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Eurovision winner speaks out!
Marija Serifovic: I would never hurt my friends in Finland
Marija Serifovic was reported to have spoken badly about Finland, Finnish food and Finnish peoples' looks during a press conference in Belgrade earlier this week. What the artist herself has to answer is that she would never say anything so racist to hurt her friends in Finland and Helsinki, and that she was misquoted solely for publicity reasons. "All questions in the last month or so are beginning with question "How was it in Finland", I answered a million questions on this subject and since my two friends from Finland were present at the press conference I answered to "the" question with irony. As a matter of fact, the context of the answer had nothing to do with bad connotation that was passed to the public. The reporter that "advertised" my answer as the bad and evil one was thinking about the sales of the newspapers only." says Marija.
Marija, who is known for her outspoken personality, spoke with enthusiasm about her experience in Helsinki: "The biggest success in my career I have had in Helsinki, Finland. To participate in such competition was an honour for me and to win gave me prestige and happiness above all. All memories that connect me with Helsinki and Finland are positive and every time I think about Finland my eyes are filled with tears of happiness." And she concludes: "It is absolutely impossible that anybody could believe, that after all good that happened to me in Finland and Helsinki, I could ever give a statement like that! I would never say any racist statement or any evil statement that would hurt my friends in Finland and Helsinki, ever."
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I wonder why only the Lordis should be allowed to talk bad about their host country... Fortunately they took their ugly faces and even uglier song away and left Greece the very next day... Too bad for the Greek kids that gave them 12pts... And Marija was right to ask "who won last year?" and then nod her head without comment about the Lordis.
gorane ... mislim malo oladi ... dobrodošao u Beograd u svakom sluÄaju .. ja sam se tamo stotinu puta proveo ekstra i kad dodjes sve ces shvatiti ... wellcome in belgrade!
Marija le skroz Ok osoba, osobno sam imao p'riogodu upoznati ju, a ako budes i Ti sve ce ti biti jasno.!
It is that many journalists sometimes put some words out of context to sell the newspapers, but.......
......but how is it possible that Serbian stars always get missinterpreted when they speak about other nations or other countries...
I don't know why I beleive that she said something like that , Where was she from ?
@ Whatever,
You're opinion of Mr Lordi's voice is based on a comparison with pop singers, not other hardrock/metal vocalists so it's a bit like comparing mozart and abba, it's unfair to both music genres. As for Lordi's victory being undeserved, with the amount of points they received (record number for a winner) and the success they have continued to achieve AFTER the contest (Hard Rock Hallelujah was a far bigger hit across Europe than Molitva has been so far), that seems a little stupid this far down the line.
No, MISTER Lordi is not a ... SISTER! 
:
Comment was meant about the 'lovely' part because he HID his 'good looks' behind a hideous monster 
MASK! Also, his voice was awfully HORRIBLE!
@ Whatever...
Totally agree with you. I would certainly not cathegorize Mr Lordi as a lovely young lady either
she will be remembered but only because of her comments, what a bad way to aceive fame
Regarding this article, instead of journalists asking tedious questions nobody really cares about, they should listen to Marija's amazing "prayer" ... "Molitvaaaaaa"!!!
Serbia's SONG 
won at this year's ESC and, despite her talked-about appearance Marija is a lovely young lady with a great voice!! By the way, I cannot say the same for last year's, IMO, undeserving winners.
Edin S,
Apparently you don't know what the papers over here reported. It was that she had said she couldn't stand the food and all she ate that week was biscuits. She also said she was disgusted by the Finns' "pale yellowish skin" and wished she would never have to return to Finland again. How do you honestly think that made us feel, especially after we gave her the 12 points? I was hoping she would come and play a few gigs here but after reading that I didn't know what to think. Being honest is one thing but those comments were insulting and be it a joke or not, it's still a weird thing to say about a nation. And I'm not talking about the food comments (who cares?) but just the racist remarks.
After reading this, I'm happy that she actually cared about what people here thought about her comments, so I'm over it. Molitva it still my favourite song of the contest and one of my all time favourites.
if she has heard the same question a thousand times she should give the same answer a thousand times, instead of tying to make jokes that backfire,what is funny in one country may be rude in another. and she should get used to it thats what happens when you win, it wont last long as she wil not be famous after this year anywhere but serbia,
So Edin, then you must think it is also ok for Nazis to say they are disgusted by the dark colour of the skin. They are just honest, and you prefer that to actors. Good for you!
