Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest

Croatia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 28 times since making its debut at the 1993 contest. Their entry has since 1993, excluding from 2012 to 2018, been selected at the Dora pop festival, an event organised by the national public broadcaster Hrvatska radiotelevizija (HRT). Croatia's best result in the contest is a fourth-place finish in 1996 and 1999.

Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest
Croatia
Participating broadcasterHrvatska radiotelevizija (HRT)
Participation summary
Appearances28 (19 finals)
First appearance1993
Highest placement4th: 1996, 1999
External links
HRT page
Croatia's page at Eurovision.tv Edit this at Wikidata
For the most recent participation see
Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023

Croatia achieved six top ten results in seven years, with Magazin and Lidija sixth (1995), Maja Blagdan fourth (1996), former Magazin member Danijela Martinović 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 (2010–2013), before choosing to not participate in 2014 and 2015.[1][2] Croatia returned and reached the final in both 2016 and 2017, before again failing to reach the final for four consecutive contests (2018–2022). This non-qualification streak was broken in 2023, when Croatia advanced to the final. In total, Croatia has failed to reach the final in 9 of the last 14 contests it has entered.

History

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 in Lausanne. The 1990 contest was held in Zagreb as a result.[3]

After the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1991, the Croatian national public broadcaster Hrvatska radiotelevizija (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 Kvalifikacija za Millstreet pre-selection event, which allowed their participation in the 1993 contest. Croatia's best placing to date has been with Maja Blagdan's 1996 entry "Sveta ljubav" and Doris Dragović's 1999 entry "Marija Magdalena", both of which came in fourth place.

Along with Cyprus, Malta, Norway, Portugal and Sweden, Croatia was never relegated in the 1990s, and, unlike Cyprus, Norway and Portugal, it was never relegated in the beginning of the 21st century. Relegation meant that the country would have to sit out the subsequent contest due to poor placement.

Croatian broadcaster HRT announced on 19 September 2013 that they would not participate in 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] Croatia would not return to the contest in 2015,[2] and on 5 May 2015, HRT announced that it wouldn't broadcast the 2015 contest either.[5] It was the first time since 1992 for HRT to not broadcast the contest.

On 26 November 2015, it was announced that Croatia would return to the contest in 2016.[6] It was also reported that the entry would possibly be the winner of the first season of The Voice – Najljepši glas Hrvatske.[7] Nina Kraljić won The Voice and was selected to represent Croatia with the internally selected song "Lighthouse". The entry qualified for the final, making it the first time Croatia had made it to the final since 2009. After the successful return in 2016, Croatian national broadcaster HRT confirmed on 17 September 2016 that they would also participate in 2017.[8] Jacques Houdek, the coach of Nina Kraljić in The Voice, 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 was announced by HRT that the national final, Dora, would return in 2019, traditionally taking place in Opatija, a famous summer resort.[10] In March 2021, it was confirmed that HRT and Opatija had signed a three-year long contract regarding the organization of HRT Music Days and Dora, meaning both of these events will be held in the city annually until 2024.[11]

Participation overview
For contestants prior to 1993, see Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Prior to Yugoslavia's dissolution, artists from the Croatian federal unit represented Yugoslavia in 1963, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1990.

