July 15: Croatian singer Danijela Martinović, is 42-years-old today.

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Danijela Martinović was born in Split on ther Damatian Coast, on July 15, 1971 when Croatia was still part of Yugoslavia. Danijela began to sing from an early age. Her big break came in 1991 when she joined the pop band Magazin.

Magazin had long been a big name on the Croatian music scene - as well as the wider area, dating back to Yugoslav times. As a result, Danijela became a big national star. Magazin represented Croatia at the 1995 Eurovision Song Contest, along with the opera singer Lidija Horvat-Dunjko, they performed the song "Nostalgija." They finished 6th out of 23 entries.

In the late 1990s Danijela left Magazin to pursue a solo career, but she continued to work with the band's leader and prolific songwriter Tonči Huljić. That partnership resulted in Danijela winning the 1998 Dora contest with the popular ballad "Neka mi ne svane" ("May the Sun Never Rise") and becoming the Croatian representative at the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest, where she came in 5th out of 25 contestants. 

In 2007 she participated in the Croatian version of the television show Dancing with the Stars,” in which she danced with Nicolas Quesnoit (who was winner of the first season with Zrinka Cvitešić). She was eliminated in the 5th episode.

In December 2010 she released a new song called "Pola Pola.” In 2011 she released her new album Unikat. In 2012 she released one of the biggest summer hits in Croatia, a new song called "Brodolom.” This song attracted more than 3 million views on Youtube in less than one month. Danijela presented this song on Croatian music festival SPLIT 2012.

Danijela has a sister, Izabela, who also pursued a music career through Split-based pop act Stijene.

 

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For more about Danijela, visit her Website a t- http://www.danijelamartinovic.com/