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Marija Serifovic Wins 2007 Eurovision Song Contest
In a televised event watched by 100 million people around the world this weekend, 23-year-old Serbian contestant Marija Serifovic beat out participants from 42 European countries to win the 52nd annual Eurovision Song Contest, hosted in Helsinki, Finland. Serifovic, who has not commented publicly on her sexual orientation but whose dress and performance style has led many to conclude she is a lesbian, won with her performance of a power ballad about lost love called "Molitva" ("Prayer"), which included female back-up singers wearing black Dolce & Gabbana pantsuits and holding hands. The winner was selected in each country based on telephone votes and text messages. Serifovic received the most votes overall, defeating the second-place contestant, drag queen Verka Serduchka from Ukraine. Serifovic's win was widely celebrated across her country as thousands of Serbians took to the streets after her win, cheering, honking horns and waving the Serbian flag. A crowd of 25,000 amassed in Belgrade to welcome Serifovic home. “Congratulations, Marija! Serbia is very proud tonight and celebrates your success,” Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said in a statement. A government spokeswoman for the Republika Srpska — which along with the Muslim-Croat federation, now makes up the Bosnian nation — congratulated Serifovic for "for succeeding in bringing Serbia closer to the European Union." The celebration may have more to do with national pride than anything else, as the win was seen by many Serbians as a rare sign of support from other European countries, as well as a bright moment for a country that has been consumed by war and its aftermath for almost 15 years. This was also Serbia's first appearance in the Eurovision competition as an independent nation, after Serbia and Montenegro split last year. Serifovic's countrymen have not always been so supportive of her. Throughout the semifinals, Serifovic was widely criticized by Serbian tabloids for her appearance and her perceived sexual orientation, but she remained undeterred. "I'm different. My song is different. Serbia is different," she told Reuters Television in the days leading up to the finals, "so I hope we will make something out of it." Serifovic's win has bolstered not just Serbian pride, but "Serbia's tiny and harassed gay community," according to Reuters, "who celebrated the lesbian chic-tinged performance as a rare sight in the conservative Christian Orthodox country." Following her win, Serifovic told reporters that "a new chapter has opened for Serbia and not only in music." The massive nationwide celebration is also a small sign of progress for women, according to Britain's Independent, which notes: "Such outpourings are typical when the country's basketball or water polo teams are victorious. But this was different, for it was the first time the proverbially macho Serbs had done the same honours for a young female singer — let alone one with Serifovic's unusual fashion sense." Serifovic will travel to six European countries on the Winner's Tour. Watch Serifovic's winning performance here:
Visit the official Eurovision website for more info, and check out our blog for more photos of Serifovic, and an English translation of the song. |
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News, Reviews & Commentary on Lesbian and Bisexual women in Entertainment and the Media
So proud
I was really proud when Serbia won because all my friends were like "She's a lesbian" and they were also pointing out that the Ukraine male singer had boobies.. I thought Marija's performance was great, I kind of wished I was her surrounded by all those women.
And also the lead singer from Russia, who came 3rd, was hot!
Well, it was the gayest
Her voice!
Lyrics in english
Here's where you can find the lyrics in english
http://www.yle.fi/eurovision/main.php?id=2743
hmmm...
cool
Really!
Four years ago she was in something like "Star Factory", show a-la American Idol. I got an eye on her coz she gave a strong gay vibe. Later in the show she was caught cuddling and kissing another contestant (girl). Rumours went from there, I guess. My friend also thinks she's gay. A while ago she married another fellow-contestant from the "factory" but they were separated after one night (yes!). I googled her and in one of the interviews she was asked if she feels ok with singing in a girl-group instead of singing solo; her answer was "I love girls!" Then she also added "Kidding, I like guys" and the diff between "love" and "like" in this context is close to nil.
Quite honestly, it's just a rumour.
oh
Well, everyone is straight,
about Lena Temnikova
Hi girls,
I'm russian and i can be absolutely sure that miss Temnikova is NOT gay. She is straight. For example, after the Eurovision contest there was a discussion on the russian main chanal 1 ORT. Different russian politics, singers, actors discussed the results of the contest and the fact that Serebro (where Temnikova is the leader) came 3rd. So during the discussion there was an on-line interview with Temnikova and someone said that he didn't like the appearance of serbian singer (the winner Marija) and he also said that girls from Serebro were more beautiful, sexy and talented. Then Temnikova said "we are better and more beautiful because we love men, not women". I heard it by myself and i was shocked. I'm very sad because in my country people don't know what gay rights and tolerance are...
...
"we are better and more beautiful because we love men, not women".
Oh, I just got put off Lena then but then I saw that picture... I would believe that they were better if they actually won... but they didn't..haha.
Lena is showing a classic
I agree
I agree that she's straight and she's mean yet still hot. But that was definitely the shortest crush I've ever had.
didn't she admit it?
Best song on the night...
