Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest
Croatia | |
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◄ Yugoslavia | |
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Member station | Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) |
National selection events | National Final
Internal selection
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Participation summary | |
Appearances | 25 (18 finals) |
First appearance | 1993 |
Best result | 4th: 1996, 1999 |
Worst result | 17th SF: 2018 |
External links | |
HRT page on Dora | |
Croatia's page at Eurovision.tv | |
![]() Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 |
Croatia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 25 times since making its debut at the 1993 contest. Between 1993 and 2011, the Croatian entrant was selected at the Dora pop festival, an event organised by the national public broadcaster Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT). Croatia's best result in the contest is fourth-place finishes in 1996 and 1999.
Croatia achieved six top ten results in seven years, with Magazin & Lidija sixth (1995), Maja Blagdan fourth (1996), former Magazin member Danijela Martinovic fifth (1998), Doris Dragović (who was 11th for Yugoslavia in 1986) fourth (1999), Goran Karan ninth (2000), and Vanna tenth (2001). Since then, Croatia has failed to reach the top ten.
Croatia failed to reach the final for four years in succession (2010–13), before withdrawing from the contest in 2014 and 2015[1][2]. Croatia returned and reached the final in both 2016 and 2017, but has now failed to reach the final in seven of the last 11 contests it has entered.
Contents
History[edit]
Ten representatives of Yugoslavia came from Croatia: in 1963, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1990. Apart from being the most successful Yugoslav republic in the contest, it gave the socialist republic its only win, "Rock Me", sung by Riva in 1989, that was held in Lausanne. The Eurovision Song Contest 1990 was held in Zagreb as a result.[3]
After the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1991, the Croatian national public broadcaster Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) had organised a festival to select a Croatian representative for the 1992 Contest. If HRT had been a member of the EBU in time for the contest, the first Croatian entry at Eurovision would have been the band Magazin with "Aleluja".[4]
Croatia's first entry as an independent state was in 1993 with the band Put, performing "Don't Ever Cry" which was, despite the English title, also partially performed in Croatian. The song came third in the "Qualification for Millstreet", which allowed their participation in the 1993 contest. Croatia's best position, as of 2018, has been with Maja Blagdan's 1996 entry "Sveta ljubav" and Doris Dragović's 1999 entry "Marija Magdalena".[citation needed]
Along with Malta, Cyprus and Portugal, Croatia was never relegated in the 1990s, and, unlike Cyprus and Portugal, it was never relegated in the beginning of the 21st century.
Withdrawal[edit]
Croatian broadcaster Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) announced on 19 September 2013 that they were withdrawing from the 2014 contest, citing the financial difficulties, as well as a string of poor results between 2010 and 2013 influencing their decision to take a year's break. The last time Croatia qualified for the grand final was in 2009.[1]
Also it was further revealed that Croatia would not return to the contest in 2015,[2] but there were plans to return to the contest in 2016, with the entry possibly being the winner of the first season of the Croatian version of The Voice.[5] However, on 5 May 2015, HRT announced that it won't broadcast the 2015 contest.[6] It was the first time since 1992 for HRT to not broadcast the contest.
Return[edit]
On 26 November 2015, it was announced that Croatia would return to the contest in 2016.[7] Nina Kraljić with the song "Lighthouse" qualified to the final, making it that Croatia qualified for the first time since 2009. After the successful return in 2016, Croatian national broadcaster Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) confirmed on 17 September 2016 that they would also participate in 2017.[8] Jacques Houdek, the coach of Nina Kraljić in The Voice - Najljepši glas Hrvatske, was internally selected to represent the country on 17 February 2017, exactly five months after they confirmed the participation.[9] On 30 October 2018, it has been announced by HRT that the national selection, Dora, would return in 2019, traditionally taking place in Opatija, a famous summer resort. The Croatian entry for Eurovision Song Contest 2019 has been selected on 16 February.[10]
Contestants[edit]
The Yugoslavian entries in 1963, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1990 are Croatian entries that competed for Yugoslavia.
