Eurovision Song Contest 2024 | ||||
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Country | Croatia | |||
National selection | ||||
Selection process | Dora 2024 | |||
Selection date(s) |
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Selected entrant | Baby Lasagna | |||
Selected song | "Rim Tim Tagi Dim" | |||
Selected songwriter(s) | Marko Purišić | |||
Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Croatia is set to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden, with "Rim Tim Tagi Dim" performed by Baby Lasagna. The Croatian broadcaster Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) organised the national final Dora 2024 to select the Croatian entry for the 2024 contest.
Main article: Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest |
Prior to the 2024 contest, Croatia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-eight times since its first entry in 1993. The nation's best result in the contest is fourth, which it achieved on two occasions: in 1996 with the song "Sveta ljubav" performed by Maja Blagdan and in 1999 with the song "Marija Magdalena" performed by Doris Dragović. Following the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Croatia has this far featured in eight finals out of seventeen participations. In 2023, Croatia qualified to the final (for the first time since 2017) with Let 3 and the song "Mama ŠČ!", finishing in 13th place.[1]
The Croatian national broadcaster, Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT), broadcasts the event within Croatia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Since first participating in 1993, HRT has consistently organised the national final Dora in order to select the Croatian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, except between 2012 and 2018, when the broadcaster either opted out of participation or internally selected its entries. On 14 September 2023, HRT confirmed Croatia's participation in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest and its intention to continue to use Dora to select the nation's entry.[2]
Dora 2024 was the twenty-fifth edition of Dora, the national final format which selects Croatia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition took place at the HRT studios in Zagreb,[3] the first time since 2011 that the contest was not held in Opatija, and was hosted by Duško Čurlić, Maja Ciglenečki and Anja Cerar.[4] It aired on HRT 1, on the streaming service HRTi,[5] as well as on the Croatian Radio channel HR 2.[citation needed]
The head of the Croatian delegation to the contest, Tomislav Štengl, initially discussed the possibility of including two semi-finals in addition to the usual final, which was provisionally scheduled for 24 February 2024;[6][7][8] it was ultimately decided that the competition would consist of two semi-finals on 22 and 23 February, and a final on 25 February.[3] Twelve entries performed in each semi-final, with eight qualifying for the final based on the results of a public televote.[9][10] The winner of the final was determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from the public and a jury composed of four national panels – Osijek, Rijeka, Split and Zagreb – and four international panels – Germany, Iceland, Italy and Ukraine;[10] each of these panels consisted of three music industry professionals. The viewers and the juries each had a total of 464 points to award. Each jury group distributed their points following the same pattern used in the Eurovision Song Contest, i.e. 1–8, 10 and 12 points. The viewer vote was based on the percentage of votes each song achieved through telephone and SMS voting; for example, if a song gained 10% of the viewer vote, then that entry would be awarded 10% of 464 points rounded to the nearest integer: 46 points.[11] The stage and set designer for the stage of Dora 2024 was Igor Juras.[12]
On 15 September 2023, HRT opened a submission period where artists – required to hold Croatian citizenship – and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster until 30 November 2023.[2][13][14] At the closing of the window, a record number of 203 entries had been received.[15][16]
An expert committee reviewed the received submissions and selected twenty-four entries (plus four backups), which were announced on 15 December 2023. The participants included Damir Kedžo and Let 3, who won the competition in 2020 and 2023, respectively.[13][5][7][15][16][17] Additionally, Severina, who won the competition in 2006 and represented Croatia in Eurovision the same year, was a backup dancer for Let 3's performance.[18] On 3 January, it was announced that Zsa Zsa had withdrawn for undisclosed reasons; she was replaced by Baby Lasagna.[19] The songs premiered on 4 January 2024 on the program Svijet diskografije on HR 2,[20] and were released on YouTube on 9 January 2024.
