Croatia

🇭🇷 Road to Malmö: Croatia

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Croatia. Baby Lasagna Born in 1995, Marko Purišić, better known by his stage name Baby Lasagna, has carved a unique niche in the Croatian music scene as a vocalist, lyricist, and record producer. His musical journey includes a significant stint as a guitarist for the Croatian rock group Manntra between 2011-2016 and then from 2018-2022. During his time with Manntra, they achieved notable success, especially with their fourth-place finish at Dora 2019 with the song “In the Shadows”. After parting ways with Manntra in 2022, Purišić embarked on a solo career, showcasing his diverse talents. He played a pivotal role in co-writing tracks for “Ravenblack,” the twelfth studio album by the German rock band Mono Inc., which soared to the top of the German album sales chart. His contributions included hits like “Princess of the Night” and “Heartbeat of the Dead”. Transitioning to a solo artist, Purišić released singles under the moniker Baby Lasagna, with his breakthrough solo track “IG Boi” debuting in October 2023. His subsequent single, “Don’t Hate Yourself, But Don’t Love Yourself Too Much”, further cemented his place in the music industry. In a landmark achievement, Baby Lasagna won the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, Dora, with “Rim Tim Tagi Dim” on February 25, 2024, setting the stage for him to represent Croatia at Eurovision 2024 with this self-penned song, showcasing his evolution from a band member to a solo phenomenon. Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest Yugoslavia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest from 1961 until 1992. Several Croatian entries have taken part, some very succesful. The first time RTV Zagreb won the national selection in Yugoslavia was in 1963 with Vice Vukov‘s “Brodovi”. The Trubadurs of Dubrovnik won the contest with “Jedan dan” in 1968, an international hit song. A total of nine times, RTV Zagreb provided the entry, most succesful when Rajko Dujmić and Stevo Cvikić where responsible for the entries. In 1989, Riva won the contest with “Rock me baby”. Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest As an independent country, Croatia first took part in the contest in 1993. With “Don’t ever cry”, the group Put were the first entrants for Croatia. The national selection in most occasions is called DORA, also this year. Most succesful so far were Maja Blagdan in 1996 with “Sveta ljubav” and Doris Dragović in 1999 with “Marija Magdalena”. The Bookmakers Currently, the betting odds predict Croatia as the winner of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. If that happens, it would be the first victory ever for the country. However, the top position for Croatia is not with a landslide, Italy is coming closer and closer. It’s gonna be exciting…. The song And this is the song:

🇭🇷 Baby Lasagna wins in Croatia

🇭🇷 Will Croatia select Baby Lasagna tonight?

Tonight the final of Dora, the national selection of Croatia, will be held. Out of 16 songs, Croatia will select an entry. Already for weeks, it’s Baby Lasagna who is the hot favourite. But will he win though…. or will someone else. The show starts at 20.15 CET and you can watch it here. These are the participating songs: nr Title Artist(s) 1 Dijamanti Natalie Balmix 2 Vodu piti trizan biti Mario Battifiaca feat. Robert Ferlin 3 More Lana Mandarić 4 Can we talk Boris Štok 5 Stretnih dana dat’ će bog Stefany 6 Do mjeseca Pavel 7 Ne plačem zbog nje Saša Lozar 8 Ne vjerujem ti Lara Demarin 9 Baba roga Let 3 10 A tamburitza lullaby Alen Đuras 11 Tišine Eugen 12 Slatke suze, gorka ljubav Vatra 13 Voljena ženo Damir Kedžo 14 Rim tim tagi dim Baby Lasagna 15 Gasoline Marcela 16 Lyin’ eyes Vinko Boris Štok was 13th in 2023.Saša Lozar took part in the 2011 heats.Let 3 represented Croatia in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Mama šč!”. Damir Kedžo took part in the heats in 2011. He was supposed to represent Croatia with “Divlji vjetre” in 2020, but the show was canceled due to COVID19. Last year he became 5th.

🇭🇷 Croatia: results are in again!