It was the best song on the night, it is a song contest and the last few years it has been more about performance and block voting! When she won they had to sing the song again and there seemed to be alot more sisterly love that time! ;)
if...
... that was the best song, then i don't know what is going on with my music taste :S
Overal i have no idea why i watch it. It's like you make a promise never to watch that again and then a year later you are doing the same thing ah crap!
wooo Serbia!
I simply loved Marija's song! I rarely love songs right away, but this was so breathtaking for me. I think the song is very beautiful (lyrics and music) - so is her voice, which is also so powerfull and full of emotion and it was like I knew what she sang. Of course I voted for Serbia (both at the Semi-final and at the Final), and I'm so full of joy because of her winning the contest :D
(I copied a lot of what I just wrote from my comment in the thread about same subject in the music section).
I guess it probably is the gayest Eurovision so far, because the performer from Denmark is also a drag queen (even calling himself DQ).
http://yayamusic.canalblog.com/archives/2007/05/13/4931561.html (link to lyrics + English + Greek + French translations)
I also think Marija is very cute :p well, well..
the gayest popshow you'll find
I think it's great that she won. I voted for her, but I didn't think she would really make it. I thought it'd be Ukrain(and I wouldn't have minded if it had been Germany*tchi*)...
but I really like the fact, that most voters who didn't understand ther language of that song still got the message and thought it was a great song. And wow she has a voice!
Eurovision is and hopefully always will be the gayest popshow.
Anna
Aw...
She made it on AfterEllen... :)
And to add to the gayness Swedens singer is bisexual. The ESC is very gay but often in the male direction so I'm happy Marija won!
Also, our commentator said that Marija had said that this was a lesbian fighting song but our commentator is a very ironic person.
Lesbian or not she was the best in years
For as long as I can remember I am a big songfestival fan. Their are 3 things in a year that I am looking forward too: Christmas, Tha gay pride in Amsterdam and the Eurovision. When we heard the song for the first time on thursday night it took my breath away and I couls cry because it's so beautiful and powerful. We had no idea what it was about but it touched me deeply. This song and preformance is all about singing. So happy that Europe finally votted for a real song again.
I do realize that her winning this contest is a big deal in Serbia. I think it's very brave of them to send her andI do hope that this is more then just a singing victory.
2004
When I googled her I found this article:
http://www.gay-serbia.com/press/2004/04-09-29-kurir-tata-ja-sam-lezbejka...
I pretty much understand the title and the subtitle:"Dad, I am a lesbian!" "The singer Marija Serifovic admits her homosexuality." If anyone understand the rest and it says something more please share! :)
And it's dated back to 2004!
BTW, I love her song!
it was printed in 'kurir' the worst serbian tabloid so...
it is not very reliable. marija is a lesbian, there is no doubt about that, but she is not out and so far she hasn't said anything about her sexuality. she usually evades the answer to that question. and she has been asked a lot, almost in every interview.
anyway, the article is about marija's alleged personal 'lonely hearts' ad on gay-serbia.com. someone close to marija's family denies that she placed the ad at first place, because she is in a happy long-term relationship with a girl. they also claim that marija decided to come out of the closet but only for her family and that recently she has 'admitted' to her father that she is interested in women. her father received that very well because the two are close. they don't know anything about marija's mother reaction.
when watching this as soon
Eurovision....
Eurovison voting is totally flawed.
Most of the Euro countries just vote for their neighbours and based on diplomatic relations. Very silly.
as if
France got zero vote from its neighbour and/or linguistically-close countries. What's worse is that the french song didn't suck, for a change.
wow
She has a beautiful voice and she managed to let the song's emotion transcend the language barrier.
And that was a very gay subtext-y performance indeed.
meh
Come on
They might be a good band, but that was not a good song. I don't know if Ireland deserved last place, but they certainly deserve to not qualify directly for next year's finals.
Bulgaria had a good beat and great drums (and video art), but her singing wasn't that good, and no shiny tight red dress could make up for that.
hmmm
After waching all morning
Anyways, bottom line is that Marija's performance was great!! And even if my county's song didn't make it to the final, I'm still very proud of the result
btw, did anybody else notice the many rainbow flags in the audience? :D
she's out
i read an article online in the french gay magazine TETU (the link for whose who speak french : http://www.tetu.com/rubrique/infos/infos_detail.php?id_news=11408) which says Marija Serifovic did come out to her family 2 years ago...
And she received after her Eurovision saturday night winning the Ulricke Lunacek's congratulations (an out lesbian austrian deputy)...
BTW i do prefer the russian song, for the song first but also for the 3 singing chicks (miam...)
She sucked
and looks like she just ate Harry Potter!
UK should of done alot better, just that Eastern Europe hates Western Europe in the Eurovision
Yes Russia were very hot, i wanted them to win!
What are you talking about?
The UK was terrible! They didn't have a song, they had costumes. And they've been sucking for years, the only reason they keep getting back into the finals is because they're paying for most of the show.
