Ceca asks for a heater as Zvezde Granda judges shiver on set
Svetlana "Ceca" Ražnatović shared a backstage video saying the studio had no heating; other judges also complained while the show’s first round closed with strong performances.
The first round of the regional music competition Zvezde Granda has concluded, but offstage tensions returned attention to the show after members of the judging panel complained about freezing conditions during recordings at the Košutnjak studio.
Judges ask production for quick fix
Svetlana "Ceca" Ražnatović posted a short video from the set in which she told viewers the panel had been shivering because the studio heating was not working. In the clip she said: "Here, this is how it is at 'Grand'. We are freezing. I'm warming up and re-warming myself so I don't turn into a penguin. Sanja, are you cold, babe?"
Sanja Vučić answered briefly in the recording: "Very much." The exchange in the video also included light teasing of Keba, with the judges joking that he was pretending not to feel the cold. Ceca reportedly asked production to bring a space heater so she could continue filming.
Other panel members also complained about the low temperatures: Dara Bubamara said filming three consecutive days in the cold was exhausting, and rocker Đorđe David showed up wearing a warm tracksuit to cope with the draft in the studio.
Despite the chilly conditions offstage, the live performances on the final, eighth episode of the first round brought strong reactions. The jury selected the best contestants who will return on the weekend for the second round.
One performance that stood out came from Macedonian contestant Gabriela Ristovska. She delivered a rendition of a well-known song by Pepi Baftirovski while wearing an elegant white trouser-and-blouse set buttoned to the neck. Ceca praised her on stage, calling her a natural: "She is theatrical. She loves the stage and the stage loves her. She is beautiful, she is attractive. Even though you're buttoned from your ankles to your throat, that doesn't matter — that sex appeal a woman carries inside herself. Either you have it, or you don't. Some women could walk around naked and nothing, and you are living proof that when a woman has that innate femininity, that's it," the enthusiastic Ceca said.
Photo: press material from the event
