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She had wanted to be a singer since childhood. She became a star literally overnight. She won her first Golden Nightingale at the age of twenty. Do you know which Czech singer with her beautiful soprano has entered the Hall of Fame?
Did you meet Iveta Bartošová in a girl in a football jersey? Photography comes from the very beginning of her career. The Iveta series focuses on this period. You will see the first part on Friday, May 6 at Voyo.
Music critics remember her as a shy girl with a ringing voice who catapulted from scratch in the 1980s directly to the top of the Czech charts. Let’s remember now how this legendary singer started.
Iveta was born in 1966 in Frenštát pod Radhoštěm. Becoming a singer has been her dream since she was a child, she longed to follow in the footsteps of her idol Karel Gott. In 1983, the charming 17-year-old Iveta placed all her hopes in the Mladá píseň Jihlava singing competition.
The three best singers were to record an album in Prague. However, the announcement of the results was a disappointment for Iveta Bartošová. Paľo Habera took third place, Petr Sepéši was second and Ingrid Kalmanová won.
Bartošová then had to settle for the jury award for her performance. But in her dreams, she aimed higher. However, the disappointment did not last long. The music producers noticed the potential of Iveta’s talent and decided to combine her in a duet with Petr Sepéš.
According to music critic Jan Rejžek, producers then filled a gap in the market. “In the eighties, all those boxes were occupied here. There was a guy, a romantic singer and a chansonnier. There was a couple who would follow the duo Yvetta Simonová and Milan Chladil after twenty years,” said critic Rejžek in an interview with the Iveta series.
After Iveta and Peter’s first public appearance, it was clear that the new star pair had actually been found. The day after they sang the duet Buttons of Love together in the TV show Let’s Meet in the Sun, almost all of Czechoslovakia knew them.
Records with this song were sold successfully, the singing couple suddenly became the darling of the nation. The soldiers put a photo of Iveta under the pillow, the advertisements said: “I’m looking for a girl like Iveta Bartošová.”
Very soon, a discussion began as to whether Bartošová and Sepéš formed a pair even outside the spotlight. Iveta and Petr really lived together at the time. But it seems that Petr perceived the relationship a little differently than Iveta. He loved the presence of girls and the girls loved him. Nevertheless, he and Iveta made the impression of a couple in love. The story of two lovers, brought together by a love of music, sold on its own.
In 1985, they bought a car together. It was at the end of July of the same year that Peter died when he was swept away by a train at the crossing. Iveta paused for a while after his death. Her popularity was restored by the megahit Summer, which she sang in 1986. This newly acquired popularity earned her her first Golden Nightingale the same year. She succeeded in repeating this success twice more, in 1990 and 1991.
You will see a series about the beginnings of Iveta Bartošová’s career this Friday Voyo.
Music critic Rejžek: What did Sepéši record just before his death?
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