Nuša Derenda

Nuša Derenda is a Slovenian singer. She was born Anuška Žnideršič on March 30, 1969, in Brežice. Derenda represented Slovenia at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2001 in Copenhagen, Denmark, where she took 7th place.

At the age of two and a half, Nuša Derenda made her parents aware of her singing talent. She always loved to sing and perform in front of an audience. Music was an integral part of her entire childhood. She sang in choruses, performed as a soloist, attended music school and learned to play the accordion. Shortly before finishing the 9-year elementary school, Nuša Derenda joined a band of young musicians.

Although she wanted to become a pre-school teacher and worked part time in a nursery school for one year, she continued to sing with the band and travelled throughout Europe. In 1990, the band she was with broke up and Nuša Derenda and Frenk established a new one. By that time they had already become quite professional and toured Slovenia, Germany, Switzerland and were invited to the States three times. It lasted seven years, seven years of wonderful experiences and hard work at the same time, as they had up to 150 concerts a year. Since 1998, Nuša Derenda has been mostly working with a group called Happy Hour. They often accompany her at concerts.