Indo-Persian Royal and Noble Ranks

Emperor : Sultan, Shah

King : Sultan, Shah

Royal Prince : Shahzada, Mirza

Noble Prince : Mirza, Sahibzada

Nobleman: Nawab, Baig

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Mirza (Persian: میرزا, Turkish: Mirza, Kazakh: мырза, myrza, Russian: мурза, Circassian: мырзэ), (common variance in Tatar nobility as Morza) is of Persian origin, denoting the rank of a high nobleman or Prince.^[1] It is usually translated into English as a royal or imperial Prince of the Blood. It signified male-line descent and relationship to the Imperial Families of Turkey, Persia and later South Asia and was the title borne by members of the highest aristocracies in Tatar states, such as Khanate of Kazan, Khanate of Astrakhan and in the Russian Empire (Under Catherine the Great's rule the Murzas gained equal rights with the Russian nobility).^[2] In fact, Prince Felix Yusupov, the nephew-in-law of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was descended from Abdul Mirza, the first Prince Yusopov.^[3]

Etymology[link]

The word Mīrzā is derived from the Persian term ‘Amīrzāde which literally means "child of the ‘Amīr" or "child of the ruler" in Persia‘Amīrzād in turn consists of the Arabic title ‘Amīr (engl. Emir), meaning "commander", and the Persian suffix -zād, meaning "birth" or "lineage". Due to vowel harmony in Turkic languages, the alternative pronunciation Morza (plural morzalar; derived from the Persian word) is also used.^[4] In modern Kazakh myrza means gentleman, as is in the expression "hanymdar men myrzalar" (ladies and gentlemen).

History[link]

Persian Kingdom[link]

The titles themselves were given by the Kings, Sultans and Emperors (equivalent to the western Fount of honour) to their sons and grandsons, or even distant kins. Noblemen loyal to the kings also received this Title, although their usage differed. Aristocratic families (royal descent) from South Asia and individuals descended from the Persian nobility have 'Mirza' in their name.^[5]

The title itself came from the title emir. Emir, meaning "commander", -derived from the Semitic root Amr, "command". Originally simply meaning commander or leader, usually in reference to a group of people. It came to be used as a title of governors or rulers, usually in smaller states, and usually renders the English word "prince. Amir Sadri." The word entered English in 1595, from the French émir.^[6]

• His Highness Prince Shujaat Haider Mirza last one to "COMMAND" and also known as 'AMIR'
• His Highness Prince Irfan Haider Mirza
• His Highness Prince Zeeshan ali Mirza
• His Highness Prince ASLAM JAH MIRZA
• His Highness Prince Israr Mirza
• His Highness Prince Iraj Mirza
• His Highness Prince Malek Mansur Mirza Shao es-Saltaneh
• His Highness Prince Bahram Mirza Sardar Mass'oud
• His Highness Prince Abbas Mirza
• His Highness Prince Abdol Majid Mirza
• Highness Prince Ali-Mohammad Mirza
• His Highness Prince Bahram Mirza
• His Highness Prince Djahangir Mirza
• His Highness Prince Eskandar Mirza
• His Highness Prince Fereydoon Mirza
• His Highness Prince Mohammed Tareq Mirza
• His Highness Prince Hamid Mirza
• His Highness Prince Khanlar Mirza
• His Highness Prince Khosrow Mirza
• His Highness Prince Shairul Mirza
• His Highness of Highness Prince Muhammad Mirza
• His Highness Prince Mahmoud Mirza
• His Highness Prince of Fadi Malo George Mirza
• His Highness Prince Mohammad Hassan Mirza
• His Highness Prince Mohammad Hassan Mirza II
• His Highness Prince Nosrat-od-Dowleh Firouz Mirza
• His Highness Prince Kamran Mirza Nayeb es-Saltaneh
• His Highness Prince Firouz Mirza Nosrat-ed-Dowleh Farman Farmaian III
• His Highness Prince Ali Mirza Qajar
• His Highness Prince Nosrat al-Din Mirza Salar es-Saltaneh
• His Highness Prince Abdol-samad Mirza Ezz ed-Dowleh Saloor
• His Highness Prince Mass'oud Mirza Zell-e Soltan

