Ivana Ranilović-Vrdoljak (born September 1, 1970 in Koprivnica, Croatia, Yugoslavia) is a pop singer from Croatia. She is also known with her artist name Vanna.

[edit] Biography

As a child, Vanna had won prizes in various national children and youth festivals. Her debut was at Zagrebfest, a contest held in Zagreb in 1989. 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 also a co-author and song-writer of all the songs performed by Electro Team; she won many important Croatian music prizes. The band's albums all officially became platinum although is no accurate system in Croatia to monitor number of record sales. The song "Tek je 12 sati" became a hit, and was popular elsewhere across the former Yugoslavia republics.

In 1997, Vanna left Electro Team to start a solo career and record her first album, I to sam ja. Vanna has since recorded three more solo albums and has won several other prizes.

She came first at Zadarfest (held in Zadar) three years in succession (1999, 2000 and 2001). Her album 24 sata reached gold.

In 2000 she came second in Dora, the Croatian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest with a song written by Bruno Kovačić and Ivana Plechinger. Being runner-up, she decided to participate again in 2001 and now won with Tonči Huljić's song Strune ljubavi. Shortly after Dora, she gave birth to daughter Jana. Vanna represented Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 in Copenhagen on May 12, 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 Lisinkom and won Zadarfest again with Više nisi moj. She won prizes in several other festivals and she is now about to release a new album.

Vanna is married to Andrija Vrdoljak (son of Antun Vrdoljak who is a Croatian film director) has two children (a boy and a girl) and currently lives in Zagreb.

[edit] Discography

• Electro Team (1992, with Electro Team)
• Second To None (1994, with Electro Team)
• Anno Domini 1996 (1996, with Electro Team)
• I to sam ja (1997)
• Ispod istog neba (1998)
• 24 sata (2000)
• U Lisinskom (2001)
• Hrabra kao prije (2003)
• Ledeno doba (2007)

[edit] External links

• Official Website
• More information about Vanna