Vanna

Ivana Ranilovic-Vrdoljak, better known by her stage name Vanna, is a Croatian pop singer. As a child, Vanna won prizes in various national children and youth festivals. Her debut was at the 1990 Zagrebfest, a music festival held in Zagreb. In that year she left her hometown to live and study in Zagreb and whilst studying, she performed in a band called BOA. In 1992 her professional career as a singer was launched. She joined a eurodance band called Electro Team and became an instant star. Not only was she a singer but a co-author and songwriter of all the songs performed by Electro Team. The song "Tek je 12 sati" became a huge hit in 1993, and was popular elsewhere across the former Yugoslavia republics. In 1998, Vanna left Electro Team to start a solo career[1] and record her first album, I to sam ja. She has since recorded three more solo albums and has won several other awards.[citation needed] She came first at Zadarfest (held in Zadar) three years in succession (1999, 2000 and 2001). Her album 24 sata reached gold.[citation needed] In 2000 she came second in Dora (2000), the Croatian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest with a song written by Bruno Kovacic and Ivana Plechinger. Being runner-up, she decided to participate again in 2001 and now won with Tonci Huljic's song "Strune ljubavi". Shortly after Dora (2001), she gave birth to daughter Jana. Vanna represented Croatia in the The Eurovision Song Contest (2001) 2001 in Copenhagen on 12 May 2001 and finished 10th. She sang the song in Croatian and in English, now entitled "Strings of My Heart". After Eurovision, Vanna released a live album called "Vanna u Lisinskom" and won Zadarfest again with "Vise nisi moj". She won prizes in several other festivals. In 2012, she had a guest appearance on the track "Za tvoje oci" from the album "Prastam" of Serbian rock band Neverne Bebe. Vanna is married to Andrija Vrdoljak, son of Croatian film director Antun Vrdoljak, and they have two children, Luka (born c. 1998) and Jana (born c. 2001).