Table key
3 Third place
X Entry selected but did not compete
Year Artist Song Language Final Points Semi Points
1993 Put "Don't Ever Cry" Croatian, English 15 31 3[lower-alpha 1] 51[lower-alpha 1]
1994 Tony Cetinski "Nek' ti bude ljubav sva" Croatian 16 27 No semi-finals
1995 Magazin and Lidija "Nostalgija" Croatian 6 91
1996 Maja Blagdan "Sveta ljubav" Croatian 4 98 19 30
1997 E.N.I. "Probudi me" Croatian 17 24 No semi-finals
1998 Danijela "Neka mi ne svane" Croatian 5 131
1999 Doris "Marija Magdalena" Croatian 4 118
2000 Goran Karan "Kad zaspu anđeli" Croatian 9 70
2001 Vanna "Strings of My Heart" English 10 42
2002 Vesna Pisarović "Everything I Want" English 11 44
2003 Claudia Beni "Više nisam tvoja" Croatian, English 15 29
2004 Ivan Mikulić "You Are the Only One" English 12 50 9 72
2005 Boris Novković feat. Lado members "Vukovi umiru sami" Croatian 11 115 4 169
2006 Severina "Moja štikla" Croatian 12 56 Top 11 in 2005 final[lower-alpha 2]
2007 Dragonfly feat. Dado Topić "Vjerujem u ljubav" Croatian, English Failed to qualify 16 54
2008 Kraljevi ulice and 75 Cents "Romanca" Croatian 21 44 4 112
2009 Igor Cukrov feat. Andrea "Lijepa Tena" Croatian 18 45 13[lower-alpha 3] 33
2010 Feminnem "Lako je sve" Croatian Failed to qualify 13 33
2011 Daria "Celebrate" English 15 41
2012 Nina Badrić "Nebo" Croatian 12 42
2013 Klapa s Mora "Mižerja" Croatian 13 38
2016 Nina Kraljić "Lighthouse" English 23 73 10 133
2017 Jacques Houdek "My Friend" English, Italian 13 128 8 141
2018 Franka "Crazy" English Failed to qualify 17 63
2019 Roko "The Dream" English, Croatian 14 64
2020 Damir Kedžo "Divlji vjetre" Croatian Contest cancelled[lower-alpha 4] X
2021 Albina "Tick-Tock" English, Croatian Failed to qualify 11 110
2022 Mia Dimšić "Guilty Pleasure" English, Croatian 11 75
2023 Let 3 "Mama ŠČ!" Croatian 13 123 8 76
2024 TBD February 2024 †[12] Upcoming †

Awards

Barbara Dex Award
Further information: Barbara Dex Award
Year Performer Host city Ref.
2016 Nina Kraljić Sweden Stockholm
[13]

Conductors
Year Conductor[lower-alpha 5] Notes Ref.
1993 Andrej Baša [lower-alpha 6]
1994 Miljenko Prohaska
1995 Stipica Kalogjera
1996 Alan Bjelinski
1997 No conductor
1998 Stipica Kalogjera
1999 No orchestra [lower-alpha 7]
2000
2001 [lower-alpha 8]
2002
2003 [lower-alpha 9]

Heads of delegation

The public broadcaster of each participating country in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the contestants, songwriters, composers and backing vocalists, among others.[14]

Year Head of delegation Ref.
1993–2000 Ksenija Urličić
[15]
2001–2013 Aleksandar "Aco" Kostadinov
[16]
2016 Željko Mesar
2017–2018 Tomislav Štengl
[17]
2019 Elizabeth Homsi
[18]
2020–2021 Uršula Tolj
[19][20]
2022–2023 Tomislav Štengl

Commentators and spokespersons
Year TV commentator TV channel Radio commentator (HR 2) Spokesperson Ref.
1993 Aleksandar "Aco" Kostadinov HRT 2 No broadcast Velimir Đuretić [lower-alpha 10]
1994 HRT 1 Helga Vlahović
1995 Daniela Trbović
1996 HRT 2 Draginja Balaš
1997 HRT 1 Davor Meštrović
1998
1999 No broadcast Marko Rašica
2000
2001 Ante Batinović Draginja Balaš Daniela Trbović
2002 Oliver Mlakar HRT 2 Duško Čurlić
2003 Daniela Trbović Davor Meštrović
2004 Aleksandar "Aco" Kostadinov HRT 1 No broadcast Barbara Kolar
2005
2006 Duško Čurlić Mila Horvat
2007 Barbara Kolar
2008
2009 Mila Horvat
2010
2011 Nevena Rendeli
2012
2013 HRT 2 (semi-finals)
HRT 1 (final)		 Robert Urlić Uršula Tolj
2014[lower-alpha 11] Aleksandar "Aco" Kostadinov HRT 1 Aleksandar "Aco" Kostadinov Did not participate
[21]
2015 No broadcast No broadcast
2016 Duško Čurlić HRT 1 Zlatko Turkalj Turki Nevena Rendeli
2017 Uršula Tolj
2018 Duško Čurlić
2019 Monika Lelas Halambek
2021 Zlatko Turkalj Turki, ToMa Ivan Dorian Molnar
2022 Zlatko Turkalj Turki
2023 Maja Ciglenečki