South Asia[link]

Mirzas of the Mughal imperial family, 1878

Mirza was given to imperial prince; a title or part of a name implying relationship to the Turk dynasties like Mughal dynasty (the Imperial House of Timur).^[7] But in Indian royal families, the title can be placed both before the name and after it, such as Prince Mirza Mughal and Prince Kamran Mirza. Prince Khusrau Mirza was the grandson of Emperor Babur (Babur Mirza), son of Emperor Jahangir and a brother of Emperor Shah Jahan. Emperor Akbar Shah II was Prince Mirza Akbar before his coronation. Emperor Babur took the imperial title of Padishah on 6 March 1508, before which he used the title Mirza.^[8]

In the Indian subcontinent, especially Bengal and Bihar, the Mirzas are also known locally as the variant of Mridha (from Mirdhjah) usually due to the Bengali language not have a 'z' sounding alphabet.^[9] Mughal dynasty (the Imperial House of Timur "Sarai Mulk Khanam Qutubuddunniya wa Deen Amir Qutubuddin Taimur Baig Sahib-e-kiran).< Rulers of India included:

The Imperial Family of Hindustan

• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Mirza Zahiruddin 1523-1530,First Mughal Emperor.
• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Mirza Nasiruddin 1530-1539 & 1554-1555, Second Mughal Emperor.
• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Mirza Jalaluddin 1555-1605, Third Mughal Emperor.
• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Mirza Nuruddin 1605-1627, Fourth Mughal Emperor.
• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Mirza Khurram 1627-1658, Fifth Mughal Emperor.
• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Mirza Muhiuddin 1658-1707, sixth Mughal Emperor.
• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Mirza Azam 1707, seventh Mughal Emperor.
• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Mirza Mu'Azzam 1707-1712, Eight Mughal Emperor.
• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Sultan Muizuddin Mirza 1712-1713, Mughal Emperor.
• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Mouinudd'in Muhammad Mirza 1712-1719, Tenth Mughal Emperor.
• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Sultan Shamsuddin Mirza 1719, Eleventh Mughal Emperor.
• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Sultan Rafiuddin Mirza (later Shah Jahan II 1719, Twelfth Mughal Emperor.
• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Sultan Nekusiyar Mirza 1719, Thirteenth Mughal Emperor.
• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Sultan Akhtar Mirza, Fourteenth Mughal Emperor.
• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Ahmad Shah Mirza 1720-1748, Fifteenth Mughal Emperor.
• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Aziz 'ud-Din Beg Mirza 1754-1759, Sixteenth Mughal Emperor.
• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Jalal 'ud-Din Mirza 1759-1760, Seventeenth Mughal Emperor.
• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Muhi-ul-millat Mirza 1788-1806, Eighteenth Mughal Emperor.
• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Mirza Akbar 1806-1837, Nineteenth Mughal Emperor.
• His Imperial Highness, The Emperor Sirajuddin Mirza 1837-1857, Mughal Emperor.

The Royal Family Mughal of Berar

• His Highness Prince Bedar Bakht Mirza, son of Emperor Mirza Azam
• His Highness Prince Mohammed Beg Feroz Bakht Mirza, son of Prince Bedar Bakht Mirza
• His Highness Prince Bulaqui Mirza, son of Prince Mirza Feroz Bakht
• His Highness Prince Sultan Bahaddur Aduli Mirza, son of Mirza Bulaqui Baig Bahaddur
• His Highness Prince Sardar Baig Mirza, son of Aduli Baig Mirza
• His Highness Prince Qadar Baig Mirza, son of Aduli Baig Mirza
• His Highness Prince Hatam Baig Mirza, son of Sardar Baig Mirza
• His Highness Prince Umrao Baig Mirza, son of Sardar Baig Mirza
• His Highness Prince Sulaiman Mirza, son of Hatam Baig Mirza
• His Highness Prince Mirza Abdul Razzak I son of Hatam Baig Mirza
• His Highness Prince Mirza Abdul Rasheed son of Mirza Abdur Razzak
• His Highness Prince Mirza Abdul Razzak II a.k.a Mohammed Rizwan Mirza son of Mirza Abdul Rasheed
• His Highness Prince Mirza Mohammad Gibran son of Mohammed Rizwan Mirza

