Maja Berovic: Friends and Collaborators Have Hurt Me Too
Ahead of a Belgrade concert, the singer opened up about being hurt by close friends and collaborators, announced her 20th anniversary in music and a possible duet with Milica Pavlovic.
Singer Maja Berovic opened up about her private life, career and plans for the future in interviews with Kurir and nova.rs, published on September 12 ahead of her concert in Belgrade. Kurir asked her about performances, songs and fellow singers on the scene, while nova.rs recorded her thoughts on friends, her husband and her son.
Berovic had not performed for the Belgrade audience in a while, and she says the city was missed.
“I longed for Belgrade, I could hardly wait, I’m really looking forward to it”
She goes on to say that next year brings a major milestone, 20 years in the business, and that she would like to mark the occasion.
“Next year is 20 years of my career, it would be nice to celebrate that”
She adds that it has all gone by fast, that she still can’t quite believe how much time has passed, but that she wouldn’t change a thing and that giving up was never an option for her.
“I was a fighter, I love my job, when you love something there’s no room for thoughts of quitting,” the singer said.
In the same interview, she also explains why it matters to her who she works with.
“The people around you matter, in life and in business alike. Choosing who you work with is very important, choosing people who know their job and who understand you the right way”
Speaking about the people in her life, she did not mince words, admitting it is hard to say which of the people close to her disappointed her more.
“Friends and collaborators have both hurt me, it’s neck and neck there”
She says no one who drifts away does so without a reason, that some people come and go while others stay. What matters most to her, she stresses, is that her husband Alen has stood by her all these years.
Their son Lav, whom she has with Alen, is looked after by someone she trusts completely.
“My child is looked after by our longtime friend, she’s part of our family and lives with us”
She adds that this woman is like a fourth member of the family, that she is with them around the clock, and that she is grateful to have her.
Asked about her colleagues in the business, Berovic praised Milica Pavlovic and her new album.
“I heard her album, it’s excellent, Milica has fire in her, I could record a duet with her,” Maja Berovic said, leaving the door open to a joint project between the two singers. Milica Pavlovic is one of the leading performers of the younger generation on the domestic scene, so a duet between the two would bring together two generations of Serbian pop music.
She also looked back on the late songwriter Marina Tucakovic, with whom she worked during her career. Tucakovic is one of the most celebrated lyricists in Serbian pop music, and her songs are still performed by many domestic singers today.
“I remember Marina Tucakovic as an exceptional woman, I loved her a lot. She knew how to write timeless hits, she will live on in all of us forever”
Asked about fellow singer Natasa Bekvalac’s new relationship, Berovic was brief and warm. Bekvalac is a longtime fixture of the domestic music scene, and her private life is regularly followed by entertainment media.
“That’s great, thank you. I wish for this one to be the real thing for her, for her to be happy,” Maja Berovic said.
The interview was first published by Kurir, at 8:40 a.m. on September 12, alongside photos of the singer, and picked up shortly before 11 a.m. the same day by nova.rs, under a byline by journalist Viktorija Jovanovic. Both pieces carry the same statements, given on the same day ahead of the Belgrade concert.
