Daniel (singer)
Encyclopedia
Daniel is the stage name of Milan Popović (Милан Поповић) (born October 29, 1955 in Titograd, Montenegro, Yugoslavia), a Montenegro
-born pop singer who made his name in Croatia
. He is sometimes credited as Danijel Popović (Данијел Поповић).
and a Belgian
mother, Popović was raised in Titograd, but made his name in Zagreb
, whereto he moved in 1977, pursuing a career in pop music.
In 1983, as a regional representative of Croatia (TV Zagreb
), he won the right to represent Yugoslavia
at the Eurovision Song Contest
with the song "Džuli" ("Julie"). His national victory was somewhat unexpected because most observers saw popular folk singer Lepa Brena
, a regional representative of Vojvodina (TV Novi Sad), as a clear favourite.
Daniel proved skeptics wrong by achieving 4th place in Munich
, equaling at the time the best ever Yugoslav placing at the Eurovision Song Contest
(Lola Novaković
's 4th place finish in 1962
). "Džuli" was also a huge hit in Yugoslavia: the album sold 717,166 copies while the single sold further 80,883 – a huge number for Yugoslavia in both cases.
The song was a big hit in many other European countries as well, including Norway
, where Daniel played several venues. Early in 1984, he performed at a NRK
broadcast TV show prior to the Sarajevo
Winter Olympics
, playing "Džuli" and a new song called "Miss You".
Like many other ESC
contestants, Daniel failed to build on his triumph, and his commercial appeal gradually declined. By the 1990s, his popularity was already on the wane, though he managed to register one more moderate hit in 1991 – a track called "Daj obuci levisice" that he competed with at 1991
Jugovizija representing HTV
and placing second, only two points behind the winning song "Brazil" by Bebi Dol. A few years earlier, he had also featured in the Lepa Brena
folk hit "Jugoslovenka" along with Alen Islamović
and Vlado Kalember
.
Daniel stayed in Croatia
during the war. He soon disappeared into anonymity after a few unsuccessful albums. Tapping into his savings, he then opened a studio and started producing records for performers like Nives Celzijus
(her first and so far only album Cura moderna).
He'd foray back into singing only occasionally. During the summer of 2001, he took part in the Sunčane Skale
festival in Herceg Novi
, but managed to get only 7 points (winner Ivana Banfić
received 107).
In early 2005, after an extended commercially-barren period in Croatia, Daniel moved back to Montenegro, hoping to resurrect his stuttering singing career.
In the autumn of 2005, Daniel's performance in Munich in 1983 was included in a collection of two double DVDs and two double CDs celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest. The collection, which consisted of all the winners as well as a few of the most favourite non-winning contestants, was entitled Congratulations (1956-1980 and 1981-2005). A glimpse of Daniel's 1983 act could also be seen in the celebration show
broadcast from Copenhagen
in October 2005.
In January 2007, esctoday.com reported that Daniel would take part in the Croatian preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest, Dora, together with his son Sebastian (20) and daughter Isabella (16) as well as Snježana Ivana Pandl (17). Their song didn't make it to the final selection process.
During fall 2009, he was a contestant on Kmetija reality show, Slovenian version of The Farm.http://www.index.hr/xmag/clanak/danijel-popovic-po-slavu-krenuo-u-slovensku-farmu/456143.aspx
In 1986, Daniel married Sanja Bjedov and had two kids with her: son Sebastian, and daughter Isabella Kim. The couple separated in 1994 before finalizing their divorce in 1996.
By that time Daniel was in a relationship with Sandra Bagarić whom he soon married and had a son Dominik with. Soon after moving from Zagreb to Podgorica in early 2005, the couple separated and divorced. In August 2005, he was hit with public allegations of spousal abuse by his ex-wife Sandra Bagarić who accused him of "repeated, jealousy-induced physical and mental maltreatment". She claimed to have been forced to flee the couple's Podgorica
home with their son Dominik, and also blamed Daniel for her two miscarriages.
In March 2008, news appeared in certain Balkan media outlets about a possibility that Daniel might end up serving time in prison due to not paying child and spousal support to his ex-wife Sanja Bjedov and their two children. In spring 2008, Croatian court ordered him to pay HRK
219,000 (~€31,000) in back spousal and child support payments. In October 2009, during a club appearance in Zagreb his ex-wife Sandra brought their son Dominik along and claimed Daniel owes them €2,000 in unpaid child support.
