Amanda Rivkin

Serbia Turbofolk!

  • BELGRADE, SERBIA. A woman dances on the table at Jos Ovu Noc, a kafana, or bar with live turbofolk music that blares late into the night on July 2, 2015. Such clubs as showcases for turbofolk singers and bands have their origins along the Ibarska Magistrala highway which goes south from the capital towards the most traditional parts of Serbia.
  • BELGRADE, SERBIA. A couple making out in a quiet corner at Bard, a nightclub on a splav or barge on the Danube River, as Dara Bubamara belts out fast-paced turbofolk hits on July 8, 2015. Dara Bubamara's career extends back to 1989 when she got her start on television singing songs by Lepa Brena.
  • BELGRADE, SERBIA. A woman stands in front of the former Serbian Ministry of Defense (at left), formerly the Yugoslav Ministry of Defense, and the Army Headquarters (at right), which were hit by NATO bombs in 1999 during the conflict with Kosovo under former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, which have been left since as a morbid reminder of sorts of Serbia's recent past on Kneza Milosa on June 29, 2015. Part of the Army Headquarters building remains in use.
  • BELGRADE, SERBIA. Young people, including a young man in a traditional Serbian hat dance and sing along in the front row as Aca Lukas performs at Mali Kalemegdan, the smaller section of the old fortress on July 11, 2015. Lukas, who often appears on stage with Ceca, the {quote}mother of Serbia{quote} and the biggest turbofolk star, was one of the first turbofolk stars to admit to using cocaine.
  • BELGRADE, SERBIA. Dara Bubamara performs onstage at Bard, a nightclub on a splav or barge on the Danube River, surrounded by bodyguards on July 8, 2015. Dara Bubamara's career extends back to 1989 when she got her start on television singing songs by Lepa Brena.
  • BELGRADE, SERBIA. Serbian police in riot gear stand guard outside the Media Centar before a commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, widely labeled genocide in the eyes of International Criminal Court in The Hague and the international community, on July 11, 2015. Due to threats from nationalists, a planned die-in intended to represent the 8,000 who lost their lives in Srebrenica, Europe's largest postwar massacre, was cancelled and a much smaller commemoration of NGO officials was held at the Media Centar.
  • BELGRADE, SERBIA. Starlet, or aspiring star, Atina Ferrari, who appeared on the reality show {quote}Parovi,{quote} which features many high end prostitutes and elements of the turbofolk lifestyle, at Jos Ovu Noc, a kafana, or bar with live turbofolk music that blares late into the night on July 2, 2015. Such clubs as showcases for turbofolk singers and bands have their origins along the Ibarska Magistrala highway which goes south from the capital towards the most traditional parts of Serbia; the turbofolk lifestyle and sound has evolved into one where {quote}money is the justification,{quote} in the words of Radovan Kupres, former cultural programming director of tv station B92 who produced the documentary {quote}All That Folk{quote}.
  • NIS, SERBIA. Vladislava Djuric, 30, holds her nationally famous icon of Svetlana Raznatovic, better known as Ceca, which garnered national headlines after pictures went viral of it taken during a student exhibition at Djuric's university, on July 10, 2015. Ceca, a turbofolk star better known as {quote}the Mother of Serbia,{quote} was married to one of the Bosnian War's most notorious Serbian military commanders, Arkan, who was later assassinated, and was one of a rotating cast of turbofolk stars who gave daily concerts in Belgrade's Republic Square during the 1999 NATO bombing.
  • SIMANOVCI, SERBIA. The stage the morning after the finale of {quote}Pinkovi Zvezde{quote} or {quote}Pink Stars,{quote} an {quote}American Idol{quote}-style talent showcase on Pink TV, one of the two main TV stations dedicated to turbo folk music and other programming, at the main Pink TV studios on June 28, 2015.
  • BELGRADE, SERBIA. (At center, in suit) Ekrem Jevric sings as Aleksandra Grdic gives a massage to a fellow cast member, as Saska Karan laughs on the couch and turbofolk star Dusica Grabovic looks on in laughter on the set of {quote}Parovi,{quote} which features many starlets, turbofolk viral video stars and others part of the blingy new money turbo world, on September 10, 2015. Parovi is broadcast live twenty-four hours a day and along with shows like {quote}Farm{quote} and {quote}Hotel Maldivi{quote} populate the fodder for the tabloid press in Serbia.
  • JAGODINA, SERBIA. Jovanca, the giraffe in the Jagodina zoo, on September 10, 2015. Jovanca was a concession to powerful local mayor and don Dragan Markovic, also known as {quote}Palma,{quote} a former close ally of former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, in order to gain his participation in the coalition government; Palma owns Palma TV which provided part of the turbofolk soundtrack to the 1990s and is close with several stars of the genre including Svetlana Raznatovic, better known as Ceca, and Aca Lukas.