• His Highness Prince Kamran Mirza, son of Emperor Babur, brother of Emperor Humayun
• His Highness Prince Haydar Mirza, cousin of Emperor Babur

The Royal Family of Bengal

• His Highness Mirza Shuja ud-din Muhammad Khan, Second Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
• His Highness Mirza Asadullah, Third Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
• His Highness Mirza Muhammad Ali, Fourth Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
• His Highness Mirza Mohammad Siraj, Fifth Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
• His Highness Mirza Hassan Ali Khan Bahadur, 18th Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
• His Highness Mirza Wasif Ali Khan, 19th Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
• His Highness Mirza Waris Ali Khan, 20th Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.

The Royal Family of Awadh

• His Highness Mirza Muhammad Muqim Ali Khan, Second Nawab Subahdar of Awadh (Oudh)
• His Highness Mirza Amani Asif-ud-Dawlah, Fourth Nawab Subahdar of Awadh (Oudh)
• His Highness Mirza Asif Jah Wazir Ali Khan, Fifth Nawab Subahdar of Awadh (Oudh)
• His Highness Mirza Wajid Ali Shah, Eleventh Nawab Subahdar of Awadh (Oudh) (5th King of Awadh)

Notable Mirzas[link]

Nobility[link]

• Mirza Najaf Khan, Persian Prince, Indian Courtier and Commander in Chief of the Mughal Imperial Army.
• Mirza Agha Bakar, Persian Nobleman, Bengal Zamindar and son-in-law of Nawab Murshid Quli Khan, the Ruler of Bengal.
• Khan Muhammad Mirza, Architect during the Mughal Era.

Religion[link]

• Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam
• Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, second Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
• Mirza Nasir Ahmad, third Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
• Mirza Tahir Ahmad, fourth Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
• Mirza Masroor Ahmad, fifth Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
• Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí Nuri: known as Baha'u'llah; Founder of the Baha'i Faith

Government[link]

• Iskandar Ali Mirza, was the first President & 4th Governor General of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 1956.
• Fahmida Mirza, She was elected as the first female Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan

Military[link]

• Mirza Aslam Baig, Former Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan
• Mirza Kuchak Khan: Persian revolutionary who led the Jungle Movement in the northern jungles of Gilan Province

Advocate[link]

• Mirza Aziz Akbar Baig, Former Vice Chairman of Pakistan Bar Council

Academics and literature[link]

• Mirza Ghalib (born: Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan), a famous Urdu and Persian poet from South Asia who adorned the Mughal court
• Mirza Khan of "Mirza & Sahiba", a tragic Romeo-and-Juliet-like love story enshrined in Panjabi literature and commonly told in the Punjab region
• Iraj Mirza, Persian folk poet, also known as Jalaal-al-mamalek.
• Muhammad Munawwar Mirza, a prominent scholar, historian, writer and intellectual from Pakistan

Sport[link]

• Mirza Delibašić, Bosnian Basketball Player
• Mirza Teletović, Bosnian Basketball Player
• Sania Mirza, Indian Tennis Player

Entertainment[link]

• Hady Mirza, 2007 Asian Idol winner from Singapore.
• Mohib Mirza - Pakistani television actor
• Mirza Čaušević-Musician
• Waseem Mirza - British television anchor
• Diya Mirza- Bollywood Actress

See also[link]

Further Study[link]

• Life of a Mirza Chapter 7 (pg 225-227) The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture (2004) by Annemarie Schimmel ISBN 1-86189-185-7

• Mirzah in The Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase and Fable By Ebenezer Cobham Brewer: The quintessential guide to myth, folklore, legend, legend and literature. ISBN 1-84022-310-3

• MI’RZA Chambers’s Encyclopaedia: A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge For the People. ISBN 1-149-98693-X

• A. Jaimoukha The Circassians: A Handbook Routledge, Palgrave, 2001, pp 157–60) ISBN 0-312-23994-7

References[link]

Notes

Sources

• Brewer's Dictionary of Phrases and Fable, 16th edition Revised by Adrian Room, 1999
• WorldStatesmen
• Eymology Online

Nino Ferrer (born Nino Agostino Arturo Maria Ferrari in Genoa, Italy, 15 August 1934, died in Quercy Blanc, Saint-Cyprien Lot, Montcuq, 13 August 1998) was a famous French – Italian singer, actor and jazz musician.