Winner | |
Second place | |
Third place | |
Last place |
Year | Artist | Language | Title | Final | Points | Semi | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1993 | Put | Croatian, English | "Don't Ever Cry" | 15 | 31 | 3 | 51 |
1994 | Tony Cetinski | Croatian | "Nek' ti bude ljubav sva" | 16 | 27 | No semi-finals | |
1995 | Magazin & Lidija | Croatian | "Nostalgija" | 6 | 91 | ||
1996 | Maja Blagdan | Croatian | "Sveta ljubav" | 4 | 98 | 19 | 30 |
1997 | E.N.I. | Croatian | "Probudi me" | 17 | 24 | No semi-finals | |
1998 | Danijela | Croatian | "Neka mi ne svane" | 5 | 1311 | ||
1999 | Doris Dragović | Croatian | "Marija Magdalena" | 4 | 118 | ||
2000 | Goran Karan | Croatian | "Kad zaspu anđeli" | 9 | 70 | ||
2001 | Vanna | English | "Strings of My Heart" | 10 | 42 | ||
2002 | Vesna Pisarović | English | "Everything I Want" | 11 | 44 | ||
2003 | Claudia Beni | Croatian, English | "Više nisam tvoja" | 15 | 29 | ||
2004 | Ivan Mikulić | English | "You Are The Only One" | 12 | 50 | 9 | 72 |
2005 | Boris Novković feat. Lado members | Croatian | "Vukovi umiru sami" | 11 | 115 | 4 | 169 |
2006 | Severina | Croatian | "Moja štikla" | 12 | 56 | Top 11 Previous Year[a] | |
2007 | Dragonfly feat. Dado Topić | Croatian, English | "Vjerujem u ljubav" | Failed to qualify | 16 | 54 | |
2008 | Kraljevi ulice & 75 Cents | Croatian | "Romanca" | 21 | 44 | 4 | 112 |
2009 | Igor Cukrov feat. Andrea | Croatian | "Lijepa Tena" | 18 | 45 | 132 | 33 |
2010 | Feminnem | Croatian | "Lako je sve" | Failed to qualify | 13 | 33 | |
2011 | Daria | English | "Celebrate" | 15 | 41 | ||
2012 | Nina Badrić | Croatian | "Nebo" | 12 | 42 | ||
2013 | Klapa s Mora | Croatian | "Mižerja" | 13 | 38 | ||
Did not participate between 2014 and 2015 | |||||||
2016 | Nina Kraljić | English | "Lighthouse" | 23 | 73 | 10 | 133 |
2017 | Jacques Houdek | English, Italian | "My Friend" | 13 | 128 | 8 | 141 |
2018 | Franka | English | "Crazy" | Failed to qualify | 17 | 63 | |
2019 | Roko | English, Croatian | "The Dream" | 14 | 64 | ||
2020 |
- NOTES:
- 1. ^ Spain originally gave its 12 points to Israel and 10 to Norway. After the broadcast it was announced that Spanish broadcaster wrongly tallied the votes and Germany should have got the top mark - 12 points - instead of being snubbed, as it happened. The mistake was corrected and so Germany was placed 7th over Norway. Israel and Norway both received 2 points less than originally and Croatia, Malta, Portugal, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Estonia and Turkey all received one point less than indicated during the broadcast.
- 2. ^ In 2009, Croatia qualified through the back-up jury selection.
- 3. If a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition from 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, the countries who placed 11th and 12th were advanced to the following year's grand final along with the rest of the top ten countries. Serbia & Montenegro decided to withdraw from the competition even tho they finished in the top ten the previous year, so the country that placed 11th (which was Croatia) got the spot in the final instead.
