Just over a month ago, the singer Ana Djuric, known as Konstrakta, was only known to fans of the alternative music scene outside the Serbian borders. Now the 43-year-old is not only being celebrated as “Serbia’s Lady Gaga” in the ex-Yugoslav states: the number of YouTube clicks for her Eurovision contribution “In Corpore Sano” has already reached more than 15 million in Serbia’s population in just a few weeks surpassed by more than twice. She is considered a starter with good chances at the song contest on May 14 in Turin.
Actually, the former singer of Belgrade indie pop bands such as “MistakeMistake” or “Zemlja Gruva” was only hoping for some publicity for her new “Triptih” (triptych) video from her performance at the Serbian preliminary round: The performance, consisting of three songs, takes underlying social norms such as the ideal of eternal youth, the taboo of aging, the obsession with beauty and health or the hunt for money, power and prestige. The Belgrade newspaper Danas describes the contribution “In Corpore Sano” as a “song that was not written to please the Eurovision audience”. Surprisingly, during the Serbian preliminary round in March, the chanting was unanimously voted the clear winner by both the expert jury and the audience.
No Balkan goldthroat with tearjerkers in skimpy clothes, but a studied architect and mother with profound messages written by herself: Instead of swaying her hips, Konstrakta is sitting and in white medical clothes asking herself what the “secret behind the healthy hair of Meghan Markle”.
Constantly washing her hands in a washtub, the singer, towel over her shoulder, philosophizes about the connection between dark circles under her eyes and liver problems, moles and an enlarged spleen. God gave her health, “but I don’t have health insurance,” says Konstrakta, who sings about sick, sad and desperate souls in healthy bodies.
The hypnotic refrain “the artist must be healthy, be healthy, be healthy” seems to at least hit the attitude to life of her compatriots in Corona times. But the singer and composer cannot really explain her career success, which was as sudden as it was late. “Image and sound” would have been just right in the preliminary round in Belgrade: “It clicked in the audience and then it went by itself.”
Many layers
The detailed analyzes of her texts published in the regional press are now far longer in length. Some music critics feel reminded of Balkan politicians who like to constantly wash their hands in innocence during their hand washing performance. Others sense harsh criticism of the state of the health system, the “sick” society or the poor social security of freelance artists in their song. The lyrics of her songs have “many layers” and “a million sub-themes,” says the singer herself: “Everyone should choose for themselves what they like to hear.”
Her surprising freestyle as Serbia’s Eurovision hopeful has weighed heavily on the interpreter’s acclaimed appearances abroad in recent weeks, from Israel to Croatia. Local bookmakers are now even attributing growing outsider chances to Konstrakta behind the favorites from Ukraine and Italy. But her contribution just seems too unorthodox for a surprise success at Europe’s singing competition. Konstrakta doesn’t seem to have any ambitions to win either. Above all, she is happy about her success so far: “It shows that there is the capacity to listen.”