Nusa Derenda

Nuša Derenda
Nuša Derenda in 2015
Background information
Birth name	Anuška Žnideršič
Born	(1969-03-30) March 30, 1969 (age 47) Brežice, Slovenia
Genres	Pop
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Vocalist, accordion
Years active	1980s-
Website	nusaderenda.com

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

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

Although Derenda originally wanted to become a preschool teacher and work part-time in a nursery school for a year, she continued to sing with the band and traveled throughout Europe. In 1990, her band broke up and Nuša, along with her partner Frenk, established a new group. By that time they had already become professional and toured Yugoslavia, Germany, and Switzerland, and were invited to the US three times. Seven years of success and hard work followed, as their act performed up to 150 concerts in a single year. Since 1998, Derenda has mostly been working with a group called Happy Hour, with whom she records music in the studio and performs live.

In 1995, Frenk and Nuša Derenda married and started thinking about permanently settling in Slovenia. She had dreamt about making an album for some time. In 1999, she fulfilled this ambition with the CD Vzemi me veter (Take Me, Wind): a song with the same title as the CD was written by her friend, Majda Arh. This song earned Nuša first place in the Slovene TV contest Orion (November 1998). At the Slovene Pop Contest 1999 (Slovenska popevka) Nuša received the award for best singer, and at the MMS festival (Melodies of the Sea and the Sun) the second prize from the audience with the song "Boginja" (The Goddess; written by Urša and Matjaž Vlašič, and Boštjan Grabnar). The same team of songwriter helped her win the Orion 2000 contest with the song "Čez dvajset let" (In Twenty Years). This group of songwriters also accompanied her to the festival MMS 2000 (Melodies of the Sea and Sun). Nuša Derenda sang the song "Ne kliči me" (Don't Call Me) and won the audience prize for the second time.

In November 2000, the first HIT Festival was held, and Nuša Derenda won with the song "Ni mi žal" (I'm Not Sorry). In December the same year she issued a CD with the same title.