Seven Up

Seven Up was a pop and dance group from Sarajevo, founded in 1993 on the idea of Gordan Radić "Gogi", Elvir Hadžijamaković "Lilo", Zoltan Milić, Eldin Nizam and Eldin Oprašić. Director Katja Restović, who made several of their videos, has called them the first real boy band in Bosnia and the whole region, and they became one of the great teen sensations of the 1990s there, known for their choreography, fashion and packed shows.

Their first appearance was at the Vaš šlager sezone festival in 1993, where "Princeza Neona" took fourth place. After line-up changes, and with a female voice added, they made their first album, Noćne ptice, released in 1995 by HALIX in Sarajevo and named album of the year; it also carries "Vatra", sung with Amila Glamočak. At the end of 1996 the singer Aida Lindov was replaced by the 15-year-old Fuad Backović, later known as Deen, and the group settled as Gogi Radić (vocals, choreography), Nedim Zgodić, Lilo Hadžijamaković, Damir Pašić "Dadi" and Deen. Without even a new record, their concerts made them "group of the year" in 1997.

The album Otvori oči (1998) sold tens of thousands of copies and made them known in Croatia and Slovenia, followed by club shows across Western Europe; its videos for "Lutka iz izloga" and "Otvaram oči" were among their best known, alongside "Probudi me" and "Igra i varanje". In 1999 they came close to representing Bosnia and Herzegovina at Eurovision, a few points behind Dino Merlin, won five awards at the Forte 99 festival in Sarajevo and the audience prize at Bihać 99, and were again named group of the year. At Melodije Jadrana in Split, Croatia Records honoured them for the sales of Otvori oči in Croatia and Slovenia.

In 2000 they played festivals in Zrenjanin and Budva and marked their seventh year with the album Seven, which reached audiences across the former Yugoslavia; Unikat (2003) and Kraj (2004) followed. Deen left in 2003 for a solo career, and Seven Up ended in 2004.