Mile Kitic: Work in Europe Has Slowed Down a Bit
Back from Frankfurt, the singer said prices have to be realistic, while a promoter of shows abroad claims European clubs simply lack an audience.
Singer Mile Kitic said at the airport, on his return from a performance in Frankfurt, that work in Europe has slowed down a bit and that it is better to work in Serbia and the region. Kurir reports that he made the remark a few days ago. Sources disagree on who he was talking to: Kurir says it was Telegraf, while Informer says it was Blic.
What did Mile Kitic say about work in Europe?
Kitic first explained where he was coming from and what he had been doing lately:
I’m coming from Frankfurt. After the season I worked a lot in Bulgaria, and last night we had a good concert with Ana Bekuta and Aleksandra Mladenovic. Generally, work in Europe has slowed down a bit. It’s better to work here at home, in Serbia and the region, if there’s work.
He then turned to money. Kurir presents the statement as being about fees, but Kitic did not say whose price should be adjusted. He split the blame between two sides:
If there’s no work, the problem is with everyone, with the club owners and with the organizers. The price has to be adjusted, to be realistic. The Bulgarians pay well, depending on who you are, everyone according to what they deserve.
Kitic, then, said work had “slowed down a bit,” while the other voices in Kurir’s story paint a much bleaker picture.
Why are shows in European clubs being cancelled?
Kurir spoke to an unnamed man who organizes performances by Serbian singers across Europe. According to him, the reasons clubs give for cancelling are not the real ones:
Our singers are lucky that many clubs in Europe meet them halfway, and they often say shows were cancelled for technical or health reasons. But the situation is very different. There are no problems with health or with technical issues, there are simply no people. Just two weeks ago a big star was supposed to perform in Frankfurt, but everything was cancelled. She put out a statement that health reasons were behind it, and then posted photos from the beach. So health is not the problem. Many clubs across Europe no longer open both days of the weekend, Friday and Saturday, but only one. How many clubs have closed, we could talk about that until tomorrow. Now those “Kafanske vecheri” (tavern nights) have started to be held around Europe, and people gather there because there are plenty of performers. Otherwise, everybody is in trouble.
That is the claim of a single source: in his telling, health and technical reasons often serve to hide poor attendance. Neither he, nor Kurir, nor Informer names the star whose Frankfurt show was cancelled, so the story about the beach photos cannot be verified.
What do other singers say about fees?
Singer Zorana Micanovic had spoken earlier about work becoming scarcer, and Kurir now relays her words. She named the high fees some performers demand as one of the reasons:
The problem is the singers and their big fees, but also the club owners who raise the prices of drinks and tickets.
Kurir adds that once organizing costs and venue rental are piled on top of fees, organizers find it harder and harder to make the math work for both themselves and the performers. That is the paper’s conclusion, not a statement by the singer.
What does the scene in Belgrade look like?
Kurir writes that Belgrade’s floating river clubs have mostly disappeared, that fewer clubs draw a crowd and that the offer in taverns has changed. Venues where singers once performed almost every weekend are now rarer. The article also notes that fewer familiar faces turn up at the airport on weekends coming back from European gigs, which, according to the paper, fits the story of fewer shows.
According to the same paper, rappers who until recently filled clubs are seen less often on stage, and folk music is doing somewhat better. Even folk singers, though, are not spared the trouble.
