 |
|
|
Support Scooch!
Download 'Flying The Flag (For You)' at iTunes and help get Scooch back into the UK singles chart!
|
|
|
|
|
About Croatia...
|
 top of page
|
|
2004 Result
Points in Semi Final: 72
Position in Semi Final: 9th
Points in Final: 50
Position in Final: 13th
2005 Contest: Must compete in Semi Final
|
top of page
|
|
History (1956 to 2003)
Croatia's previous appearances: 11 year(s) out of 48
Years participated: 1993-
Best result: 4th (1996, 1999)
While never challenging for victory, Croatia is a consistently good performer at Eurovision - it is the only one of the east European newcomers not to miss a contest due to relegation, managing a continuous run of entries from 1993 to date. After a dodgy start, Croatia has been in the top ten more often than not, finishing 6th in 1995, 4th in 1996 (after an early lead in the voting), 5th in 1998, 4th in 1999 with the statuesque Doris (though points were retrospectively deducted for using recorded backing vocals), 9th in 2000, and 10th in 2001 - 1997's disappointing 17th place was the only blip in Croatia's form.
The country has slipped a little in the last couple of years, managing 11th in 2002 and 15th in 2003. As a result, Croatia finds itself participating in the Semi Final in 2004; however, with its impressive record and great enthusiasm for Eurovision, it can only be a matter of time before Eurovision heads to Zagreb. In fact, it would not be the first time that the Croats have hosted Eurovision - Yugoslavia's 1989 winners, Riva, hailed from what is now Croatia, with the 1990 contest held in Zagreb's Vatroslav Lisinki Hall.
|
top of page
|
|
This year's entry
Position in Semi Final draw: 18
Position in Final draw: 11
What I said prior to the Semi Final:
"Croatia does divas even better than Slovenia - think Lidija, Maja, Danijela, Doris, Vanna, Vesna and Claudia - so it's something of a surprise to see the country represented by a male singer. Ivan Mikulić sings 'Dajes mi krila', translated into English for Eurovision as 'You are the only one'. A slow ballad with mournful verses and a rousing chorus, it reminds me of a previous Eurovision entry which I can't quite place - certainly, it's a little old-fashioned, but rather lovely nonetheless. Ivan gives the song his all, though he could do with working on his English accent. This is the kind of song that might have won Eurovision 15 years ago - but what will the millions of European televoters make of it?"
|
top of page
|
|
What I predicted...
My prediction for Semi Final: 14th to 19th
My prediction for Final: Unlikely to qualify
What I predicted prior to the Semi Final:
"The Semi Final draw has clustered the five ex-Yugoslav entries together, all performing between 15th and 21st in the running order. This is unlikely to help televoters distinguish one from the other, though Croatia - despite its long odds with the bookies - possibly has the advantage of a more immediate song than either Macedonia, Slovenia or Serbia & Montenegro. It is also sandwiched between the energetic Estonian and Danish entries, which might be less of a good thing. Looking at the competition, however, it's difficult to see 'You are the only one' finishing among the top ten Semi Finalists; it might just sneak through if Ivan gives a fantastic performance and some of the other contenders fail to match expectations. Whichever, Croatia will almost certainly have to wait a bit longer for its first victory as an independent nation."
|
top of page
|
|
What you thought...
Final Poll Ranking: out of 36 ()
(Updated 15 May 2004; change refers to movement over final week)
In the run up to the Contest, over 5,000 visitors to this site voted for their favourite song in the Soult.com Eurovision Poll.
|
top of page
|
|
What actually happened
Putting on his best Julio Iglesias accent, Ivan's routine during the Semi Final was to wear his best suit, stand rooted to the spot for three minutes, and wave his arms around during the really dramatic bits. However, though winning the prize for the most old-fashioned performance of the evening, Ivan had the advantage - unlike many of his competitors - of being a really good singer. The backing singers also did their job well, adding extra oomph to the high notes of the chorus. Overall, the whole thing was very nice really. Nothing exciting, but nice.
However, nice or not, Croatia's top ten place was surely the real surprise of the Semi Final, made all the more creditable by Ivan's spread of points from across Europe - plenty from his Balkan neighbours, of course, but also high votes from countries such as Austria, Switzerland and Ukraine. My prediction of 14th to 19th in the Semi Final was, needless to say, wrong.
Given that nobody had expected Ivan to reach the Final in the first place - even the Croatians themselves, supposedly - he probably had little to lose when he got there. Drawn to perform straight after Ruslana, the contrast between the two east European entries could hardly have been more stark - but not necessarily a bad thing in making a song stand out from the crowd. Ivan did a good job once again, his voice and the simple presentation making the best of a pleasant but unremarkable song. As it was, Croatia finished a respectable 13th, coming within a whisker of automatic qualification to the 2005 Final - both Malta and Croatia finished with 50 points, but Malta gained the last remaining place in the Final having been awarded points from 16 countries compared to Croatia's 11. So, a pat on the back to Ivan for doing much, much better than anyone had really expected.
|
top of page
|
|
What the bookies thought...
 | Croatia to win: | 15/05/04 (prior to Final) | 125-1 |
| | 13/05/04 (after Semi Final) | 80-1 |
| | 11/05/04 | 100-1 |
| | 08/05/04 | 50-1 |
| | 06/05/04 | 50-1 |
| | 04/05/04 | 50-1 |
| | 31/04/04 | 50-1 |
| | 24/04/04 | 50-1 |
| | 17/04/04 | 50-1 |
| | 07/04/04 | 40-1 |
| | 24/03/04 | 40-1 |
|
|
Despite Croatia's surprise qualification, the bookies rated Ivan's chances of victory prior to the Final as 125-1. True, the song was never a contender for victory, but the odds certainly underestimated Croatia's performance.
