antisemitism by the Appellate Court in Belgrade.

Discography
Studio albums
  • Sad me pronadji (1995)
  • Uzmi me (1998)
  • Iz inata (2000)
  • Za moju dusu (2006)
  • Crveno (2011)
Compilation albums
  • Ljubavni party (2008)

Television appearances
  • Farma 1 (2009) – 4th place
  • Dvor (2011) – ejected
  • Veliki Brat VIP 5 (2013) – evicted
  • Farma 6 (2015) – 6th place
  • Pinkove zvezde (2016/17) – judge

References
  1. "Maja Nikolić ušla u glavni deo kuće i bacila oko na Uroša". B92. 29 March 2013.
  2. "Biografija Maje Nikolić". biografija.org. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  3. Juhász, Ervin (24 January 2018). "Beovizija 2018 to be held in Sava Center on the 20th of February!". escbubble.com. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  4. Barlovac, Bojana (2 March 2011). "Anti-Semitic TV Rant Causes Furore in Serbia". Balkan Insight.
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