Biography[link]

From prehistory to jazz[link]

The son of bourgeois parents, an Italian father and a French mother, Nino declared having had a pleasant childhood in a cultivated art-loving family. He spent the first five years of his life in New Caledonia where his father, an engineer, worked in a nickel mine. On holiday in France in 1939, Nino and his mother were unable to leave Europe because of the World War II. While his father carried on working in New Caledonia, they spent difficult years stuck and penniless in Italy, where Nino’s mother was considered the wife of an enemy.

In 1947, the family, re-united and moved to France. Nino was sent to the best colleges in Paris and earned a degree in ethnology and prehistoric archaeology. As a student, much of his free time was spent on archaeological digs and his first job was at the Musée de l'Homme with André Leroi-Gourhan.

Alongside his passion for history, he developed numerous other interests. He became a keen painter, and remained so until his death. Above all, he learned to play several instruments (piano, guitar, clarinet, trombone and trumpet) and composed, wrote lyrics and became a fervent jazz lover.

When he finished his studies, his grandmother offered him a trip to New Caledonia, a gift he took advantage of by going round the world on a cargo ship and taking part in archaeological work on the Isle des Pins in Melanesia. On his return to Paris, he tried several jobs, but everything was uninteresting and poorly paid. Already thinking about a career in music, he finally took the plunge and began accompanying jazz musicians, first of all Richard Bennett and the Dixiecats, then Bill Coleman.

From jazz to rhythm ’n’ blues[link]

At the beginning of the 1960s, he worked for several years with American singer Nancy Holloway as her guitarist, continuing at the same time to write gospel-inspired songs which received only refusals from most of the record companies. Hearing Otis Redding, Sam Cooke and Sam and Dave for the first time was a musical revelation and transformed his writing style.

Although already spotted by the Barclay record label, he had to wait until 1963 to record his first release, "Pour oublier qu’on s’est aimé". He was 29, whereas most of the young stars of the time were hardly 20. It was a four-track EP, written in a fairly classical vein, and did not sell well in France. However, one of the tracks, "C'est Irréparable", was a hit in some European countries, in Japan and even in the Middle East, where he did a week of concerts in Beirut. The song was picked up by Italian Mina as "Un anno d'amore", hitting #1 of the Italian singles chart.^[1]

Having left Barclay for a small label, Bel Air, Nino was still unknown in France. In 1964, he started a gospel group, Reverend Nino and the Jubilees, but it broke up before recording anything worth being released. Nino went on to bring out several solo singles without success.

From "Mirza" to "Je veux être noir"[link]

After so many lean years, the big break came unexpectedly in 1965 when Nino returned to Barclay, who gave him the chance to record his new material. After a few unsuccessful trials, a new artistic director, Richard Bennett, gave Nino free rein to record his compositions as he wanted.

And so Nino Ferrer recorded "Mirza", an effective cocktail of rhythm ‘n’ blues and caustic lyrics. The song was immediately a huge hit. His record company called for more songs in the same vein. His records sold very well and overnight the young singer became an idol. Now the zany singer in vogue, he followed "Mirza" up with "Les Cornichons" and "Oh! Hé! Hein! Bon". Although he was now very popular, his success was founded on material with which he never felt really comfortable. Nevertheless, hit followed hit and he lived his new life as a star at breakneck rhythm. In 1966, he gave 195 live performances and made nearly thirty TV appearances. He soon grew tired of his deliberately blasé and provocative seducer image of which people compared to Jacques Dutronc.

In 1966 he released "le Téléfon", another hit which people are still dancing to years later. However, despite his success, Ferrer, a straightforward, uncomplicated with show business. Little disposed to compromise, he left Paris for Italy where, at the same time, his song "Je veux être noir", was a success of an entirely different kind.