Awards[edit]
Barbara Dex Award[edit]
Year | Performer | Host city | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | Nina Kraljić | ![]() |
Related involvement[edit]
Heads of delegation[edit]
Year | Head of delegation | Ref. |
---|---|---|
2019 | Željen Klašterka |
Commentators and spokespersons[edit]
Year(s) | TV Commentator | Radio Commentator (HR 2) | TV Channel | Spokesperson | Spokesperson Background |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1993 | Aleksandar "Aco" Kostadinov | No broadcast | HRT 2 | Veljko Đuretić | Spokesperson did not present visually until 1994 |
1994 | HRT 1 | Helga Vlahović | Zagreb Cathedral, Zagreb | ||
1995 | Daniela Trbović | ||||
1996 | Draginja Balaš | HRT 2 | |||
1997 | HRT 1 | Davor Meštrović | Zagreb Skyline | ||
1998 | Esplanade Zagreb Hotel, Zagreb | ||||
1999 | No broadcast | Marko Rašica | Zagreb Skyline | ||
2000 | |||||
2001 | Ante Batinović | Draginja Balaš | Daniela Trbović | Ilica Street, Zagreb | |
2002 | Oliver Mlakar | HRT 2 | Duško Čurlić | ||
2003 | Daniela Trbović | Davor Meštrović | Zagreb Skyline | ||
2004 | Aleksandar "Aco" Kostadinov | No broadcast | HRT 1 | Barbara Kolar | |
2005 | Ilica Street, Zagreb | ||||
2006 | Duško Čurlić | Mila Horvat | University Park, Zagreb | ||
2007 | Barbara Kolar | Ban Jelačić Square, Zagreb | |||
2008 | |||||
2009 | Mila Horvat | Zagreb Ethnographic Museum, Zagreb | |||
2010 | Zagreb Skyline | ||||
2011 | Nevena Rendeli | ||||
2012 | |||||
2013 | Robert Urlić | HRT 2 (semi finals) | Uršula Tolj | ||
HRT 1 (final) | |||||
2014 | Aleksandar "Aco" Kostadinov | Aleksandar "Aco" Kostadinov[13] | HRT 1 | Croatia did not participate | Croatia did not participate |
2015 | No broadcast | No broadcast | No broadcast | ||
2016 | Duško Čurlić | Zlatko Turkalj Turki | HRT 1 | Nevena Rendeli | HRT Headquarters, Zagreb |
2017 | Uršula Tolj | ||||
2018 | Duško Čurlić | ||||
2019 | Monika Lelas Halambek |
- From 1961 until 1991 Croatia competed as part of Yugoslavia
NOTE: In 2014, HRT screened only the grand final. The semi-finals were not screened.
Conductors[edit]
All conductors are Croatian except with a flag.
Andrej Baša (1993) (both the pre-selection and the final)
- Miljenko Prohaska (1994)
- Stipica Kalogjera (1995, 1998)
- Alan Bjelinski (1996)
Prior to 1999, the Croatian entry was performed without orchestral accompaniment in 1997.[14]
Photogallery[edit]
Dragonfly feat. Dado Topić at Helsinki (2007)
Kraljevi ulice & 75 Cents at Belgrade (2008)
Igor Cukrov feat. Andrea at Moscow (2009)
Nina Badrić at Baku (2012)
Klapa s Mora at Malmö (2013)
Nina Kraljić at Stockholm (2016)
Jacques Houdek at Kyiv (2017)
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ According to the then-Eurovision rules, the top ten non-Big Four countries from the previous year along with the Big Four automatically qualified for the Grand Final without having to compete in semi-finals. For example, if Germany and France placed inside the top ten, the 11th and 12th spots were advanced to next year's Grand Final along with all countries ranked in the top ten.
References[edit]
- ^ a b Jiandani, Sanjay (19 September 2013). "Croatia: HRT will not participate in Eurovision 2014". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
- ^ a b Jiandani, Sanjay (26 September 2014). "Croatia: HRT will not participate Eurovision 2015". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1990". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
- ^ Croatian Contest for the Eurovision Song Contest - Grand Prix '92 Archived April 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Premec, Tina (7 October 2014). "ZA NAJSKUPLJI SHOW HTV-a PRIJAVILO SE VIŠE OD 1000 LJUDI 'Koliko smo ga platili? To je tajna'". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 6 October 2014.
- ^ "HRT ne prenosi Eurosong 2015.!'". eurosong.hr (in Croatian). 5 May 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
- ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (26 November 2015). "Croatia: HRT confirms participation in Eurovision 2016". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
- ^ Błażewicz, Maciej (17 September 2016). "Croatia confirms Eurovision 2017 participation". escbubble.com. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Eurosong - Jacques Houdek predstavlja Hrvatsku na natjecanju za pjesmu Eurovizije u Ukrajini". eurosong.hrt.hr (in Croatian). 17 February 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
- ^ https://eurosong.hr/hrt-potvrdio-dobro-dosla-dora-2019/
- ^ Adams, William Lee (22 May 2016). "Barbara Dex Award 2016: Croatia's Nina Kraljic tops Eurovision's Worst Dressed list". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- ^ Farren, Neil (17 January 2019). "Croatia: Dora 2019 Participants Revealed". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
- ^ http://www.tportal.hr/showtime/glazba/331670/HRT-ov-komentar-Eurosonga-bio-uvredljivo-los.html
- ^ http://andtheconductoris.eu/
External links[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest. |
- "Dora" - Croatian ESC Pre-selection
- Points to and from Croatia eurovisioncovers.co.uk
- Povijest Dore (in Croatian) eurosong.hr