Ceca and children

Last weekend, as the tabloids wrote, the wedding of the decade took place. Ceca Nacionale married her son Veljko, her sister-in-law is, as tabloid colleagues say, "in a blessed state", and the wedding in "a capital city hotel" was the main event for the variety show and followers on social networks.

Twenty-five years after a similar spectacle, when Ceca and Arkan were married, nothing has changed in Serbia. There is also sister Anastasija, an influencer, who was a matchmaker in this relationship, and Veljko is currently known as a successful kick boxer, or whatever it is called.

Minute by minute, on Pink Television, we could follow delighted reporters and presenters in the studio throwing superlatives and platitudes about "of course the customs that were respected", "fulfillment in the role of a mother", "then again as the customs dictate", until instant triage of guests into important and non-essential! When the atmosphere heated up, they openly asked the guests what they had bought for the newlyweds, whether the envelopes were filled with money, and only the VIP guests could get a word because, as the guy with the microphone said, "this is not 511, so who can get into the frame" ".

I got the impression of a huge court suite, a half-world universe, and yet, a recognized social elite that had the opportunity to, as Wendy says, be screened on Pink and other tabloid forms. There are girls who live the dream of a princess who marries a tough guy, and then Ceci's son, so that her name becomes Anastasia, which means you will be followed by a million people on Instagram. There are also boys, those of a gentler nature: hairdressers, stylists, journalists, PR managers, who always feel beautiful at Pink, far from the gloomy Serbian everyday life.

There was a show sample, the one who earns serious money, and hand in hand with him also the political show, because it is known that Palma and Ivica were always with Ceca.

An event worthy of a fiddler's song, from the shooting of an apple, to the newlyweds' first dance, through the crypt of the St. Sava Temple.

Like it or not, we found out that Ceca paid for the "golden menu" at the Hyatt, for 500 people, plus a 60 kilo cake, which comes to around 120.000 euros. However, on the income side of this budget there are envelopes and gifts worth between 100.000 and 300.000 euros. The sources do not match, but if you go by the logic of the mean value, Ceca made money again.

Musicians and singers also earned, again according to tabloid estimates, almost 30.000 euros. The local singer, an artist known as Giani, was decorated with 10.000 euros in denominations of 500, I guess that's why they are withdrawing them from circulation.

Of course, even though journalists and guests tried not to make comparisons with the wedding of Ceca and Arkan, they imposed themselves. However, there was not even a word about the war, Ceca's verdict and settlement, house arrest, ties with the Zemun clan, everything was forgotten, and Željko Mitrović, who long ago condemned Ceca's alleged mafia tipping, appeared at the wedding. Just happy!

I could ignore all this and attribute it to the almost endemic bad taste that accompanies the domestic variety show. Ceca, however, became part of the national myth, the heroine of the folk song, so all the events surrounding her are treated that way. It survives regardless of changes in government, periodic misfortunes and occasional problems with the law.

What is changing for the better are the conditions for that part of Serbia for which Ceca is not the first or second choice. While her family business is flourishing, Serbia is debating the draft state budget. According to Minister Mali, it is developmental, but a decrease in allocations can be observed in two areas. Next year, less money will go to culture (0,78 percent instead of the minimum 1 percent, as recommended) and to universities. Educational and cultural institutions will have to work with even less money, and if you want additional funding, you will have to turn to the executive power, and they will assess whether you deserve the money. This is how images appear to me, almost prophetically, where I see Ceca and her children smiling and satisfied, while the cultists and educators, with the stigma of disobedience, will continue to grind each other out, fighting for ever smaller followings. The one who gets the money will automatically be declared a servant of the regime, and more and more of them will agree to that diffuse cultural concept of "cultivating and preserving cultural heritage", because no one has been fired for whitewashing and repairing the facades of failed cultural institutions. Evildoers say that it is revenge against the unfit, and even bigger evildoers say that this is how Minister Mali personally repaid those who disputed the authenticity of his doctorate.

For me, a platitude used by everyone who defends Siniša Malog, from Vučić to Risticevic, is particularly interesting. In order to discredit the decision of the ethics commission, or judge it as wrong, everyone says that it is a "political decision". Then what should I think about politics in Serbia, where absolutely all representatives of the government, i.e. politicians, consider as "political" what is wrong, unprofessional and immoral.

I'm not inclined to conspiracy theories, I think that the government just pragmatically concluded that the needs for cultural upliftment were met by Pink, Happy, Ceca and the rest of the variety show, so there's no point in spending money on irrelevant things like culture and education. There are fewer and fewer children, and those who are educated as soon as they finish university look to be wiped out, so it is a failed investment. And Ceca and the children are always here.