Hurricane LOCO LOCO Serbia Eurovision 2021

Hurricane will represent Serbia at Eurovision 2021 with “LOCO LOCO”.

Comprising of Sanja Vučić, Ivana Nikolić and Ksenija Knežević, Hurricane were originally supposed to represent Serbia at Eurovision 2020 with “Hasta La Vista”. However, the contest was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. But, just like several other countries, Serbia rested its usual national final for one year and internally selected the girl group instead.

And now we’ve compiled 10 facts about Hurricane. Let’s do this!

Serbia at Eurovision 2021: Facts about Hurricane

1. They were formed in the aftermath of a storm

The story of the group’s formation is explained by their founder, Zoran Milinković. After hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the Caribbean in 2017, Milinković participated in the cleanup efforts on the island of Sint Maarten. After returning to Serbia, he then formed the group to send a message of support. Hurricane’s first single, fittingly, was named “Irma, Maria”. The music video showed cleanup efforts, whilst the song preached about the strength and will to rebuild after tragedy.

2. They have Eurovision experience

While many of us are focusing on Hurricane’s efforts in 2021, two of the band’s members — Sanja and Ksenija — both have past Eurovision experience. Ksenija was the first to make it to the competition. In 2015, she provided backing vocals for Montenegro. The entry finished 13th. This remains the country’s best result to date. Sanja sang for Serbia in 2016 with the dramatic ballad “Goodbye (Shelter)”. She qualified for the grand final and came 18th. Additionally, 2020 was not the first time that Ksenija attempted to represent Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest.  Back in 2013, she took part in Serbia’s national selection with the song “Magija”. Coincidentally, she was a member of an all-female trio then too. SKY’s came fourth.

3. Ksenija is related to Eurovision royalty

Not only do the ladies of Hurricane have a connection to the Eurovision Song Contest through their own personal experiences, but Ksenija is actually the daughter of Montenegrin Eurovision alum Knez. He represented the nation back in 2015.  Ksenija was, as mentioned earlier, a member of her father’s team of backing vocalists. Apparently,  Željko Joksimović  — the well-known composer of Knez’s “Adio” — jokingly suggested that Ksenija go to Eurovision in lieu of her father, upon hearing her singing voice.

 

4. Sanja has experience with many genres

While Hurricane may have established themselves as a band mostly dabbling in pop, their music industry experience is varied, to say the least. This is particularly true for Sanja Vučić. On top of graduating from the secondary music school in Kruševac specialising in solo-singing, Sanja was a member of the church choir Knez Lazar. The group’s trademark is the ethnic, traditional style of Bele vile. However, many Eurovision fans will remember the suffix, and sometimes prefix, ZAA which was attached to Sanja’s name back in 2016. This was a reference to her reggae/jazz/ska/punk band ZAA with whom she performed on some of the biggest stages in Europe, including the massive EXIT festival. Bonus: Sanja even made an attempt to become an opera singer at the music academy of Belgrade, which she reveals in this interview with our Deban.

5. Ivana is a dancing queen

Not only are Hurricane maestros in the field of singing, but the group also has a trained dancer in their line-up: Ivana Nikolic. Beginning at the age of 14, Ivana joined the Boom 018 dance school in the south-Serbian city of Niš. She trained at the school for six years, taking part in numerous national and international dance competitions. She picked up quite the collection of awards en route to becoming a multiple-time dance champion.

6. Sanja is multi-lingual

In the highly unlikely event that this Serbian Hurricane were to dissipate, Sanja Vučić would have no trouble finding alternative arrangements as a translator.  On top of her impending graduation from the Faculty of Philology and Department of Oriental Languages, Literatures and Cultures in Belgrade, the Serbian songstress speaks a total of four languages on top of her native Serbian — Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and English. In fact, she holds two certificates in English from the British Council for English language proficiency. Moreover, she has also taken it upon herself to learn Arabic and Hebrew, which she demonstrates in the video linked below. Who knows, we might even be looking at a future career in the United Nations.

 

7. They’ve had huge success in Serbia

While many Eurofans might just be familiar with their Eurovision entries, “Hasta la vista” and “LOCO LOCO”, Hurricane have been wreaking havoc upon the Serbian music scene. Initially, they only released songs in English. This brought them some success. However, the band soon decided to focus on establishing a career in their home country first before going international. Their first number recorded in Serbian, “Favorito” was released in September 2019 and became an overnight sensation. It catapulted the band right into the centre of the country’s music scene. It currently stands at almost 80 million views on YouTube. The single was one of the most listened to songs in the entire Balkan region in 2019.

