Who Is Milan Topalović Topalko

Milan Topalović Topalko is a Serbian folk singer known for his deep voice and tavern-style delivery. He was born on 27 July 1976 in the village of Trudovo near Nova Varoš. He became widely known after taking part in the singing competition Zvezde Granda (Grand Stars) in the 2008–2009 season. Since then he has remained among the performers of Grand Production, and his songs “Medena,” “Zavet,” “O svemu mi pričaj ti” and “Tražiću ljubav novu” are counted among his best known.

Besides music, the public knows him for his love of water and fishing, for his collaboration with Đorđe Balašević, and for his public engagement over the past few years.

Early Life and Childhood

Milan Topalović Topalko was born on 27 July 1976 in the village of Trudovo, in the municipality of Nova Varoš. The singer himself says he was born on Zlatar, the mountain above Nova Varoš, and that as a boy he often slipped off to the lake to fish and watch the water.

He has stayed connected to that area. According to Kurir, he celebrated his birthday in late July 2021 with his parents on Zlatar. Nova.rs published a report in which he shows the modest house where he grew up, and the media have described his childhood as one of hardship.

Early Career

Before Zvezde Granda, Topalko sang with bands. In one of them he met his future wife Vesna when he was only 19. By his own account, that band invited him to perform with them in Nikšić. At that time, he says, going there was risky, and the previous singer had been beaten up. He agreed on the condition that he would be paid.

He later entered the television competition, which was by then one of the main routes onto the public scene.

Participation in Zvezde Granda

The fourth season of Zvezde Granda began on 20 September 2008 with 37 contestants. The show was hosted by Silvija Nedeljković and Nemanja Stevanović, former contestants from earlier seasons. The Belgrade daily Danas writes that Topalko was among the older contestants but stood out for a penetrating, deep voice that tied his music to the tavern style of folk rather than to the more modern turbo-folk trends.

The finalists included Darko Lazić, Slobodan Vasić, Jelena Kostov, Saša Kapor, Jovan Stefanović and Svetlana Tanasić. Darko Lazić won at the Belgrade Arena in front of about 15,000 spectators. Milan Topalović finished as runner-up.

Rise to Popularity

After the competition Topalko stayed with Grand Production, which lists him among its performers from 2009. He built his career on hits recorded after Zvezde Granda. Danas names four of his biggest songs: “O svemu mi pričaj ti,” “Tražiću ljubav novu,” “Medena” and “Zavet.”

Nova.rs counts him among the most in-demand and best-paid performers to come out of that competition, alongside Darko Lazić, Rada Manojlović, Milica Todorović and others.

Greatest Achievements

• Zvezde Granda 2008–2009: second place in the final, behind Darko Lazić.
• Grand Festival 2010: overall winner of the third Axal Music Grand Festival, in March 2010.
• Hits: “Medena,” “Zavet,” “O svemu mi pričaj ti” and “Tražiću ljubav novu.”
• Collaboration with Đorđe Balašević: the song “Megdan,” which, according to Topalko, Balašević gave to him.

Collaboration with Đorđe Balašević

One of the more interesting episodes in Topalko’s career involves the Balašević family. Aleksa Balašević, the son of Đorđe Balašević, became the promoter of the “Megdan Fighting” MMA tournament in Novi Sad. He told Kurir at the time that Topalko was his father’s favorite folk singer. According to that paper, Đorđe Balašević wrote two compositions for the tournament: a pop one recorded by Ivan Zoranić Kiza, the guitarist in his band, and a folk one that Topalko was to sing.

In the podcast “Princ Planet,” as reported by Nova.rs in November 2024, Topalko recalled how Olivera Balašević phoned him one day to say that Đorđe was inviting him for coffee. Đorđe Balašević welcomed him at the house, and the offer was that Topalko would sing the tournament anthem and that Balašević, in return, would give him a song called “Megdan.” The singer said he could not believe what he was hearing. Aleksa Balašević later made a film of the same name.

Public Engagement and Conflict with the Authorities

For a long time Topalko was known only as an entertainer. Danas has earlier written about photographs from the “Selo voli šljivu” party, in which he sings in the embrace of Tomislav Nikolić, then the president of Serbia, and the singer said at the time that they were close friends. Until March 2024 he had not spoken officially about politics.

The turning point came on 2 March 2024, when he was due to appear on the RTS show “Šarenica.” The show was moved because of an address by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. Topalko posted a series of Instagram stories criticizing the president’s daily appearances on television. Vučić then mentioned him at an SNS meeting in Belgrade among people he called political opponents, and some media described the singer as “public enemy number one.” Topalko himself said he is just a singer doing his job.

Appearing on 9 March 2024 on Zoran Kesić‘s show, Topalko said he felt more pressure and that some of his gigs had been cancelled. In early June 2024 he claimed that the head of the municipality of Topola had received a message from Belgrade saying he was not allowed to sing, and that, according to him, he was therefore dropped from the jury of a competition. Ahead of the local elections he publicly backed the opposition.

On 10 August 2024 he took part in a protest against lithium mining and the company Rio Tinto, where he was one of the marshals, and he spoke about it on the TV Nova show “Među nama.” He also backed the general strike on 24 January 2025, when he was seen at the blockade at Vidikovac. In March 2025 he appeared on TV Nova to talk about the song “Sunce se ponovo rađa,” which he recorded with students.

Private Life

Topalko is married to Vesna, whom he met at 19, when they played in the same band. According to Kurir, they have been married for more than twenty years. They have a daughter, Helena Topalović, who is well known on social media and who has graduated. The singer became a grandfather when Helena gave birth to a daughter, Dominika, in 2023.

From the start of the pandemic in 2020, Topalko lived for a long time on a boat moored on the Danube at Višnjička Banja. He bought the boat three years earlier, after finding it in classified ads, for about 40,000 to 50,000 euros. He says it is pure hedonism and pleasure for him, and that he regrets the money he once spent on cars. He is a keen angler.

Interesting Facts

• The boat he lived on is the first vessel he has ever owned, and he spoke of it as the fulfillment of a boyhood dream.
• In July 2021 he stopped on the Ibar Highway when he noticed smoke from a parked car and called the firefighters. According to Kurir, this prevented the fire from spreading to a neighboring vehicle and a nearby building.
• Grand Production has listed him among its performers since 2009.
• Aleksa Balašević said that Topalko is his father’s favorite folk singer.

Awards and Recognition

According to verified sources, Topalko was the overall winner of the third Axal Music Grand Festival in March 2010, and he won second place in Zvezde Granda 2008–2009. No other awards have been confirmed by reliable sources.

Legacy and Influence

Topalko remains recognizable as a singer for whom voice matters more than trend. His music is tied to the tavern style of Serbian folk song, and hits such as “Medena” and “Zavet” are still part of the repertoire at his performances.

Danas noted that it is unusual in Serbia for folk singers to criticize the authorities sharply, because performance organizers, managers and labels are often tied to the ruling structure. That is precisely why Topalko’s stance in 2024 drew so much attention. The collaboration with Đorđe Balašević and the song “Megdan” remain among his most notable artistic ventures.