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Kristina & Dominic- Photo by Kristina Kovac

In his last message Dominic described how he had been to Serbia & Montenegro to do some session work. One of the artists he worked with was Kristina Kovac. The following article is a translation of Kristina's column that she wrote about Sting and Dominic's visit to Novi Sad for Sting's Broken Music concert there in June 2006.

The Shape Of My Heart

June 19th 2006, 32ºC degrees. The radio is on, Igor is driving our loyal Skoda, Anja (my younger sister) is in the back seat, and life is beautiful again…We are somewhere between Belgrade and Novi Sad, in the toll line. I'm looking at the people in the other cars, and thinking to myself that these are the people I want to be living with in this country. The people that are as happy as little children, for they are travelling to Novi Sad to attend Sting's concert…After a million years, there is a sense of unity and positive vibrations, smiling faces, as if each one of us was a screw in a great big mechanism of good energy…

We arrive to Novi Sad, and, as on cue, my mobile rings. Dominic Miller wants to know our location, and when would be the right time to pick us up on the borders of backstage (for those of you who haven't been regular at reading my column, Dominic played 9 songs on my new album just two weeks ago, so that explains this nice private tone of communication). I smile and tell him he's as prompt as a Swiss watch, then I ask him if he's alive (Serbian slang for "r u ok?"), and he says: "Barely, but if you could see me now, you would definitely think I'm dead!". Ah, that sharp British humour.

Until he phoned, I had no clue what the plan was; we were headed to the concert anyway, and if we could see Dom - great, if not - never mind, we would still immensely enjoy this historical event for Serbia.

Tanned from the strong sun and half-dead from the organisation of a concert this big, Pera, the guy from the promoter's office, summons up the strength to smile and chat with us. As we are then taken backstage, we pass the stage itself; Igor and I gawk at the equipment (he at the amps and the guitars, me at the Yamaha Motif keyboard, although I know it belongs to the support act because Sting is doing a 4-piece rock set).

I'm beginning to feel like a kid, Alice in wonderland, and a little like a complete moron, because I'm getting that famous "from ear to ear, typical of total fools" smile on my face. They let me come into the forbidden city, and while I cross over the soft grass, I see the big white tents, just like in a beautiful Hollywood wedding. A mini-city, for Sting's people only.

I keep expecting somebody to grab me by the ear and kick me out, like an intruder, and with a big fuss, but it doesn't happen. On the contrary - Dominic's boyish smile materialises in front of me, I get a peck on the cheek and Sesame opens!

We enter the dressing rooms for a sec and we meet the drummer who is, as by some unwritten rule, a big, heavy guy with a happy personality.

All in all, we find ourselves in the huge "cafe/catering" type of room, where I order real English tea with milk (while it's still 32 degrees in the shade!), dunno, it seems kind of appropriate (I don't drink coffee, I'll take tea my dear)... I don't remember exactly what we chatted about, although I know we mentioned Sting's son who has his own band, and my dad, who apparently has some plans on collaboration with Dominic that only I know nothing about!

In only a second, time stops, I find myself squeezing and shaking Sting's hand, I'm looking at his wide smile, and am smiling myself, as I am introduced to him as "the artist whose album I played on". As every well brought-up little girl would, I say: "Nice to meet you", and at that point I realise how stupid and silly the whole thing is. How does one introduce oneself to someone in 2 seconds? If only we were playing around with instruments, making music, it would be easier. The other thing I realise is just how good he looks in person...

Anyway, just as one would imagine listening to the intelligent lyrics of this ex-professor of English literature, he seems a bit lost in thought and distant. He stopped by our table for a minute, then went on walking around the tent, came back and spoke to Dom about some changes in the set, and walked out the same way he walked in. Unnoticed.

I will, of course, treat this whole experience as surreal, but it will surely stay in my memory forever. We said our goodbyes, and went back to reality, to our seats.

Now I was starting to feel eager to hear the music, and feel the energy that Sting is famous for. All our friends were there, the support act gave an impressive performance, and then came the moment that 20,000 souls were waiting for. Message in a Bottle exploded through the night air, and it was the perfect choice for the beginning of the concert. The sound was fantastic, and by an old rule, it got louder as the concert progressed. The rock formation shook the whole of Petrovaradin fortress, although my favourite instrument was Sting's bass (his way of playing it is quite famous in the musician's circles!). Dominic turned out to be a real fire on stage, which was quite a surprise, since he's very calm in the studio; he played gently and passionately, hard rock and south America, and he showed us all why HE is the only collaborator that Sting has been keeping around for all these years.

And Sting? Well, I don't know if I can find the right words. Lets just say that he sang completely incredible. I've always loved his "flat" voice, his lack of vibrato is one of his most original vocal characteristics. Maybe singers in Serbia should think about that, since "tremblando and sheepando" are the most popular national disciplines on the Serbian music scene. The dynamic with which he held the audiences attention, the emotion he put across, a complete lack of out of tune singing... His voice was booming through all of us, and into the starry sky above, and for those 2 hours, Serbia was the good Serbia again.

But the VIP booth kept bringing me back into the harsh reality. The Serbian "jet-set" killed me. Of course there were people there that really love Sting, and that came for the music, nothing else. But the number of Serbian "businessmen“ with their wives, who obviously had no idea who Sting is??? But they came anyway... and they were bored to death.

The VIP booth has it's good sides, of course (enough space, drinks served, parking provided), but in the midst of my happiness and dancing/jumping, I looked at these people; the women that were almost doing their nails, and the men that were wrapping up business deals while Sting was playing and singing his guts out? I realised that I will never be happy here.... And that I should finish this album, give my best, and then go somewhere far away, where people like these won't be able to ruin every rare and precious moment of my happiness. In the words of a true poet: I know that diamonds pay money for this art, but that's not the shape of my heart....

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