Nuša Derenda

Nuša Derenda, born Anuška Žnideršič on 30 March 1969 in Brežice, is a Slovenian pop singer. She represented Slovenia at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2001 with "Energy" and finished seventh, which is still, together with Darja Švajger's 1995 result, the country's best placing.

She sang from an early age, in choirs and as a soloist, went to music school and learned the accordion. In secondary school she met her future husband, Frenk Derenda, whose band was looking for a singer. When that group broke up in 1990 they founded the band Karavans, and for seven years played professionally in Slovenia, Germany, Switzerland and the United States, with 150 to 180 shows a year.

After her marriage in 1995 and the birth of two sons she started a solo career in Slovenia. Her first big moment came at Slovenska popevka 1999, where "Vzemi me veter", written for her by her friend Majda Arh, won the expert jury's vote and earned her the award for best performance. Songwriters Matjaž and Urša Vlašič then shaped her sound, and in 2000 came "Čez dvajset let", "Ne kliči me", "Boginja" and "Ni mi žal", the last of which won the Hit festival. The album Ni mi žal, her best-selling record, went gold before its official launch.

In 2001 she won EMA with "Ne, ni res" and sang it in English as "Energy" in Copenhagen, in front of a crowd of 35,000 at Parken Stadium. That year she also received the Viktor award for popularity and a Zlati petelin for "Ni mi žal". In 2002 she won the audience vote at Slovenska popevka with "Pesek v oči" and released Na štiri oči, and in 2003 she won the Hit festival again with "V ogenj zdaj obleci me".

From 2006 she gave a series of big concerts at Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana with the RTV Slovenija Symphony Orchestra and Big Band. In 2008 she released the album Prestiž, which includes "Luč", written for her by Omar Naber, and she has sung duets with Naber and with Oto Pestner. The 2011 concert for the tenth anniversary of "Energy" featured Darja Švajger, Maja Keuc and Pepel in kri as guests.

Back with the Vlašičs in 2012, she won Melodije morja in sonca with "Za stare čase" and Slovenska popevka with "Naj nama sodi le nebo", a duet with Marko Vozelj. Later songs include "Naj mi dež napolni dlan" and "Sto in ena", and from 2017 to 2019 she played Aunt Ana in the musical Vesna. In all she has filled Cankarjev dom six times and won Slovenska popevka three times.