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Former Croatian superstar sings for faith
Tajči does believe!
Tatjana Matejaš aka Tajči has been performing since the age of 4. By the time she was 20 years old she had achieved stardom in former Yugoslavia, playing packed arenas and seeing her albums go platinum. Her popularity just grew out of control, every move she made was followed by the press and fans and the young pop star felt overwhelmed and empty.
Although she knew she was ready as a performer to be a star she wasn't ready as a person " What it was, when I was on top, I was unhappy. I was a teenager, and I made all the mistakes that teenagers do who don't have guidance, the Ten Commandments. You don't know that you're making these mistakes. You don't see anything wrong with it, until you find yourself lonely and you feel dirty inside. You don't know why, because everyone around you is saying how great your life is. With all of that, I was confused. I was like, I have everything. I'm the most famous person in my country. I have money. I have whatever I want, and I still have these horrible feelings. What am I going to do for the rest of my life?" Tatiana said in a previous interview with Catholic New World.
So, one day she decided to turn her back to it all. She gave away most of the earnings from her career until then to peace efforts and landed in New York, a stranger among strangers. Determined not to be recognised, she avoided all contact with the Croatian diaspora in the States and refused to use her contacts in the American entertainment industry to get a job. Hardly speaking the language at all, she auditioned for the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and got a scholarship having to do menial jobs to pay for her living and studies. She voluntarily went from being adored by hundreds of thousands of fans to cleaning dance studio floors but she felt happy and liberated.
Tatiana, a devout Christian today, states she found her answers and her inner peace in faith. Currently, together with husband, pianist, Matthew Cameron and her three boys, she tours the United States singing in churches ballads about love, faith and family. She has been receiving hundreds of requests from chrurches in the US as well as the Philippines, Latin America, Africa and Europe.
You can read more about Tajči's story and current work at her official site here.
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In Cyprus, in 1990, most of the comments were about how beautiful she was and how much she looked like Marilyn Monroe and not that much for the song. Indeed she is very prety, but the song was not that special. It was cute, but very childish. I liked it, then, because I was too young, 13, but know it sounds silly. From Yugoslavian entries I liked Zeljo Moja, Ljubim te pesmama and after 1992 I liked "Life" (FYROM), Energy (Slovenia), Maria Magdalena, Neka mine svane, Sveta ljubam (Croatia). But the best one was the Slovenian entry in 1998, of Villy Resnik (I dont know, if I write it correctly). That song really deserved to win!!!! But as usual, when televoting began, all the good songs are understimated! :-( :-(
@Edin,
we will check you guys out in may ok, and we will also post our opinion freely. See how you guys will react. Sometimes I have the impression that the forum is full with little kids, but even then you must have learned the basics, and it's not because you think the injustice has been done to you guys (what I'm totally aware of), but please do not attack others. It's as low as you can go... and now enough. After all this is not a political site.
So you mean "not one of the most friendly nations" in a neutral way. Interesting.
@ Kris Fruyt:
Thanks for this comment, very well written!
I agree with Kris in this topic theres no cold and warm but good and bed people ...
Slovenian are generally good people and noone can tell me different maybe sometime they act wrong as them gaverment ( they alwais makin fuss with Croats guverment ) but there are polite and great people and maney friends of mine,frienships need to be stronger of bed politc with naiberhood countries .
Maybe I am a bit simple, but can someone explain to me thios conversation.... The Serbs and Bosnians call Slovenian people cold ??? What the F.... are you guys talking about ? There are warm and cold people all over the world. I am together with a Greek and know Greece very well, there are just as many warm friendly Greek like there are cold and nasty Greeks, and that's like that everywhere. I 've met a lot of really nice Slovenians, some cold some warm... who cares. The West cold ??? Please go and visit Dublin, and you will probably meet the niciest warm welcoming people on this planet. Never felt more wellcome in my life. So stop this nonsense about good and bad, nice not nice, warm and cold.... RIDICULOUS.
You see my dear Serbs and Bosnians, that's why Europe is rather suspious about you guys. You are the first to point fingers. I really do hate that. During the war, my old parents living in the heart of "cold" Belgium, extremely Catholics. It was a sunday lunchtime, my mum cooked her meal for the 3 of us. The bell rang, a Bosnian begger came and asked for some money. My mum let him enter, fed him, and when he left, gave him enough clothes and shoes for a few months. He left his name and we we gave ours, and our address. He was a young guy, who came to the cold west, to find some beetr life conditions. Well each year, he sent a card for X-mas to my parents and the otehr way around. That's what it's all about.... So please stop this nonsense....
She sang one of Yugoslavias best entries ever. 
Joj people forget demographics and the past! Move on and stick to the topic at hand!
Wow, I was wondering what became of her! And my vote, too, goes to "Dvije zvjezdice"!
Personally I never found the Slovenes "cold" - quite the contrary. Just a lot more polite, a little more reserved and less "in yer face" than the usual Balkan social prototype - which personally suits me [u]just[/u] fine, as it happens.
Tajci sings for faith, I am happy that she found her inner peace and wants to share it with others. I especially loved her song 'Dvije zvjezdice', very beautiful song.