  • BELGRADE, SERBIA. Jelena Karleusa arrives in custom Versace according to her Instagram ahead of a concert on the splav, or barge, River on the night of July 3, 2015. Karleusa is the lone turbofolk star who has been outspoken on the issue of gay rights and many of her looks have been copied by the likes of Lady Gaga, BeyoncĂ©, and Kim Kardashian; in an e-mail Karleusa declared she doesn't sing turbofolk music, despite having deep roots in the industry and coming up through the same television channels, venues and other mechanisms used to promote turbofolk, but refused repeated requests to clarify the description of her music.
  • BELGRADE, SERBIA. Members of the studio audience wait to enter the studio for a taping of {quote}Zvezde Granda,{quote} or {quote}Grand Stars,{quote} a premier turbofolk showcase on Serbian television, on July 1, 2015. Members of the studio audience are paid 500 dinars, approximately $5, a day for their role and participation in the tapings which last for hours.
  • BELGRADE, SERBIA. (At left) Lepa Brena, one of the oldest and original turbofolk stars, during a performance on the set of {quote}Zvezde Granda,{quote} or {quote}Grand Stars,{quote} a premier turbofolk showcase on Serbian television station TV Prva, on July 1, 2015. During this particular taping of {quote}Grand Stars,{quote} well known stars are singing with younger, lesser known stars with the goal of elevating their personality in public life.
  • BELGRADE, SERBIA. Members of the studio audience applaud their favorite stars turbofolk hits on the set of {quote}Zvezde Granda,{quote} or {quote}Grand Stars,{quote} a premier turbofolk showcase on Serbian television station TV Prva, on July 1, 2015. Members of the studio audience are paid 500 dinars, approximately $5, a day for their role and participation in the tapings which last for hours.
  • BELGRADE, SERBIA. A woman and a young man in the audience react to watching Aca Lukas performs at Mali Kalemegdan, the smaller section of the old fortress on July 11, 2015. Lukas, who often appears on stage with Ceca, the {quote}mother of Serbia{quote} and the biggest turbofolk star, was one of the first turbofolk stars to admit to using cocaine.
  • BELGRADE, SERBIA. Clubgoers at Bard, a nightclub on a splav or barge on the Danube River, toast on the main dance floor of the club as Dara Bubamara sings fast-paced turbofolk hits on July 8, 2015. Dara Bubamara's career extends back to 1989 when she got her start on television singing songs by Lepa Brena.
  • SIMANOVCI, SERBIA. Girls who will dance on stage during the taping of the finale of {quote}Pinkove Zvezdice,{quote} or {quote}Little Pink Stars,{quote} wait backstage at the Pink TV studios before the finale on July 4, 2015. {quote}Pinkove Zvezdice,{quote} is the junior program of {quote}Pinkove Zvezde,{quote} the premier turbofolk showcase on Pink TV, one of the primary networks showcasing turbofolk, although the child contestants on {quote}Pinkove Zvezdice{quote} are more likely to sing classic pop songs than anything regional.
  • BELGRADE, SERBIA. A door guard objects to photos as young women wait to enter River, a club on a splav, or barge, on the Sava River ahead of a concert by Jelena Karleusa on the night of July 3, 2015. The splavs along the Sava and Danube Rivers are the epicenter of Belgrade's raging all night club scene; Karleusa is one of two of the turbofolk industry's greatest stars and certainly its most outspoken liberal voice and advocate for the gay community.
  • BELGRADE, SERBIA. A clubgoer at Bard, a nightclub on a splav or barge on the Danube River, dances to fast-paced turbofolk hits by Dara Bubamara on the main dance floor of the club on July 8, 2015. Dara Bubamara's career extends back to 1989 when she got her start on television singing songs by Lepa Brena.
  • BELGRADE, SERBIA. Members of the studio audience sing along to their favorite stars turbofolk hits on the set of {quote}Zvezde Granda,{quote} or {quote}Grand Stars,{quote} a premier turbofolk showcase on Serbian television station TV Prva, on July 1, 2015. Members of the studio audience are paid 500 dinars, approximately $5, a day for their role and participation in the tapings which last for hours.
  • BELGRADE, SERBIA. Vesna Zmijanac, an aging star whose career extends back to the 1980s even before the advent of the music known as {quote}turbofolk{quote} and former mistress of the head of Serbian state television during the 1990s, smokes backstage after a performance on the set of {quote}Zvezde Granda,{quote} or {quote}Grand Stars,{quote} a premier turbofolk showcase on Serbian television station TV Prva, on July 1, 2015. Zmijanac's daughter Nikolija is a rising star of the turbofolk scene today.
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