Goca Lazarevic on Vidovdan: I Am Not a Nationalist
The folk singer told the Ami G Show she does not know whether she is banned in Croatia and Bosnia, only that she is shut out, and she ties it to her song Vidovdan.
Goca Lazarevic told Ognjen Amidzic’s Ami G Show that she does not know whether she is banned, but that she has been shut out of performances, especially in Croatia and Bosnia. She blames her song Vidovdan, which she says people misread. Her remarks were published on October 14.
Is Goca Lazarevic banned in Croatia and Bosnia?
The singer herself does not claim there is a formal ban. Asked about it, she answered like this:
“I don’t know if I’m banned, but I’ve been shut out, especially in Croatia and Bosnia.”
Kurir and Nportal Novosti carry the same quote. The only difference is in the intro of the Novosti piece, which mentions Croatia and Montenegro. The singer’s own words, however, name Croatia and Bosnia, so this text sticks to that.
Why the song Vidovdan?
Lazarevic says her songs are received differently from how she writes and sings them. She describes herself as a cosmopolitan, not a nationalist:
“I’m very sorry about that, because I’m a cosmopolitan by conviction. I’m sorry because my songs are seen as nationalist, and I’m not a nationalist. ‘Svilen konac’ is a love song! ‘Vidovdan’ is a patriotic song, it speaks about our history. I’m very sorry that people misunderstand it.”
She added that the song has brought her both good and bad:
“On one hand, that song put me on a pedestal, but it also limited me, because I can’t budge from Serbia or from areas beyond where only Serbs live.”
What did she say about Zahar and her education?
Her former husband Zahar said earlier that the marriage fell apart because she did not want to educate herself. On the show, Goca answered with facts from her own biography:
“When we met, I was a girl. I finished high school, enrolled in university and got a job at a travel agency, and I never gave up on music, even though I had to give up other things, because we later had a child too. I respect Zahar very much, and there is a part of his personality that I love and respect a lot. He has plenty of the X factor, he helped many people become stars, with compensation, of course. I finished two or three degrees while living with that man, he was rich in mind and I learned a great deal from him. Between a genius and a ‘genius’ there is a thin line.”
When the conversation turned to an emotional reconciliation with her ex-husband, she added:
“Oh, God forbid, get out of here. My husband was 17 years older than me, and now I’d want one who is 17 years younger.”
How did she answer the question about Zorica Markovic?
Asked whether she had reconciled with Zorica Markovic, Lazarevic gave no direct answer. She said instead:
“If you’re asking because she said something, anyone who says something about another person in public is talking about themselves, especially if it was said without any occasion or reason.”
Kurir and Novosti do not say what Zorica Markovic said, so it is unclear what exactly Goca’s answer refers to.
