Karleusa on Birtasevic and the mystery man on Pink
On TV Pink's morning show the singer said she is happy, that the man people are writing about supports her through a hard period, and that a new team of producers follows her split with Birtasevic.
Jelena Karleusa spoke publicly for the first time on Monday, October 5, on TV Pink’s morning show about the man people have been writing about in recent days and about ending her work with producer Zoran Birtasevic. She appeared as a guest of host Gordana Uzelac, wearing a long white dress with one bare shoulder.
The name of Aleksandar Sevo, a model 25 years her junior, does not appear in her statements. The tabloid Kurir linked him to her answer, because there is speculation about a relationship with him. She herself talks only about a “mysterious gentleman”.
What did Karleusa say about the man behind the camera?
Asked about her love life, she answered in two steps: first the past, then the present. Kurir and Telegraf report the same answer in different words, so the transcription below is Telegraf’s, and Kurir’s is given separately.
“My love life has always intrigued people, even though I have never hidden anything. I have always talked transparently about my decisions, even when they were mistakes. I will never regret, and I have never regretted, my decisions.”
With those words, according to Telegraf, she began her answer. She then said she is happy at the moment:
“Well, I can say that I am very content and happy. And the mysterious gentleman is not mysterious because he is behind the camera. He is a support to me in a hard period, and I thank him for that.”
In Kurir’s transcription the same part reads: “I have to say that I am very content and happy, and the mysterious gentleman people are writing about is not mysterious, he is there behind the camera, and he is a support to me.” She did not explain who the man is or what “behind the camera” means.
The host asked whether he is more than a collaborator. Karleusa answered:
“Well, anyone who stands by me in the hardest moment is more than a collaborator. There is no man who stood by me that I did not do a great deal for in life, build his name, help him…”
She said this on the morning show with Gordana Uzelac. She added that she has rules when it comes to working with people: “There is no collaborator who stood by me who did not grow up alongside me and get something good in return, and when I cut someone off, it means the work with me was not good.”
Why did she end her work with Birtasevic?
She did not state the exact reason. Asked about Birtasevic, she said:
“I never declared that. Everything that concerns my professional and private life, I am not obliged to explain to fans.”
Later in the conversation, however, she said the split came “because of serious technical matters”. She said she never ends a collaboration over nonsense, that she is loyal to her collaborators and forgives a lot, but that people must know there were major breaks when she cuts someone off.
She spoke sharply about the coverage that accompanies the split. “A lot of untruths and lies are being written, an enormous flow of raw energy, positive and negative,” she said. At the end of the conversation about Birtasevic she added:
“If we are talking specifically about Zoran, I will again stay vague, but everything you have been reading for weeks is brutal lies.”
She also announced a fresh start: “I will stick to it, I am starting with a new team of producers. It may sound harsh, but they are all people I hire and who are replaceable.” She called the split her “karmic cleansing” and said it began years ago, when her views cost her many collaborators and friends.
About collaborators who thought they were bigger than her, she said:
“Collaborators who think they are me, that I am actually here because of them. I am the one who sells the story, who sells the magic. If I say NO anymore, then it is NO anymore!”
New songs and concerts in Vienna and Macedonia
She also talked about music. In her words, a hard period is behind her, because she did not sing for seven months, which she ties to her views.
“This year my songs are the most listened to and the most watched, and yes, we are breaking all the ratings. Behind me is a very hard period, I did not sing for seven months, because of my views. I released three songs, and by New Year’s there will be three more songs.”
She announced concerts in Vienna and in Macedonia. About the business, she said it is “very hard in show business to work for over 30 years”, that it is harder for women also because of their looks, and that “you have to be current and always show something new”.
When Gordana Uzelac asked whether she had set a good example, she said she had: “I set the best example of what it is to be a woman, a mother… I have fallen so many times. Here, that is an example for all the young people who are entering this business right now.”
The conversation also had a lighter moment. Karleusa told the host: “You told me a moment ago that you wrote your diploma thesis at university about me, I am really sorry you did not bring it.”
We previously reported that Karleusa and Tosic traveled to Milan because of Atina’s schooling.