8. They are Serbian trendsetters

As well as earning the attention of the Serbian public, Hurricane have established themselves as respected artists among their fellow musicians.  In the build-up to Beovizija, many heavyweights of the Serbian music industry — including none other than Jelena Karleuša herself — came out in support of the ladies. Despite the unfortunate cancellation of last year’s contest, the ladies of Hurricane would not relent their journey to the top of the Serbian music scene.  Initiating the hashtag #hastalavistachallenge, the girls aimed to get people dancing and spreading the message of their popular number across the region.  The fun challenge got the people of Serbia on their feet – including, once again, megastars Jelena Karleua and Teodora.

@teodoradzehverovic97Prihvacen izazov 🤗❤️🥰♬ original sound – ivanaboomnikolic

9. They’ve shared the stage with Jelena Karleuša

Speaking of Jelena Karleuša, Hurricane have also performed alongside the Serbian diva. During Jelena’s quarantine concert in May, she kindly invited Sanja Vučić, Ivana and Ksenija to slay alongside her. The performance opened with “Hasta La Vista”, as Jelena stomped down the stage in a pair of thigh-high black leather boots and what can only be described as a Dominatrix bikini. One minute in the performance saw the women form a Maruv-style train in which they cusped and patted each other’s bums. The worked their way through Jelena’s hit “Bas je dobro biti ja” and their own number “Avantura”.

10. They raise awareness

At the start of the harrowing and ongoing COVID 19 pandemic in March 2020, Ivana, Ksenija and Sanja are used their single “Roll The Dice” to remind people to stay at home to protect themselves and others. They also sent words of encouragement to all those heroes helping slow the spread of coronavirus. The video started with the following text:

“Dedicated to all brave doctors and medical staff, policemen and women, to our military who keep us, our children and elders safe, to all heroes with no capes. For those on the front line, leaving the satefy of their homes, so we would not. For all of us staying home, and for those who could not. For all of us awaiting for the first rays of summer. In loving memory of all unfortunate casualties.”

Can Hurricane secure Serbia another spot in the Eurovision final? Go loco in the comments.

Read more Eurovision 2021 artist facts here.

13 Comments
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NickC
NickC
3 years ago

Sanja was my favourite artist of 2016. She was fun, upbeat, inclusive, cultured and I loved her amazing voice and her powerful song. This attempt, however….

Steven
Steven
3 years ago
Reply to  NickC

Yes. But she did poorly in the final, so I’m looking forward to seeing what will happen in May.

Okan idu?
Okan idu?
3 years ago

they are my winners. Everyone is looking for Fuego 2.0 and this is it. It is such a sleeper right now but I am pretty sure their chances will hit the roof as soon as they hit the rehearsals. This song will come alive on the stage and we know the girls can deliver live while dancing.

kungen
kungen
3 years ago

well…they are like 100x bigger than Karleusa

notyourtoy
notyourtoy
3 years ago

11) The HURRICANE that will approach Rotterdam on May will be massive!

...
...
3 years ago

Love them, especially Sanja, who is always so excited and full of energy! That interview with her is one of my favorite, it’s seems like a real chatting between friends hahaha!
Anyway, I hope they’ll qualify. They are in the 2nd semi, which is wide open, so, they definitely have a chance.

Kungen
Kungen
3 years ago

They indeed became celebrities in Serbia! They are also exceptionally funny and very friendly.

Btw, fat shaming, hiv shaming (low key trans shaming) karl*usha is canceled

Eurovision2016>
Eurovision2016>
3 years ago

Slay!

notyourtoy
notyourtoy
3 years ago

Wow a positive comment from you. I didn’t expect that

Eurovision2016>
Eurovision2016>
3 years ago
Reply to  notyourtoy

I’m just an honest person. I’m not gonna sugarcoat if a song is bad. I’ll praise songs if they’re good. It just happens to be that this Eurovision only includes around fifteen good songs, five mediocre songs and nineteen poor songs. If you knew me in a good Eurovision, you’d probably be annoyed by how much I’d hype each country.

Last edited 3 years ago by Eurovision2016>
Nobody Important
Nobody Important
3 years ago

Hoping that they can break Serbia’s curse of not qualifying every fourth year! <3 <3 <3

notyourtoy
notyourtoy
3 years ago

Well, the last contest didn’t happen so safely they reach the finals lol. Let’s see in 2022

Ende
Ende
3 years ago

Bravo!