A change of direction[link]

Smothered by his own success, Nino stayed about three years in Italy, from 1967 to 1970. In France, his releases continued to sell well. His lyrics became increasingly iconoclastic, even politicised, while remaining just as sarcastic or even cynical. In 1967, he brought out "Mao et Moa" and "Mon copain Bismarck" and in 1968, "le Roi d’Angleterre", with biting lyrics echoing his irritation with show business and society in general. Around this time, Nino hired a young organist from Cameroon, Manu Dibango, later to become famous as a saxophonist.

In Italy, Nino became notorious in 1969 as the presenter of the satirical TV variety show, "Io, Agata e tu" with Nino Taranto and Raffaella Carrà. Then, after a brief love affair with Brigitte Bardot, he decided to return to France in 1970.

Determined now to conduct his career as he alone saw fit, he took up residence in the Quercy region in the South West of France and began breeding horses. But music remained his first love and his meeting with Englishman Mickey Finn, a guitarist who had played with T.Rex, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones, changed his attitude towards his work. With Finn, Nino launched into rock music and began to write darker, more personal lyrics.

Albums and hits[link]

1972 saw the release of the "Métronomie" album, considered by Ferrer to be his first ‘real’ album. Very much in the style of the time, the album was conceived as an ‘experience’, with the music accompanied by sound effects, but included a new version of his very first release, "Pour oublier qu’on s’est aimé". However, it was not the album which sold but one of its tracks, "la Maison près de la fontaine". Very different from the rest of the album, the single sold more than 500,000 copies. Yet again, the red carpet was unrolled for Nino which only redoubled his contempt for show business.

Ferrer continued to bring out almost an album per year. One hit track was enough to enable him to carry on doing more or less what he wanted, even if commercially the albums were seldom successful. In 1973, Nino started a part-time group with Mickey Finn and other musicians. Together, they recorded "Nino and Leggs", an entirely rock and roll album. The disc did not sell and Nino left the Barclay label for CBS. The following year, he released an album entirely in English, "Nino and Radiah". Radiah Frye is the young American singer on the album sleeve. Only one track was in French: "le Sud", one of Ferrer’s biggest hits. Now a standard of the French repertoire, "le Sud" is in fact only one version of a song originally written in English. When it was released, it was a huge hit, selling over a million copies. But Nino was not satisfied. Once again, the success of one track had overshadowed all the hard work on the rest of the album.

The following year, Nino Ferrer brought out a new album, "Suite en œuf", a commercial flop. The same was true of "Véritables vérités verdâtres, released in 1977 and which marked his departure from CBS.

Return and retirement[link]

The success of "le Sud" nevertheless enabled Ferrer to buy a house in the Quercy region. In 1976, he moved into a 15th century fortress at Lataillade, where he installed a recording studio and continued raising horses and painting. In 1978, he married Jacqueline Monestier, known as Kinou.

Now without a record company, Ferrer released each new album on a different label. In 1979, he brought out "Blanat" on a small independent label, Free Bird. A very gospel inspired, even jazz orientated, the album had both English and French lyrics, as often before. The same year, Ferrer met Jacques Higelin, and went on tour with him. The rock singer’s crazy imagination and powerful personality seduced Ferrer and encouraged him to perform live again, a practice he had abandoned a long time before. Following this tour, he played in Paris at the Bataclan with Paul Personne’s backing group.

The 1981 album, on the WEA label, "la Carmencita", was mostly made up of old material. In contrast, the following release, "Ex-Libris", was entirely new and written as a tribute to his father. 1981 was a year both of return and departure. Ferrer brought out another rock and roll album in the Leggs vein, "Rock ‘n’ roll cowboy", and sang at l’Olympia, the most prestigious of the Paris music venues. Yet, that same year, Ferrer slammed the door on show business definitively.