Edin, maybe we're colder than people who live southern from us but there are reasons we're like but this doesn't make us unfriendly, of course not all people are friendly here but I am sure in your country or any other country we could find similar percentage of unfriendly people. And about those gipsies you are talking about, people were not ksenophobic to them but were only defending their human rights because if you didn't know, gipsies and other minorities in Slovenia have more priviledges than we, ordinary inhabitants of Slovenia and some have started using these priviledges in a way that was endangering to local population.
Well, I just had to write that to defend all those good people in Slovenia which I believe are many of us. We're small but we won't let others to walk over us and show us in bad light.
Peace!
@ togravus ceterum:
Yes, there are A LOT of people thrue history that has done Horrible things in the name of God and the Bible! But are they christians? NO, they're NOT! You can call your self christian. But, in front of God, you have to follow the Bible to be a TRUE christian! The Majoroty of "Christians" in the world is NOT, True Christians!
Read the "ten commandments".
@ nemke s:
Yes, it's impossible to live and not sin! But, God=forgivness and Love, and if a person REALLY regrets a sin, then he/she will be forgiven.(Well, Hitler can't be forgiven, just like other people who are doing extreamly evil deads)
I'm not from Holland, I'm from the Netherlands, which is (believe me) a big difference. But I have to be nationalistic too to explain that. Let's give it a rest. If you say you didn't mean it in negative way I believe you. Sometimes it is difficult to exactly express your opinion on the internet especially in a language which is not your own. Peace.
Edin S...dont pay attention, they dont know and they speak as if they know, they havent even see the real Balkans.
And Togravus, they held the bible but doesnt have anything to do whith what Peter said...
well Peter, i am sorry but then there are no real christians... It is impossible to not sin
Peter Eriksson
Tomás de Torquemada??? Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros??? ferrand Martínez??? Those are just some examples from 14th and 15th century Spain (I'm right now writing a book on this terrible topic). They did it all with the bible in their hands. There are good Christians and awful Christions, like in all other segments of society.
REAL Christians, the few ones who follows the Bible and not priests, have NEVER done anything bad!
Bible and God= peace, equality, respect and all other good things!
It is true that the people from northern part of Europe tend to be more cold. Like Sweden, when i was in Stockholm i found them to be very cold...but then on the other hand, countries like Spain and Greece, and the balkan countries are far more friendlier. But then not all of them. Countries like Croatia which are trying to be western...or Slovenia, where they ARE COLDER...and thatsa well known fact and we know best as we lived with them!
Moderated by: Edwin van Gorp at Tue 23 Oct 2007 10:34:54
Besides, when you read back in this topic: comment by Edin at 22:33:08 and Eurovision at 11:49:49, you can read that their opinion was that the Slovenes are, like people from western Europe, cold and unfriendly, while people from the Balkan are warm and friendly. So how can you say you mean "cold" in a positive way.
LOL As far as I see (a cold observation) there is only one person protecting itself.
... but then you should take into consideration that the adjective 'cold' might be insulting to some people. It is not a matter of better or worse. Yes, mentalities are different, but we should all understand that this diversity is the wealth and chance of our cramped and almost absurdly small continent. This, I am convinced, is the most important thing about the ESC too.
Peter Eriksson
I think that Eurovision 2008 and others think of us as cold because we don't make a terrible fuss about everything.
Eurovison 2008
You are terribly wrong. I have been to all European countries except Azerbaijan, Albania, Belarus, and Iceland. I love Belgrade btw.
It's the West that have support the development progress in the Balkans (economy etc.)! And I can't understand how people from Balkans can be so rude, and call us "cold"!
Please show more respect for us, becous we(the people) gave away a lot of money to you, money that we could have used in our own countries.
Well, we all will see how friendly will be Serbians with all the gay gathering in Belgrade next year. Beating people like on the prides?
And just another silly thing: if you don't respect us, why should we respect you? Let's look to the future and not stick to the past...
End of the topic.
______________________________ _______________________
Anyway, Karmen Stavec, Pika Božič and Alya released new songs recently. So they are "supposed" to go to EMA 08 (at least that's how things are done here). Hope to get in the final again. 
The discussions on this site really start scaring me: prejudices, generalisations, East versus West etc. Sorry, but I think it is rather stupid and disgusting. It's like the voting in the ESC: I like what I'm familiar with, and all I don't know is bad or inferior.
Eurovision 2008
If you don't stop insulting Western Europe you shouldn't be surprised if we Westernes treat you coldly. Have you ever been anywhere west of Nova Gorica?
How nice and warm: so it has turned out to be "let's slam the Slovenes". Maybe we from western Europe are too cold too understand this.
Dear Edin,
your information are totally wrong. Maybe Slovenes are "unkind" to EX-YU-ers when they loudly sing Serbian turbo-folk songs on the streets at 2 am every night (because that is what they do after returning from parties). But as far as I'm concerned, everything is perfectly fine for them - unless they wouldn't be living in Slovenia (and there are many EX-YU-ers in Slovenia).
Besides that, please stop saying that Serbs and Bosnians are the most friendly - you're Bosnian so you can't judge in an objective way. You can find friendly and unfriendly people everywhere.
And if we are xenophobic, how would we tolerate 300,000 EX-YU-ers living here???
Don't mix your personal thoughts with the evident truth.
PEACE AND LOVE TO EVERYONE!
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