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
-born pop singer who made his name in Croatia
Croatia
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 ...
. He is sometimes credited as Danijel Popović (Данијел Поповић).
Biography
Born to a father from MontenegroMontenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
and a Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
mother, Popović was raised in Titograd, but made his name in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
, whereto he moved in 1977, pursuing a career in pop music.
In 1983, as a regional representative of Croatia (TV Zagreb
Croatian Radiotelevision
Croatian Radiotelevision is a Croatian public broadcasting company. It operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as well as satellite...
), he won the right to represent Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest
Yugoslavia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 27 times, debuting in 1961 and competing every year until its last appearance in 1992, with the exceptions of 1977–1980, and 1985...
at the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1983
The Eurovision Song Contest 1983, the 28th in the series, was held in Munich, then West Germany, on 23 April 1983. The presenter was Marlene Charell. Corinne Hermes was the winner of this Eurovision with the song, "Si la vie est cadeau". This was Luxembourg's fifth victory in the contest which...
with the song "Džuli" ("Julie"). His national victory was somewhat unexpected because most observers saw popular folk singer Lepa Brena
Lepa Brena
Fahreta Jahić Živojinović is Yugoslavian pop-folk singer, better known as Lepa Brena , . Born in Tuzla and raised in Brčko, Bosnia and Herzegovina , she moved to Novi Sad in 1980 to pursue her career in singing. In 1982...
, a regional representative of Vojvodina (TV Novi Sad), as a clear favourite.
Daniel proved skeptics wrong by achieving 4th place in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, equaling at the time the best ever Yugoslav placing at the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
(Lola Novaković
Lola Novakovic
Zorana "Lola" Novaković is a Serbian singer, hugely popular during 1960s and to a lesser degree 1970s. Internationally, she is most notable for representing FPR Yugoslavia at Eurovision Song Contest in 1962 where she finished 4th.- References :...
's 4th place finish in 1962
Eurovision Song Contest 1962
The Eurovision Song Contest 1962 was the seventh in the series. France's win was their third and marked the first time a country had won three contests. Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, and Spain all scored "null points" for the first time....
). "Džuli" was also a huge hit in Yugoslavia: the album sold 717,166 copies while the single sold further 80,883 – a huge number for Yugoslavia in both cases.
The song was a big hit in many other European countries as well, including Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, where Daniel played several venues. Early in 1984, he performed at a NRK
Norsk Rikskringkasting
The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation , which is usually known as NRK, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest media organisation in Norway...
broadcast TV show prior to the Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
Winter Olympics
1984 Winter Olympics
The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from 8–19 February 1984 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Other candidate cities were Sapporo, Japan; and Gothenburg, Sweden...
, playing "Džuli" and a new song called "Miss You".
Like many other ESC
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
contestants, Daniel failed to build on his triumph, and his commercial appeal gradually declined. By the 1990s, his popularity was already on the wane, though he managed to register one more moderate hit in 1991 – a track called "Daj obuci levisice" that he competed with at 1991
Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1991
Yugoslavia made their penultimate Eurovision entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1991, held in Rome, Italy.-National final:The Yugoslavian national final to select their entry, Jugovizija 1991, was held on 9 March at the Sarajevo TV studios in Sarajevo, and was hosted by Draginja Balac and Senad...
Jugovizija representing HTV
Croatian Radiotelevision
Croatian Radiotelevision is a Croatian public broadcasting company. It operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as well as satellite...
and placing second, only two points behind the winning song "Brazil" by Bebi Dol. A few years earlier, he had also featured in the Lepa Brena
Lepa Brena
Fahreta Jahić Živojinović is Yugoslavian pop-folk singer, better known as Lepa Brena , . Born in Tuzla and raised in Brčko, Bosnia and Herzegovina , she moved to Novi Sad in 1980 to pursue her career in singing. In 1982...
folk hit "Jugoslovenka" along with Alen Islamović
Alen Islamovic
Alen Islamović is a well-known and popular Bosnian singer in Bosnia and Herzegovina and other former Yugoslav republics...
and Vlado Kalember
Vlado Kalember
Vladimir Kalember is a Croatian pop singer, famous for his recognisable, husky voice.In the 1970s, he was the vocalist of the popular pop band Srebrna Krila. After leaving the band, he continued with a solo career. In 1984, together with Izolda Barudžija, he represented Yugoslavia at the...