Nevertheless, he appeared the following year in a stage musical for children, "L’Arche de Noé", at the Théâtre de l’Unité in Paris. Composer of the music, he also played God in this moderately successful show. From the end of 1984 until 1986, Ferrer totally disappeared from the music scene. He retired to his castle where he painted, had several exhibitions and brought up his two sons, Pierre and Arthur. Nevertheless, he recorded an album in 1986, soberly entitled, "13ème album", and whose release went almost unnoticed.

Final chapter[link]

It was on the new FNAC label that Ferrer made his come-back in 1993. That year, he released an album of entirely original material, recorded for the most part at Lataillade and mixed in Toulouse. The sleeve and the lyrics were illustrated by the singer’s own paintings. Co-written with Mickey Finn, the album, as its title "La Désabusion" (a play on the words désabuser and illusion) suggests, marked only a half-hearted, morose return.

For around two years after "La Désabusion", Ferrer popped up in the news here and there. In 1994, he had an exhibition in Paris, published a collection of his writings and continued to promote the album. Then, from April to June 1995, he went on tour for the first time in years, with his faithful group, the Leggs. He was a guest at the Francofolies festival in la Rochelle in July. Also that year, he released a small ten-track album of original material recorded at home. A genuine family effort, recorded between 1987 and 1992, it includes versions of old hits such as "Mirza" and "le Sud", traditional folk songs ("Il pleut bergère", "Besame Mucho"), all of them sung by his wife Kinou, his son Arthur, Mickey Finn and numerous other musicians.

But after this media interlude, Ferrer was glad to return to his house, his animals, his family and his mother, Mounette, who had moved in with them. There followed another period of silence spent in the company of family and friends and helping Arthur, now a student like his brother, to prepare a début album. In July 1998, Mounette’s death left a vacuum in his life. A month later, on 13 August, Ferrer shot himself in the heart in the middle of a cornfield a few kilometres from his home, two days before his 64th birthday.

An unpredictable, moody character, Ferrer refused artistic compromise and therefore compromised his career. Nevertheless, with songs as different as "les Cornichons" and "le Sud", he left behind several indelible traces in French musical heritage, not forgetting numerous songs now hardly known.

Discography[link]

Album[link]

• 1970:Rats and rolls
• 1971:Métronomie
• 1972:Nino Ferrer and Leggs
• 1974:Nino and Radiah
• 1976:Suite en oeuf
• 1977:Véritables Variétés Verdâtres
• 1979:Blanat
• 1980:La Carmencita
• 1982:Ex-libris
• 1983:Rock'n'roll cow-boy
• 1986:13eme album
• 1989:Che fine ha fatto Nino Ferrer? – in Italy
• 1993:La dèsabusion
• 1996:Concert chez Harry – live

Great Italian success[link]

• 1967:La pelle nera
• 1967:Se mi vuoi sempre bene
• 1968:Il re d'Inghilterra
• 1968:Al telefono
• 1968:Agata
• 1968:La rua maduriera
• 1969:La mia vita per te
• 1969:Chiamatemi don Giovanni
• 1969:Donna Rosa
• 1969:Mr. Machin
• 1969:Viva la campagna
• 1970:Io, tu e il mare
• 1970:Re di cuori
• 1970:Palla di pelle di pollo
• 1970:Un giorno come un altro

References[link]

1. ^ ""Un anno d'amore"". hitparadeitalia.it. http://www.hitparadeitalia.it/schede/a/anno_damore.htm. Retrieved 22 November 2007. 

External links[link]

• Official site, in french language
• 82 Nino Ferrer french songs text
• Nino Ferrer at the Internet Movie Database

Nina Badrić
Nina Badrić in September 2007
Background information
Birth name	Nina Badrić
Born	(1972-07-04) 4 July 1972 (age 39)
Origin	Zagreb, Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia
Genres	R&B, pop, soul
Occupations	Singer, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Croatia Records (1995–2003), Aquarius Records (2003–)

Nina Badrić (pronounced [nîna bâdrit͡ɕ] ; born 4 July 1972) is a Croatian pop singer.^[1] Before starting her career in the entertainment industry she used to be a bank teller. She began performing in early 1990s, exploiting the sudden popularity of dance music, but her repertoire gradually became more mainstream. She's also very popular in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia and Turkey.