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. Progressed through Kvalifikacija za Millstreet
  2. 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. Although Serbia and Montenegro finished in the top ten in 2005, they did not participate in the 2006 contest, and their place in the final was awarded to 11th-place Croatia.
  3. Qualified through the back-up jury selection
  4. The 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  5. All conductors are of Croatian nationality unless otherwise noted.
  6. Also conducted in the prequalifying round
  7. Conducted by Stipica Kalogjera at the national final.
  8. Conducted by Stipica Kalogjera at the national final.
  9. Conducted by Silvije Glojnarić at the national final.
  10. The spokesperson from the prequalifying round was Ksenija Urličić.
  11. In 2014, HRT screened only the grand final. The semi-finals were not screened.

References
  1. Jiandani, Sanjay (19 September 2013). "Croatia: HRT will not participate in Eurovision 2014". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  2. Jiandani, Sanjay (26 September 2014). "Croatia: HRT will not participate Eurovision 2015". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  3. "Eurovision Song Contest 1990". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  4. "Croatian Contest for the Eurovision Song Contest - Grand Prix '92". Archived from the original on 3 April 2008.
  5. "HRT ne prenosi Eurosong 2015.!'". eurosong.hr (in Croatian). 5 May 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  6. Jiandani, Sanjay (26 November 2015). "Croatia: HRT confirms participation in Eurovision 2016". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  7. 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.
  8. Błażewicz, Maciej (17 September 2016). "Croatia confirms Eurovision 2017 participation". escbubble.com. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  9. "Eurosong - Jacques Houdek predstavlja Hrvatsku na natjecanju za pjesmu Eurovizije u Ukrajini". eurosong.hrt.hr (in Croatian). 17 February 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  10. "HRT potvrdio? - "Dobro nam došla, Dora 2019.!"". eurosong.hr (in Croatian). 30 October 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  11. Stojanović, Nikola (24 March 2021). "Dora Remains In Opatija After A Long-Term Hosting Contract Has Been Made!". ESC Bubble. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  12. "Otvoren natječaj za Doru 2024. godine" [Competition for Dora 2024 is open] (in Croatian). HRT. 15 September 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  13. 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.
  14. "Heads of Delegation". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  15. "Životna ispovijest Ksenije Urličić: 'Ako je čelična lady sinonim za red i rad, nemam ništa protiv da me tako zovu'". 25 May 2020.
  16. "ACO KOSTADINOV ODLAZI NAKON 29 GODINA NA PRISAVLJU 'Veselim se novom životu u Belgiji, a HRT-u poručujem: 'May the Force be with you!'". 13 December 2015.
  17. "Albina calls the sacking of Croatia's Head of Delegation Ursula Tolj "a big mistake"". wiwibloggs. 3 November 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  18. Farren, Neil (17 January 2019). "Croatia: Dora 2019 Participants Revealed". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  19. Granger, Anthony (10 December 2019). "Croatia: Uršula Tolj Announced As Head of Delegation". Eurovoix. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  20. Farren, Neil (23 June 2020). "Croatia: Dora to Select Eurovision 2021 Entry". Eurovoix. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  21. "HRT-ov komentar Eurosonga bio uvredljivo loš!".
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