Entry withdrawn Replacement entry
Artist | Song | Language | Songwriter(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Alen Đuras | "A Tamburitza Lullaby" | English |
|
Baby Lasagna | "Rim Tim Tagi Dim" | English | Marko Purišić |
Barbara Munjas | "Nepobjediva" | Croatian |
|
Boris Štok | "Can We Talk" | English |
|
Damir Kedžo | "Voljena ženo" | Croatian | Ante Pecotić |
Erna | "How Do You Love Me" | English |
|
ET | "Pametnom dosta" | Croatian |
|
Eugen | "Tišine" | Croatian |
|
James Night | "Nebo plače" | Croatian | Leonardo Šajin |
Lana Mandarić | "More" | Croatian | Lana Mandarić |
Lara Demarin | "Ne vjerujem ti" | Croatian |
|
Let 3 | "Babaroga" | Croatian |
|
Lu Dedić | "Plavi leptir" | Croatian | Miro Lesić |
Marcela | "Gasoline" | English |
|
Mario Battifiaca | feat. Robert Ferlin"Vodu piti trizan biti" | Croatian | Bruno Krajcar |
Misha | "One Day" | English | Nemanja Filipović |
Natalie Balmix | "Dijamanti" | Croatian |
|
Noelle | "Baby, Baby" | Croatian |
|
Pavel | "Do mjeseca" | Croatian |
|
Saša Lozar | "Ne plačem zbog nje" | Croatian | Ante Pecotić |
Stefany | "Sretnih dana dat' će Bog" | Croatian |
|
The Splitters | "Od kad te sanjam" | Croatian |
|
Vatra | "Slatke suze, gorka ljubav" | Croatian | Ivan Dečak |
Vinko | "Lying Eyes" | English |
|
Zsa Zsa | "Probudi usne moje" | Unknown |
Artist | Song | Language | Songwriter(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Cota G4 | "Stavi se na mjesto" | Unknown | |
Ether | "Duboko roni" | ||
Mihael Kvorka | "Vrati se" | Croatian |
|
The two semi-finals took place on 22 February and 23 February 2024 respectively. Slimane, who will represent France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, performed as an interval act in the first semi-final, while Raiven, 2024 Slovenian entrant, performed as an interval act in the second semi-final.[21][22]
Key:
Qualifiers
Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Noelle | "Baby, Baby" | Eliminated |
2 | Mario Battifiaca feat. Robert Ferlin | "Vodu piti trizan biti" | Advanced |
3 | Stefany | "Sretnih dana dat' će Bog" | Advanced |
4 | Misha | "One Day" | Eliminated |
5 | Erna | "How Do You Love Me" | Eliminated |
6 | Eugen | "Tišine" | Advanced |
7 | Vinko | "Lying Eyes" | Advanced |
8 | Barbara Munjas | "Nepobjediva" | Eliminated |
9 | Let 3 | "Babaroga" | Advanced |
10 | Lana Mandarić | "More" | Advanced |
11 | Pavel | "Do mjeseca" | Advanced |
12 | Saša Lozar | "Ne plačem zbog nje" | Advanced |
Natalie Balmix had audio problems in the second semi-final due to technical issues.[24]
Key:
Qualifiers
Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Lu Dedić | "Plavi leptir" | Eliminated |
2 | James Night | "Nebo plače" | Eliminated |
3 | Lara Demarin | "Ne vjerujem ti" | Advanced |
4 | Alen Đuras | "A Tamburitza Lullaby" | Advanced |
5 | The Splitters | "Od kad te sanjam" | Eliminated |
6 | Boris Štok | "Can We Talk" | Advanced |
7 | Baby Lasagna | "Rim Tim Tagi Dim" | Advanced |
8 | ET | "Pametnom dosta" | Eliminated |
9 | Vatra | "Slatke suze, gorka ljubav" | Advanced |
10 | Damir Kedžo | "Voljena ženo" | Advanced |
11 | Natalie Balmix | "Dijamanti" | Advanced |
12 | Marcela | "Gasoline" | Advanced |
The final was held on 25 February 2024 at 20:15 CET and featured the 16 qualifiers from the preceding two semi-finals. The winner, "Rim Tim Tagi Dim" performed by Baby Lasagna, was decided by a combination of votes from a professional jury and the Croatian public via televoting. The interval act of the final saw Let 3 and Jovanka Broz Titutka perform Let 3's Eurovision 2023 entry "Mama ŠČ!", as well as their hit "Ero s onoga svijeta".[24]
Over 180,000 votes were cast in the televoting.[26]
There were some technical difficulties during the final; Natalie Balmix had issues with her audio, and Boris Štok's performance was delayed due to undisclosed technical issues.[24]
Key:
Winner
Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Approximate votes | Points | ||||||
1 | Natalie Balmix | "Dijamanti" | 24 | ≈4,300 | 11 | 35 | 10 |
2 | Mario Battifiaca feat. Robert Ferlin | "Vodu piti trizan biti" | 0 | ≈3,500 | 9 | 9 | 15 |
3 | Lana Mandarić | "More" | 9 | ≈1,500 | 4 | 13 | 13 |
4 | Boris Štok | "Can We Talk" | 10 | ≈5,000 | 13 | 23 | 12 |
5 | Stefany | "Sretnih dana dat' će Bog" | 3 | ≈3,500 | 9 | 12 | 14 |
6 | Pavel | "Do mjeseca" | 38 | ≈5,800 | 15 | 53 | 7 |
7 | Saša Lozar | "Ne plačem zbog nje" | 1 | ≈1,900 | 5 | 6 | 16 |
8 | Lara Demarin | "Ne vjerujem ti" | 19 | ≈2,300 | 6 | 25 | 11 |
9 | Let 3 | "Babaroga" | 55 | ≈9,300 | 24 | 79 | 3 |
10 | Alen Đuras | "A Tamburitza Lullaby" | 35 | ≈10,500 | 27 | 62 | 5 |
11 | Eugen | "Tišine" | 26 | ≈5,800 | 15 | 41 | 8 |
12 | Vatra | "Slatke suze, gorka ljubav" | 21 | ≈5,800 | 15 | 36 | 9 |
13 | Damir Kedžo | "Voljena ženo" | 51 | ≈8,500 | 22 | 73 | 4 |
14 | Baby Lasagna | "Rim Tim Tagi Dim" | 74 | ≈95,800 | 247 | 321 | 1 |
15 | Marcela | "Gasoline" | 39 | ≈7,800 | 20 | 59 | 6 |
16 | Vinko | "Lying Eyes" | 59 | ≈8,900 | 23 | 82 | 2 |
Draw | Song | Osijek | Ukraine | Rijeka | Iceland | Split | Italy | Germany | Zagreb | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Dijamanti" | 3 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 24 | |||
2 | "Vodu piti trizan biti" | 0 | ||||||||
3 | "More" | 1 | 5 | 3 | 9 | |||||
4 | "Can We Talk" | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 10 | |||
5 | "Sretnih dana dat' će Bog" | 3 | 3 | |||||||
6 | "Do mjeseca" | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 38 | |
7 | "Ne plačem zbog nje" | 1 | 1 | |||||||
8 | "Ne vjerujem ti" | 8 | 10 | 1 | 19 | |||||
9 | "Babaroga" | 10 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 55 |
10 | "A Tamburitza Lullaby" | 2 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 35 | |
11 | "Tišine" | 6 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 26 | ||||
12 | "Slatke suze, gorka ljubav" | 4 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 21 | |||
13 | "Voljena ženo" | 5 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 51 |
14 | "Rim Tim Tagi Dim" | 12 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 74 | |
15 | "Gasoline" | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 39 |
16 | "Lying Eyes" | 6 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 59 |
In the lead-up and following the contest, HRT was criticized by Eurovision fans and the general public for originally excluding the eventual winner Baby Lasagna from the line-up, placing him as a backup entry; when the Dora entries were first released, he became the favourite to win.[29][24] Writing for Index.hr, Marina Radoš called for the resignation of the HRT Eurovision team following the contest.[30]
HRT received further criticism for poor quality of the selected entries[31] and the audio and technical difficulties.[32] Zoran Stajčić of Ravno Do Dna wrote that, after watching the semi-finals of the Serbian selection Pesma za Evroviziju '24, Dora seemed like "a performance of Hamlet in Mrduša Donja" in comparison.[33]
As part of the promotion of his participation in the contest, Baby Lasagna confirmed his presence at the PrePartyES in Madrid on 30 March 2024 and the Eurovision in Concert event in Amsterdam on 13 April 2024.[34]
The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 will take place at the Malmö Arena in Malmö, Sweden, and consist of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 7 and 9 May and the final on 11 May 2024. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final will progress to the final. On 30 January 2024, an allocation draw was held to determine which of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show, each country will perform in; the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.[35] Croatia was scheduled for the first half of the first semi-final.[36]