The last night that Ian and I were in Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital city, we had the good fortune of hearing about Danijela Martinovic — Slovenia’s most popular pop singer.  We heard that she would be singing in person at an exclusive, invitation only night club and lounge.

Tickets were needed and with the help of some local friends we were able to get a couple and join the festivities.

The setting for this was a little unusual for us Americans.  It was on the top floor of a department store in the downtown retail section of the city.  Nevertheless, the nightclub/lounge was beautifully appointed with a great view of the city at night.

Scheduled that evening was Danijela Martinovic, the most popular pop singer in Slovenia, even though she is Croatian.  And we could feel the excitement as we waited in line for admission, took the elevator to the top floor, and found a table to sit at.  There was electricity in the place.

The nightclub/lounge was packed to the gills.  Our guess is that there were somewhere between 125-150 people crammed into every possible table, chair, corner, bar and outside terrace available.

Scheduled to start her singing at 7, she and her band finally opened the curtains at 9:30 to a raucous welcoming crowd.

Two other things about the crowd are worthy of note.  One, most of the patrons were in their 20’s.  you may be asking yourself at this point, what in the heck were Ian, who is 34, and Neil, who is 42 but with white hair, doing in a place with such youngsters.

To answer this, I need to tell you what my travel philosophy is.  The idea is to experience as much as possible.  To put yourself in as many situations as possible that allow you to experience it as if you were a local.  Everything we do when we travel is a learning experience.  So, it was with this background, I am sure that you can understand why Ian and I jumped at the chance to experience this renowned singer’s performance.

The second fact about the crowd…  Before I finish this sentence, let me remind everyone who is reading this, that my role here in these blogs is that of a reporter – just reporting the facts.  The second fact about the crowd was that 80% of the 20-somethings were women.  Why, you may ask.  I will get to this in a minute.

Finally, Danijela Martinovic comes on stage.  And she is just ready to go.  What energy. She immediately opens up with a song that has her and everyone in the place jumping up and down, raising their arms, just loving every single verse of the song.  The song was being sung in Croatian, so Ian and I could not understand one word.  But, let me tell you, we sure could feel the beat and get a real good sense of what the message of the song was.  It was captivating.  It was exciting.  You wanted to be a part of the experience.

The crowd not only was entranced, they also were participating big time.  Almost everyone was standing.  Everyone was moving with the beat of the music – whether it be their feet, knees, hips, arms, upper body, or their head, or some combination of these body parts.

Even more impressive to me and Ian was that everyone knew every word of every song Danijela sang.  Not only did they know the words, they sang them, and sang them with gusto.  You could tell that the crowd loved the music, the songs and Danijela.  The five piece band that she had behind her were fabulous too, especially the violin player.  amazing!

in addition, she had just heard about Tina Turner’s passing, reported it to the crowd, and sang one of Tina’s classic songs in her honor.  She sang it in English, and again everyone knew every word of the song and sang along.

Danijela is especially popular with women, particularly younger women.  Even though Danijela is 52 years old, she has a special connection with women in the 20’s and 30’s.  I think for a couple of reasons.  One is her energy level is the same as a 22-year-old, even though she is 30 years older.  Second, and more importantly, her songs are mostly about love.

There is a back story that everyone in Slovenia knows.  For 24 years Danijela was connected with, in love with, an item with Petar Grasa, who is also an unbelievably popular pop singer and songwriter in Croatia and Slovenia.  They have been one of the most popular couples and everyone knew their love story.  Even though the lived together, performed together at times, and were an amazing couple they never got married.  Then, two years ago they broke up. He left her for a much younger woman.  Not only did he leave her for a younger woman, from what I am told, but cannot verify through my research, the younger woman in some way is connected to two to them.  I was told it was a Woody Allen type situation.  In any case, everyone, especially young women who are exploring their own love affairs, can empathize with her.

More recently she apparently has found the love of her life in Josip Plavic, a crime inspector.  She is quoted as saying “I speak from my own example, any prediction or resistance to life would be ridiculous because it is miraculous. I threw myself at him like paragliding. I am open to all options.”

Danijela’s songs are mostly about love.  Even though her songs reflect some sadness, they somehow do not end up in despair.  Rather there seems to be something positive in each song.  At least that was the feeling that Ian and I had listening to her and seeing the reaction of the crowd.  Ian and I could not understand one word of the songs we heard, yet we could somehow feel the message, and the message always seemed hopeful and positive.

For example, one of her songs is Shipwreck.  Here are its lyrics…

Vodka, martini, sea and bikini

Oh God, let let let

God let the heaven be like this

 

To him the beach is the biggest hassle

He’s got a deep pocket, he’s got a boat

He looks great, great as Johnny Depp.

 

And he says, let’s go sugar

Let’s go in deep with a boat

Ouch, is this really your boat

 

REFRAIN:

Amore mio, I have to say

Oh, wish it was a little

Little bit bigger, that would be it

But it isn’t Miki not even half

As big for a deep sea

 

Amore mio, I have to say

Oh, wish it was a little

Little bit bigger, it would be a wreck

So help me God, when I sit on it

It will be a shipwreck

 

Oh, ouch, ouch, ouch,

Your boat is so small

 

I’m not guilty for being naive

But this really isn’t a beast

Which is ready for all

Wind, tempest or waves

 

To my captain, a ship has a flaw

It leans in side and keeps changing direction

Little gas, little neutral

 

C’mon, my sugar, you can’t go deep with it

Ouch, ouch, ouch…

Bottom line, we were blown away by the performance.  She sang nonstop for two hours.  She had the crowd absolutely engaged.  Everyone there loved it and, you could tell, loved her.

We felt so lucky to get a chance to see and experience a slice of life in Slovenia that we never expected to see.