Queens Of The Torcida

The first semi-final of Dora takes place this evening, but, for a change, the tabloid turbofolk story of the day has nothing to do with it.

Instead, a rather unremarkable report in the Novi Sad weekly Svet about Seka Aleksić's first concert in Split has somehow become, on its way to Jutarnji list and 24 sata, the much more histrionic claim (admittedly via the cover of Svet) that Seka has deposed Doris Dragović and Severina as Queen of the Torcida, i.e. the favoured diva of Split football fans. (One 24 sata reader makes the entirely fair point that 'a couple of days ago when it was Seve, you concluded that Split was shocked by her turbofolk which isn't even folk but ethno...')

Dragović's unofficial title was just as unofficially removed by the Croatian popular press, including Slobodna Dalmacija, in 2000 after she performed at a New Year celebration in Montenegro. However irritated (or satisfied) Severina might be with the reactions to Moja štikla, the political climate of Croatian showbusiness has nonetheless been transformed in the last six years.