Yes, there was an annoying Eastern block vote this year, but I think that showed much more in the semi-final vote. Several countries deserved to go through which didn't.
Serbia deserved to win, as did Ukraine. Out of the Western European countries, only Sweden really had a good Eurovisiony song, and though they didn't deserve to come in with such a low score, still the band's performance on the night had nothing of the enthusiasm and fun of the preview video taken in Swedish melodifastival. So yeah, they shouldn't have won either.
you're right
I agree, Sweden should have done better (but I am swedish so I might be biased=) but their performance was MUCH better in Melodifestivalen...
with the voting, I think that alot of the eastern european countries have similar tastes in music so they vote for each other and the same with the scandinavian countries...and there's alot of eastern european countries nowadays sooo...
also, Eurovision is much more important for these countries...like sweden and the UK etc. have other ways to get their music out so most serious artists would NEVER enter the competition...the eastern european countries just put more effort in to it it seems to me...but who knows...
encore!
International reporting
Hey AfterEllen girls, I just want to say that I LOVE that you regularly report on stuff happening outside the US borders. You're more international than the NYTimes these days. Keep on roquing!
What she said
Yeah, i'd like to congratulate AfterEllen also, for sticking your heads outside the US every once in a while. It's nice to know some americans realize there's a huge wide world outside their borders.
As for the Eurovision Song Contest, i think it is one big party. I don't think the show takes itself too seriously, specially the recent years contestants, it's just great to see Europe together for something silly rather than wasting time waging wars. So i'm all for it.
Regarding this year's gay performances... There were a lot, and i loved it. But in case you've missed the previous years, where some of the winning performances were kind of gay (as in lesbian) too...
2002 Latvia: think hot woman in a suit dancing with hot woman in a dress.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VLKZnz_cxLg
2003 Turkey: well, her female dancers are touching her :P
http://youtube.com/watch?v=m3i4S4E7h3I
2004 Ukraine: Xena Warrior Princess!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TXgaOTOCSuU
And last but not least, 1998 winner was Diva International, a M-F transsexual
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ-THgyCVvw
aiiiiiyyyyiiiie
2004 Ukraine: Xena Warrior Princess!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TXgaOTOCS
hott! but then Ukrainian women are known to be quite beautiful ;p
2003 Turkey: well, her female dancers are touching her :P
http://youtube.com/watch?v=m3i4S4E7h3I
teehee, rapping! and she was pretty, too.
Russia (serebro)
Elena Temnikova (Serebro Lead Singer, Russia) unfortunately is not gay. She has husband. And said: "Unlike Marija Serifovich, i prefer man"!
Lena was in final russian "Pop Idol" - "Фабрика Звезд 2")))
PS: Russia Serebro Eurovision 2007: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMT6ne8a_Tk
NOT GAY?
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=495830360&size=l
this picture was taken in the green room during the contest
BTW what about the finish singer Hanna P? She pinged to me
For the record
perhaps!
Interesting
thanks Sarah
marija was asked if she was
marija was asked if she was aware that her song is a kind of hymn for gays and lesbians in europe (that is an overstatement, of course) and she said that she knew and was ok with it. and then she dedicated her victory to 'all little and weird people' in serbia.
but almost everyone in serbia know that marija is a lesbian and of course everyone in serbia know that marija has brought us the eurovision victory, so this is the single greatest thing that has happened to serbia's lgbt population since from the beginning of time :)
Um..Okay
She has a nice voice but that background singer choreography was goofy as hell. Took me rght out it. What was that during that little instrumental intermission?
The blonde on the left is REALLY into this performance. Those suits were hot though. Nothing I love more than a women in a well-tailored suits.
Ditto
Gay Christmas...
...is over, again (sigh)! Can't wait for Belgrade 2008!
Well done to Serbia, I'm glad they won for obvious reasons! Having said that, the voting was massively skewed this year. Finland, Sweden, Germany, Spain, France, the UK and Ireland are all at the bottom of the table and although quite a few of them were god-awful, they didnt all deserve to do that badly.. and can someone please explain why Armenia came 8th (yawn)?! The system needs to change soon otherwise more and more countries will withdraw...
and after that rant I just have to say... I love the Eurovige! It's the gayest non-gay event ever! Hope it stays that way!
I agree
This year's votes went horribly wrong. The semi finals were just crazy, not one Western European country in the bunch. The only saving grace of this year was that the top 2, although from the Eastern Block, did actually deserve their places. Could you imagine if the Russian song had won? Or even worse - the Belarussian?
Finland should have been much higher, as well as Sweden and Hungary, not to mention Andorra and Norway who didn't even get into the final, and I'm sure I'm forgetting other good entries.
But once again, Serbia was not an undeserving winner, and that's before we even take into account her appeal to our own community.
(Just reread your post - yes, France also had a very cute song. And partly in English, too! Shocking! They also should have gotten a much higher place)
Nice to see some international representation