I really, really hope that what she says here is closer to the truth than what was reported before... Otherwise she'd be a really rude person, nothhing less...
(Btw, there seems to be a consensus on BBC messageboard that she's an "arrogant person", that's the idea most people got, for some reason...I was wondering at those opinions before, but maybe not anymore.)
And the irony of someone looking like her to criticise other people's looks..!! What can I say... Even skin colour... like someone said, why is mocking light skin colour "ok" (like some here seem to think), but dark skin colour is obviously not? What's the difference?!
(Can't understand these "what's wrong with sayng so" comments - I wonder how would Serbs react if someone said anything like that about their country?! A war would probably ensue...)
Lissa You are wellspoken.
Butt don't mind Maria, please...get into her skin, and try to ansever the seim question 1000000 time again and again ... she is funny person, with good sense of humor I am 100000% shore that she didn't mean anithing bad to You Finish people.
I met her a day ago when she ariwed in Belgrade, and talk to her in the street and she is so simple person, so honest, so dear ... total oposite like some "big stars" that they beleive they are.
sory on mine "english"
By people, come to Belgrade next year whether You are with "transparent" or "nontransparent" skin ...
Milan
Mike Strothmann, i guess you have mist the whole point. It is not about worshipping a singer. For the Serbian people, who have lived so long with all the negativity, this is like a door opened to positivity. It has been long since Serbia has appeared in the media positively. Everyone is tired of being seen as the boogeyman, and now they can show the world they are'nt that bad. I am so happy Marija won. I cried my eyes out. Peace!
Marija said in a greek tv program when she came to Greece, that she did not find Finland interesting but boring, not much to see and that she prefered to stay in her room and play with her playstation then go out in Helsinki. I guess she gave her honest opinion.
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I fail to see why people are hero worshipping this woman.
The song was great her voice was great teh win was great
As for her as a person who cares not me..to me I was happy for the win but she is just some fat ugly outspoken person not GOD.
People need to get out more..Idol worship is for kids.
Much ado about nothing...
Stop being jealous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!1
Marija did not deny she said those things. But she said it was irony and obviously she didn't mean what se said - she was just tired of answering the same question again and again. Still she could have watched her words in front of the international press. It is ok to criticize Finnish food cause it isn't so delicious 
But racist comments - call it irony, joke, or what ever - should've left unsaid. Don't get me wrong, I like Marija very much, she was my favourite in ESC, but as a Finn those kind of comments won't really make my day 
That's bullshit! I can't believe some ppl can even write something like this. Marija would never be racist.Finnish ppl are the best, had the best show, and from all the interviews I saw w/t Finnish ppl, I must say sweetest ppl on earth. BTW for those who don't know yet, Marija had a fan named "Helga" or something, and lady was singing Molitva w/t Marija and the girls all the time + she went everywhere they did, and this made Serbian delegation very happy, especially Marija. There is really no reason to twist and turn the truth... Good job Marija, good job Srbija!!! See you all in ESC 2008 Beograd!!!
She's genuinely a funny person and was probably being sarcastic .. there's no doubt in my mind that the journalists twisted the truth. Can't wait til next year, i know Serbia will do an awesome job.
What a load of C.R.A.P.!!!
Journalists are really ready to print anything to increase their sale!
How can she speak bad about a country that gave her 12 points, PLUS about a country where she won?!
It's quite shure that jealous journalists published that crap about her! Shame on them! They should be fired!!!
Marija's the best!!!
GO MARIJA!!!
I think Marija is just tired from answering same questions again and again...but that's the price someone who won Eurovision has to pay.
Where is the irony when she said that she despises blond people with transparent skin?
If I would say that I despise African people because they have black skin, who would say it is only irony.. It`s something else.
Never believe the press... They are always changing the truth no matter what!
Hm...weird. She seems like such a decent person.
Wether she said it or not..that thing about "blond ugliness" (or was it "ugly blondess"? LOL) is funny cus it´s far from the truth that "everyone" is blond in Finland. And yellow skin? What? 
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