The results of the second semifinal of DORA, the Croatian national final, are in. Eight songs will head to the final next Sunday. That makes the line up for the final complete. Tonight’s finalists are in bold: Lu Dedić sings “Plavi leptir” James Night sings “Nebo plače” Lara Demarin sings “Ne vjerujem ti” Alen Đuras sings “A tamburitza lullaby” The Splitters sing “Od kad te sanjam” Boris Štok sings “Can we talk” Baby Lasagna sings “Rim tim tagi dim” E.T. sings “Pametnom dosta” Vatra sings “Slatke suze, gorka ljubav” Damir Kedžo sings “Voljena ženo” Natalie Balmix sings “Dijamanti” Marcela sings “Gasoline”

🇭🇷 Croatia: 2nd semifinal of DORA

Tonight, the second of two semifinals of DORA will be held. Since 1993, when Croatia first took part, DORA is the national final. In tonight’s semifinal, 12 songs will compete, 8 of which will go to the final, Sunday. The show will start at 20:15 CET and you can watch it here and on YouTube. These are the twelve competing songs: Lu Dedić sings “Plavi leptir” James Night sings “Nebo plače” Lara Demarin sings “Ne vjerujem ti” Alen Đuras sings “A tamburitza lullaby” The Splitters sing “Od kad te sanjam” Boris Štok sings “Can we talk” Baby Lasagna sings “Rim tim tagi dim” E.T. sings “Pametnom dosta” Vatra sings “Slatke suze, gorka ljubav” Damir Kedžo sings “Voljena ženo” Natalie Balmix sings “Dijamanti” Marcela sings “Gasoline” The Splitters were 4th last year.Boris Štok was 13th in 2023.Damir Kedžo took part in the heats in 2011. He was supposed to represent Croatia with “Divlji vjetre” in 2020, but the show was canceled due to COVID19. Last year he became 5th.

🇭🇷 First results Croatia are in!

The results of the first semifinal of DORA, the Croatian national final, are in. Eight songs will head to the final next Sunday. The finalists are in bold: Noelle, “Baby baby” Mario Battifiaca feat. Robert Ferlin, “Vodu piti trizan biti” Stefany, “Stretnih dana dat’ će bog” Misha, “One day” Erna, “How do you love me” Eugen, “Tišine” Vinko, “Lying eyes” Barbara Munjas, “Nepobjevida” Let 3, “Babaroga” Lana Manadrić, “More” Pavel sings “Do mjeseca” Saša Lozar, “Ne plačem zbog nje”

🇭🇷 Croatia: 1st semifinal of DORA

Tonight, the first of two semifinals of DORA will be held. Since 1993, when Croatia first took part, DORA is the national final. In tonight’s semifinal, 12 songs will compete, 8 of which will go to the final, next Sunday. The show will start at 20:15 CET and you can watch it here and on YouTube. These are the twelve competing songs: Noelle sings “Baby baby” Mario Battifiaca feat. Robert Ferlin sing “Vodu piti trizan biti” Stefany Žužić sings “Stretnih dana dat’ će bog” Misha sings “One day” Erna sings “How do you love me” Eugen sings “Tišine” Vinko sings “Lying eyes” Barbara Munjas sings “Nepobjevida” Let 3 sings “Babaroga” Lana Manadrić sings “More” Pavel sings “Do mjeseca” Saša Lozar sings “Ne plačem zbog nje” Barbara Munjas already participated in 2007 (semifinal). Last year she was 8th.Saša Lozar took part in the 2011 heats.Let 3 represented Croatia in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Mama šč!”.

