Croatian Language School Student, Ashley Colburn, Sings Into The Finals Of Zvijezde Pjevaju
Not only is Ashley Colburn a talented and hardworking linguist, she can hold a tune too! She’s only gone and made it to the finals of the Croatian version of “Singing With The Stars”!
We reported on her here when she first started off in the competition, partnering well known Croatian singer Bojan Jambrošić. Yesterday we managed to squeeze a few minutes out of her hectic schedule to find out a little more about her success in the competition:
- Huge congratulations on making it to the finals of Zvijezde Pjevaju (Singing With The Stars). Do you know if you are the first American to make it this far, or maybe appear at all?
I am so excited that I am in the finals. My parents came to see me and I feel so great having them in the audience. They were watching the show in the states and having viewing parties since the show started, but they said they are happy to watch it live and have no interruptions because of the internet going out or something. The US Ambassador will be coming to watch my performance as well. I am the only foreigner to have ever been in the show so this is also a great honor for me.
2. How many songs have you sung in Croatian, how many in English and what’s your favourite song/performance so far?
I have sung three songs in Croatian and three that were half in Croatian and half English. I really enjoyed singing Footloose and my songs this week – Let it Go and Ne Govori da me Znas.
3. Does it take you much longer to learn the Croatian songs?
It is much harder for me than others because I need to learn the Croatian songs, then understand them, sing the right notes and feel what I am singing.
4. Can you tell us how the competition has helped your Croatian language learning and did you find any particular aspects of your past studies with the Croatian Language School especially helpful?
I think being in this competition has helped my Croatian tremendously. Every day I am speaking the language much more than I would normally and I am really learning all the words that are in the lyrics of the songs. Bojan and I will speak a bit of both Croatian and English every day, but whenever we have rehearsals at HRT, everything of course is always in Croatian. I think this has really helped my Croatian and I am always using my lessons with CLS to try to focus on things we might talk about on the show.
5. What’s it like working with Bojan Jambrošić?
Bojan is a real gem, I adore him as a person, friend and a mentor. He is really an extraordinary person and hard worker. It is amazing that we got paired together because we can really relate to each other and always want to do our best in everything that we pursue. I have done many things in my 32 years of life and this experience will stand out as a real highlight. I know Bojan and I will be lifelong friends and I will actually be very sad when the experience is over.
6. Does this mean a change of career path for you?!
I don’t think I will be releasing any songs anytime soon, haha, but I definitely won’t be afraid to sing when someone asks me too. I really love singing and I think that it will be fun to learn some more Croatian songs, since I know it is definitely possible to learn them very quickly!
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We can only wish Ashley good luck in next week’s final and admire her dedication and success.
Many thanks to Dario Njavro, HRT, for the Zvijezde Pjevaju photos.