.
Daniel stayed in Croatia
Croatia
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 ...
during the war. He soon disappeared into anonymity after a few unsuccessful albums. Tapping into his savings, he then opened a studio and started producing records for performers like Nives Celzijus
Nives Celzijus
Nives Celzijus Drpić is a Croatian socialite, model, singer and writer. She is a current columnist for German Bild magazine and the wife of Superleague Greece football player Dino Drpić....
(her first and so far only album Cura moderna).
He'd foray back into singing only occasionally. During the summer of 2001, he took part in the Sunčane 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:...
festival in Herceg Novi
Herceg Novi
Herceg Novi is a coastal town in Montenegro located at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of the Herceg Novi Municipality with around 33,000 inhabitants...
, but managed to get only 7 points (winner Ivana Banfić
Ivana Banfic
Ivana Banfić is a Croatian dancer and pop singer. She became famous under the stage name I BEE in the 1990s during the period of popularity of dance music in Croatia....
received 107).
In early 2005, after an extended commercially-barren period in Croatia, Daniel moved back to Montenegro, hoping to resurrect his stuttering singing career.
In the autumn of 2005, Daniel's performance in Munich in 1983 was included in a collection of two double DVDs and two double CDs celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest. The collection, which consisted of all the winners as well as a few of the most favourite non-winning contestants, was entitled Congratulations (1956-1980 and 1981-2005). A glimpse of Daniel's 1983 act could also be seen in the celebration show
Congratulations (Eurovision)
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest was a television programme organised by the European Broadcasting Union to commemorate the Eurovision Song Contest's fiftieth anniversary and to determine the Contest's most popular entrant of its fifty years. It took place at Forum,...
broadcast from Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
in October 2005.
In January 2007, esctoday.com reported that Daniel would take part in the Croatian preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest, Dora, together with his son Sebastian (20) and daughter Isabella (16) as well as Snježana Ivana Pandl (17). Their song didn't make it to the final selection process.
During fall 2009, he was a contestant on Kmetija reality show, Slovenian version of The Farm.http://www.index.hr/xmag/clanak/danijel-popovic-po-slavu-krenuo-u-slovensku-farmu/456143.aspx
Personal
Daniel has been married three times. His first wife Marija and him wed in 1978 and divorced by mid-1980s.In 1986, Daniel married Sanja Bjedov and had two kids with her: son Sebastian, and daughter Isabella Kim. The couple separated in 1994 before finalizing their divorce in 1996.
By that time Daniel was in a relationship with Sandra Bagarić whom he soon married and had a son Dominik with. Soon after moving from Zagreb to Podgorica in early 2005, the couple separated and divorced. In August 2005, he was hit with public allegations of spousal abuse by his ex-wife Sandra Bagarić who accused him of "repeated, jealousy-induced physical and mental maltreatment". She claimed to have been forced to flee the couple's Podgorica
Podgorica
Podgorica , is the capital and largest city of Montenegro.Podgorica's favourable position at the confluence of the Ribnica and Morača rivers and the meeting point of the fertile Zeta Plain and Bjelopavlići Valley has encouraged settlement...
home with their son Dominik, and also blamed Daniel for her two miscarriages.
In March 2008, news appeared in certain Balkan media outlets about a possibility that Daniel might end up serving time in prison due to not paying child and spousal support to his ex-wife Sanja Bjedov and their two children. In spring 2008, Croatian court ordered him to pay HRK
Croatian kuna
The kuna is the currency of Croatia since 1994 . It is subdivided into 100 lipa. The kuna is issued by the Croatian National Bank and the coins are minted by the Croatian Monetary Institute....
219,000 (~€31,000) in back spousal and child support payments. In October 2009, during a club appearance in Zagreb his ex-wife Sandra brought their son Dominik along and claimed Daniel owes them €2,000 in unpaid child support.
Discography
- Suze i smijeh (second album)
- Tina i Marina
- Kao da ne postojim
- Danceland (1994)
- Vatra ljubavi (1999)