Liverpool live: Sweaty sweaters, video games and red feathers

Every participant has it’s second rehearsal today. That means we already know a lot and we can just say whether there are (major) changes or not. Different from other years, no independent journalists or fan media can join the rehearsals. What you read is what Eurovision.tv wants us to know. photo credits: EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett/Corinne Cummings/Chloe Hashemi Norway The Norwegian act is the same as in the first rehearsal. According to the reporters of eurovision.tv she hit the high notes. Alessandra is currently 6th at the bookmakers, which means she might do well for Norway this year. Malta The Maltese act is one were a lot happens. And singer Dav jr. even wears two sweaters. He takes one off during the show. According to him that is quite…. sweaty. Dav already took part in the national final in 2020. However, he says it is now the right time to go to Eurovision. The day after he was eliminated from the X-Factor 2020, his father passed away, so that was not a good moment for Eurovision.Unfortunately the bookmakers are not happy about Malta yet. Hopefully they are wrong this time! Serbia Sometimes it is difficult to know what will happen on tv when you are in the hall. That is why only now a lot of on-screen video game references came up in the reports. It fits in the act: somebody who just wants to sleep as there are so many bad things going on in the world. The song is written during the COVID19 lockdowns. Currently, Serbia is no. 17 in the betting odds. Latvia At least they have their outfits now, so it seems the luggage problem is solved. The band members are all wearing jackets and blouses with long, thin ties over it. Lead singer Andrejs Reinis Zitmanis wears a beige jacket, the others have darker cloths. Currently Latvia does not do well in the betting odds with a 35th place. However, we can not exclude a place in the final. Portugal Enthusiasm for the uptempo song Portugal brings on stage. There have not been many changes at all in the Portuguese entry. Mimicat still wears the feather dress that impressed in the first rehearsal. Portugal is currently 26th in the betting odds, which makes it likely that Mimicat will go through to the final. Ireland About Ireland, the same information is given by eurovision.tv as they did Monday: the members of Wild Youth are having fun on stage. Ireland is currently 24th at the betting odds. However, if you look at the qualifiers of semifinal one, they are 14th. A strange contradiction, and it makes the line on the official website quite cynical: “…and they look like they’re having the best time ever – the Irish delegation should be really happy”. Croatia Croatia’s Let 3 is having their second rehearsal, and their performance looks just as impressive on the big screen as it did in the hall, says eurovision.tv. However, the visual spectacle appears even more impressive and vibrant than before. The colors are now more intense and psychedelic, and the removal of clothing is now even more detailed and noticeable due to the high definition visuals. Judge for yourself if you should be happy with that. The betting ods give Croatia a 15th place. in collaboration with Eurovision Artists

Liverpool live: rehearsal schedule

The rehearsals continue with the 2nd rehearsal of 15 countries. The countries now have only 20 minutes to rehearse. 11.30 – 11.50 Norway11.55 – 12.15 Malta12.20 – 12.40 Serbia12.45 – 13.05 Latvia13.10 – 13.30 Portugal13.35 – 13.55 Ireland15.00 – 15.20 Croatia15.25 – 15.45 Switzerland15.50 – 16.10 Israel16.15 – 16.35 Moldova16.40 – 17.00 Sweden17.05 – 17.25 Azerbaijan17.30 – 17.50 Czechia17.55 – 18.15 The Netherlands18.20 – 18.40 Finland

Liverpool live: about sparks, costumes and a lightbox

We’ve had the second half of today’s rehearsals. Here is what we saw and heard today. photo credits: EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett/Corinne Cummings Ireland Spotlights are on Conor, the singer of Wild Youth. He has a rock gold catsuit with flares. There are stairs on stage. And there will be pyro technics. A lot of sparkles are visible by the end of the performance. Eurovision.tv is enthousiastic about the singalong capacities of the song. “Even on the first rehearsal, it’s easy to imagine the crowd in the Liverpool Arena singing along to this euphoric chorus.” Croatia As expected, the members of Let3 wear the costumes they also had in the national final. At eurovision.tv they speak about ‘high fashion hat/dress combo’s’. However, we do not reccomend you wearing this to a party. At the end of the song, they strip down to their underwear and they wave with huge missiles. On the LED-screen you see the faces of the band members. The missiles emit a shower of sparks over the Let3 members! Switzerland As in 2021 and 2022 it is Sacha Jean-Baptiste who is responsible for the Swiss staging. Where you would expect Remo Forrer alone on stage with a spotlight on it, nothing less is true. There are dancers with Remo on stage and he also dances himself. There’s also pyro technics: a short interlude of smoke and red fireworks raining down from the roof. Moldova For the second time, Pasha Parfeni enters the Eurovision stage. We saw him for the first time in 2012. He is surrounded by huge drums, a flutist and two backing singers with horned headdresses. A lot to see and a completely different act from what we saw 11 years ago. Sweden Loreen currently tops the bookmakers. She has the same act as in Melodifestivalen, herself sitting under the huge lightbox. The one from Melodifestivalen however was too heavy, so a lighter version can be seen in Liverpool. It is also lifted a little bit off the ground. The catsuit, the long nails and everything else is the same as in Melodifestivalen, including Loreen’s strong vocals.