She competed in "Dora" - Croatian selection for Eurovision Song Contest 4 times. She won 7th place in 1993 with "Ostavljam te", 10th place in 1994 with "Godine nestvarne", 18th place in 1995 with "Odlaziš zauvijek", and almost won in 2003 with "Čarobno jutro", being a runner-up to Claudia Beni with "Više nisam tvoja". Nina starred in popular Croatian television show Mjenjačnica, where she swapped for a day with a zoo animal guard.

Badrić represented Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan with the song "Nebo". It finished 12th in the second semi-final and failed to qualify for the grand final.

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Godine nestvarne (Croatia, 1995)
• Personality (Zg Zoe Music, 1997)
• Unique (Croatia, 1999)
• Nina (Croatia, 2000)
• Ljubav (Aquarius, 2003)
• 07 (Aquarius, 2007)
• NeBo (Aquarius, 2011)

Eurovision 2012[link]

She was representing Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan with the song "Nebo". She failled in the Second Semi Final (12th with 42 points), despite she was one of the favorites. Loreen, winner of 2012 contest called her "The best vocal at Eurovision 2012", and all good critics arrived also from Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia and Spain.

References[link]

1. ^ "Personalities - Frédérique Constant". http://www.frederique-constant.com/pt/specialties/personalities/. Retrieved 2010-02-09. 

Sources[link]

• http://www.hrt.hr/dora_arhiva/dora2003/biografije/badric.html (Croatian)
• http://eurovoix.com/nina-badric-flying-the-croatian-flag/

External links[link]

• Official website (Croatian)

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Honey Singh
Background information
Also known as	Yo Yo Honey Singh
Born	(1984-03-15) March 15, 1984 (age 28) Hoshiarpur
Origin	punjabi
Genres	Desi Hip Hop Music Producer
Occupations	Rapper, Singer, Music Producer and Film Actor.
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Mafia Mundeer,
Associated acts	Diljit Dosanjh, Gippy Grewal , Jassi Sidhu , Malkit Singh, Amrinder Gill
Website	YoYoHoneySingh.com www.facebook.com/theyoyosingh

Honey Singh also known as Yo Yo Honey Singh^[1] is a Punjabi rapper, singer and a film actor. He started as a session and recording artist, and became a Bhangra producer.^[2]

Promotion[link]

Honey Singh has received the ETC award for the Best sound in 2006 for his song Glassi and the PTC award for the Best Folk Pop Award 2009 for Rebirth and PTC PUNJABI Best Music Director 2011.^[3]

It has been reported that he has been paid the highest fees ever for a song (as of 2012) of 70 lakh (US$139,700) for a song in the film Mastaan.^[4]

Early life[link]

He was born on 15 March 1984 in Hoshiarpur.^[5] While in the UK, he studied music at the Trinity School.

Career[link]

It is reported that Honey Singh prefers to sing in his native language Punjabi rather than English, Spanish and French.^[6] The Punjabi album International Villager was released on 11 November 2011 (11-11-11).^[7] The track Gabru from International Villager featuring singer J-Star topped Asian music charts (including world iTunes and the official BBC asian charts) ^[8][9]

He has performed at many college festivals including at Ansal Institute of Technology and Ramjas College, Delhi.^[10]

Bollywood[link]

He became popular after his debut music featuring Gagan Sidhu for the title track of the movie called Shakal Pe Mat Ja released on November 18, 2011. The Central Board of Film Certification suggested removing the abusive language contained in the title track of the movie.^{[citation needed]}

Honey Singh also acted in Punjabi Movie Mirza- The Untold Story^[11]

Honey Singh is now the highest paid music star^[12] pop artiste in Bollywood. Honey Singh has charged Rs. 70 lakh^[13] for a song in a film titled Mastaan, starring Naseeruddin Shah and his younger son, Vivaan. It is the biggest amount paid to a song artist in Bollywood to date.

Also Song Angreji Beat sung by Gippy Grewal & Yo Yo Honey Singh, originally from Honey Singh's Album International Villager released in November 2011, will be used in the film Cocktail.^[14]

Discography[link]

Singles[link]