Croatia 2007

A Little Bit Of History...

Croatia have had a rather misfortunate record in the past 3 years since the Semi-Final was introduced. On the first two occasions they made it through to the Final comforatbly (with what I think have been poor entries), yet their fate in the Final seemed to take a turn, and on both occasions, just managed to miss out on the top ten placings. Indeed, the only reason they qualified directly to last year's Final was due to Serbia & Montenegro's withdrawal. Last year they came 13th, just missing out on the top half of the scoreboard, and in 2003, they had what I thought was a wonderful entry, with a funky song and good performance, but couldn't do better than 15th out of 26. Most of their results do however seem consistent, either in the bottom of the top ten or just outside the top ten. Their highest result is 4th, in both 1996 and 1999.

Singer & Song

Dragonfly & Dado Topic Vjerujem U Ljubav

One thing I think is important to note is Croatia’s search for diversity. They seem to keep on sending very different songs each year to Eurovision, and this couldn’t be more different to those awful ballads we had to endure in 2004 and 2005, or that catchy little stomper from last year. It’s hard to describe this song – it’s not rock and it’s not pop – but it’s definitely a mixture of the two. It’s a very laid back number, without being acoustic, yet managing to make a strong impression. Sung in a mix of English and Croatian, the song will appeal, and I don’t think it’s all that bad at all. It’s not the catchiest, but there’s nothing wrong with it – and Croatia have a habit of doing better than they should do – particularly in the Semi-Finals. All in all, I quite like it, but it’s certainly not the best, although, as we should do with most songs in Eurovision – it’s certainly one to watch out for.

Prediction

Semi-Final: Unlikely to Qualify 16th-18th

Grand Final: Will Not Qualify

This is a sound entry - but there's no sparkle. I can see this appealing across the board, and possibly coming closer than I suggest, but I just don't think Croatia can pick up enough points to make the Final this year.

Prediction after Semi-Final

Croatia failed to qualify.

Review of Eurovision Performance

Let’s face it, Croatia were never contenders for victory, and if Eurovision weren’t so caught up in political voting this probably would have finished a fair few places lower than in 16^th. I don’t know how Croatia expected this to strike a chord across Europe. Don’t get me wrong, I do like it, and it was expertly performed, but it did lack sparkle and that much needed general appeal to propel itself into the Final. Not the worst in 2007, Croatia have countries such as Czech Republic and Albania to thank for that, but certainly not the best either. Predicting 16^th – 18^th for Croatia puts my prediction bang on, another one right, yay!