She was born in 14 November 1984 in Kragujevac, Serbia (then SR Serbia, Yugoslavia). Her mother Verica Šerifović is also a notable singer. Marija's father, Rajko, is of distant Turkish origin
 
Marija Šerifović's debut album Naj, najbolja ("The Very, Very Best") was released in 2003 and was well received. The biggest hit from the album was "Znaj da znam" ("You should know that I know") composed by Darko Dimitrov. In the summer of 2005, she released the single Agonija, which was a cover version of Greek superstar Despina Vandi's "I believe it" (Olo lipis).

Her second album Bez ljubavi ("Without Love") was released in 2006, and was successful. In early 2007, she released her second single called Bez tebe ("Without You").

In 2003, she participated in the Budva Festival with the song Gorka čokolada ("Bitter Chocolate") again by Darko Dimitrov. In 2004, she took part in the same festival again with a song called Bol do ludila ("Hurting to insanity") and won the first prize. The song was a regional chart topper.

For the 2005's Beovizija, then the Serbian semifinal of former Serbia and Montenegro's national pre-selection of the Eurovision Song Contest, Evropesma, the song was called Ponuda ("Offer"), and it won the 18th place. That same year, she entered as a favorite and won the Serbian Radio Festival with a song U nedelju, written by Leontina Vukomanović. She also received the award for the best vocal performance.

On February 21, 2007, Šerifović held her first solo concert at Belgrade's Sava Centar, considered to be a major break in the Serbian music scene. A 4,000-strong audience attended.

Šerifović won the Beovizija 2007 with the song "Molitva" (meaning "Prayer" in English) on March 8, winning the combined votes of the jury and televoting and thus qualified to be the first representative of newly independent Serbia in the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki, Finland. The song was also recorded in English as "Destiny" and in Finnish as "Rukoilen". There is also a Russian version of the song.

As a part of her Eurovision Song Contest promotional tour, Šerifović visited Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia, Switzerland and Greece.[2] Although a promotional video was originally planned,[3] a documentary film will be made which will include both the music video and the preparations for the Eurovision Song Contest.

On March 12, the draw of the running order for the semi-final and the final was held. Serbia was the 15th country to participate in the semi-final, and qualified for the final, where they presented their song in the 17th position, following Germany and preceding Ukraine. Her song "Molitva" (Prayer, Serbian Cyrillic: Молитва) won the Eurovision Song Contest 2007.

When she landed at the Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, 70,000-100,000 people prepared a mass rally for her in front of the Civic Assembly of Belgrade.
 

Marija Šerifović
Molitva [Prayer]
muzika (music by): Vladimir Graić
tekst (lyrics by): S.M.Mare

Ni oka da sklopim,
postelja prazna tera san,
a život se topi
i nestaje brzo, k'o dlanom o dlan.

K'o razum da gubim,
jer stvarnost  i ne primećujem,
još uvek te ljubim,
još uvek ti slepo verujem.

K'o luda, ne znam kuda,
ljubavi se nove bojim,
a dane, žive rane,
više ne brojim.

Molitva, kao žar na mojim usnama je,
molitva, mesto reči samo ime tvoje.
(I) Nebo zna, kao ja,
koliko puta sam ponovila,
to nebo zna, baš kao ja,
da je ime tvoje moja jedina
molitva.

Al Bogu ne mogu
lagati sve dok se molim,
a lažem ako kažem
da te ne volim.

DESTINY
Music by: Vladimir Graić
Lyrics by: Jovan Radomir

It’s been a long way
I try hard not to fall apart
Every night I pray
And your voice is singing in my heart

I have been waiting
A long time for you to take my hand
Loving and hating
A desire that I don’t understand

I can't breath, I can't sleep
Why can't I get through to you?
I can't think, I can't speak
What am I to do?

Destiny
I’ve been looking for something to guide me
Destiny
Even though I’ve tried I can't deny you
If I let you go, I’d betray my soul
I know that this is something more
Even though nothing’s spoken for,
a way that you will feel the same ‘bout me
Destiny

Read the stars and see my scars
I feel so low when you’re away
So reach out, it’s not far
Listen to me pray

Destiny
I’ve been looking for something to guide me
Destiny
Even though I’ve tried I can't deny you
If I let you go, I’d betray my soul
I know that this is something more
Even though nothing’s spoken for,
a way that you will feel the same
‘bout me

If I let you go, I’d betray my soul
I know that this is something more
Even though nothing’s spoken for,
a way that you will feel the same ‘bout me
Destiny

Faith is within me
Destiny