(Odds quoted here were those offered by Coral.co.uk. 'F' indicates favourite, 'JF' joint favourite.)
|
top of page
|
|
Links
 http://www.hrt.hr/dora/
|
top of page
|
|
Notes (see 'History' above)
- The 1956 Contest (where each country had two songs) is counted as a single appearance;
- Countries eliminated in the 1993 preliminary heat (EE, HU, RO, SK) ARE NOT counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest;
- Countries eliminated in the 1996 preliminary heat (DE, DK, HU, IL, MK, RO, RU) ARE NOT counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest;
- Countries eliminated in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 Semi Finals ARE counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest.
|
top of page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Your comments (22)
From Alexander, SWEDEN
Added 13:41:45 2004-5-16
Steta!
Stvarno ste uvek bili majstori za muziku a ove godine nesto niste "uboli" pravu pesmu! Ajde komsije da sledece godine rasturimo bulju ostalima (hm...mislim...pickice jer je bulja rezervisana za onog bosanca...hahahaha)! Vazi?
Ljubav i mir od Alexandra!
From Justin Mala, ALBANIA
Added 13:24:28 2004-5-16
A very very nice song! Absoulutely wonderful. A true song! Best of luck next year and thanks for your points!
From Dzenana, KOSOVA
Added 17:57:4 2004-5-15
ITS VERY GOOD SONG, I LIKE IT AND I HOPE TO WIN TONIGHT.
GOOD LUCK CROATIA!
SRECNO!!!!!!
From Kirsty, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 14:38:53 2004-5-15
I like this song, i think it has potential, not sure if it will win, but a good chance for an each way bet.
From malena, SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
Added 23:57:41 2004-5-12
Hey... kakva steta!... Trebali ste pevati na hrvatskom, verzija je bolja, ovako su vam umanjene sanse za pobedu!
Hey.. what a damage! U better sang in croatian, the version is better, but this way ur chances for winning are lessened!
Belgrade 2005, or Athens 2005???
From malena, SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
Added 19:48:0 2004-5-12
Good luck tonight neighbours!
From Stojance, MACEDONIA, THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC
Added 16:7:33 2004-5-12
GOOOD LUCK CROATIA.
From Tolya, RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Added 19:27:50 2004-5-9
Croatia is superb!! Good luck Ivan!!
From Maxo, --
Added 16:34:11 2004-5-9
Does the chorus of this remind anyone else of an ABBA song? (Can't think which one, though.)
From JEBEM MATER, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Added 13:22:12 2004-5-8
jebem vam majku ustaskuuuu govna ja usrana svi ste vi djubrad
From Panayotis, GREECE
Added 3:18:26 2004-5-6
Really nice piece of music, but why did it have to be translated in English??? I agree with malena, it should be sung in Croatian. Those who have listened to both versions will understand the difference in originality. It can do well, though.
From Denisi, ALBANIA
Added 21:58:56 2004-5-4
Nice Song Croatia...Best of Luck..
From malena, FINLAND
Added 23/04/2004 13:35
..a typical croatian & traditional ballad... good luck, but if u're clever enough, u're gonna sing it in croatian.
From Vedat, MACEDONIA, THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC
Added 22/04/2004 15:40
I think is great song, beter if he sing in croation but i know that he will sing an english anyway Good luck Croatia.
From Etienne Micallef, MALTA
Added 20/04/2004 16:14
An old fashioned ballad which I really like. Well done Croatia. Hope you'll be in the final cause you have a fine singer and a strong ballad.
From anja, BELGIUM
Added 17/04/2004 17:08
great song...
From One Turk, TURKEY
Added 14/04/2004 14:31
this is not a eurovision song!!!
very worst but hopely, you qualify to the big night at saturday!!! (cause we need your points!!! :) iyi aksamlar Hirvatistan... iyi aksamlar Zagreb!
From Karen, AUSTRALIA
Added 14/04/2004 13:04
I haven't heard this song in English so i don't know if it changes the impact of the song. However the croatian version that i have heard is absolutely beautiful. The singer is absolutely fantastic in conveying that Gut-wrenching emotion that transforms it from just a sweet ballad, to phenomenal.
From reddy, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 06/04/2004 20:15
this song can be surprising though i have a strange feeling about it!!! i think i like it the best and than i really dislike it!!!
From Sérgio Rego, PORTUGAL
Added 06/04/2004 15:46
This song is nice, but is much nicer in Croatian. He has a strong accent when he sings in English. That annoys me a bit. If a country chooses to sing in English, then please, do it right. It will get 12 points from Bosnia and other nearby countries but still, I'm not sure if it will go to the final.
From boog, ITALY
Added 06/04/2004 11:21
The song it reminds you of is Sand ra Simo's 'canzone per te' (for Switzerland)
I love this sort of stuff precisely because I can imagine myself listening to it in Dalmatia on holiday! (never been)
Disappointing denouement at the end of each course. Should have continued building up and going for it!!! :o)
From Steinar, NORWAY
Added 04/04/2004 19:50
afer two modern efforts, they fall back to something less credible. Boring, tedious, but not the owrst of it's kind, this rather deary kind of Slavic ballads. Nice voice and choir, but it sounds very weard out, especially in English.
In 2000, we saw asong of this kind doing far too well. Hopefully it won't happen this year. I can't see this in the final, unless sopme tactical voting from the other ex. Yu countries bring it in
|
|
top of page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Croatia
![Official 2006 Double CD now available to order at Amazon.co.uk [external link in new window]](/eurovision/images/furniture/2006cd_120x215.gif)
![[external link in new window] Valid CSS!](/eurovision/images/w3c/vcss.png)
![[external link in new window] Level A conformance icon, W3C-WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0](/eurovision/images/w3c/wcag1A.png){kind=small}
