Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2003 The Eurovision Song Contest 2003 was the 48th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Riga, Latvia, following the country's victory at the with the song " I Wanna" by Marie N. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) a ...

with the song " Više nisam tvoja" written by

Andrej Babić Andrej Babić is a Croatian songwriter who has written many Eurovision songs since 2003. He has written songs for four countries: Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Portugal. Eurovision Song Contest entries * Lyrics by Carlos Coel ...

. The song was performed by

Claudia Beni Claudia Beni (born 30 May 1986) is a Croats, Croatian pop music, pop singer, born in Opatija. Biography At the time when she first participated in Dora, the national finals for the Eurovision Song Contest, Claudia was only 12, but she was alr ...

. The Croatian broadcaster

Croatian Radiotelevision ''Hrvatska radiotelevizija'' (abbr. HRT), or Croatian Radiotelevision, is Croatia's public broadcasting company. It operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as well as satellite. HRT is divided into thr ...

(HRT) organised the national final ''Dora 2003'' to select the Croatian entry for the 2003 contest in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, Latvia. Twenty-four entries competed in the national final which consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. Six entries qualified from each semi-final on 7 and 8 March 2003 to compete in the final on 9 March 2003. In the final, "Više nisam tvoja" performed by Claudia Beni was selected as the winner following a regional televote. Croatia competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 24 May 2003. Performing during the show in position 8, Croatia placed fifteenth out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 29 points.

Background

Prior to the 2003 Contest, Croatia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest ten times since its first entry in . The nation's best result in the contest was fourth, which it achieved on two occasions: in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

with the song "Sveta ljubav" performed by

Maja Blagdan Maja Blagdan (born 16 May 1968) is a Croatian pop singer. She began her singing career in a rock band, Stijene, in 1986. Later she had a solo career. Her first solo album was released in 1993. She represented Croatia at the Eurovision Song Con ...

and in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

with the song "Marija Magdalena" performed by

Doris Dragović Dorotea "Doris" Budimir (, ; born 16 April 1961) is a Croatian singer-songwriter who has represented Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1986 with the song " Željo moja", finishing 11th with 49 points, and Croatia in the Eurovision Song Co ...

. In

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, Croatia placed eleventh with

Vesna Pisarović Vesna Pisarović (born 9 April 1978) is a Croatian pop and jazz singer. Life and career 1978–1999: Early life Pisarović was born in Brčko (city), Brčko, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia and grew up in Požega, Croatia, Požega, SR ...

and the song "Everything I Want". The Croatian national broadcaster,

(HRT), broadcasts the event within Croatia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Since 1993, HRT organised the national final ''Dora'' in order to select the Croatian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, a method that was continued for their 2003 participation.

Before Eurovision

Dora 2003

''Dora 2003'' was the eleventh edition of the Croatian national selection ''Dora'' which selected Croatia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2003. The competition consisted of two semi-finals on 7 and 8 March 2003 and a final on 9 March 2003, all taking place at the Hotel Kvarner in

Opatija Opatija (; it, Abbazia; german: Sankt Jakobi) is a town and a municipality in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in western Croatia. The traditional seaside resort on the Kvarner Gulf is known for its Mediterranean climate and its historic buildings r ...

and broadcast on

HTV1 HRT 1 (HTV 1, ''"Prvi program"'') is the first Croatian television channel, operated by Hrvatska Radiotelevizija. It is a generalist channel, whose diverse programming lineup includes documentaries, history, school, mosaics, news, sitcoms, movies, ...

as well as online via the broadcaster's website ''hrt.hr''.

Format

Twenty-four songs competed in ''Dora 2003'' which consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. Twelve songs competed in each semi-final with the top six proceeding to complete the twelve-song lineup in the final. The results of all shows were determined solely by public televoting, and the votes were divided into five telephone regions in Croatia, each of them which created an overall ranking from which points from 1 (lowest) to 12 (highest) were assigned to the competing songs. Ties in all shows were decided in favour of the entry that received the higher number of high-scoring points.

Competing entries

On 15 December 2002, HRT opened a submission period where artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster with the deadline on 20 January 2003. 270 entries were received by the broadcaster during the submission period. A fifteen-member expert committee consisting of representatives of Damir Matković (HRT), Aleksandar Kostadinov (HRT), Željko Mesar (HRT),

Miroslav Škoro Miroslav Škoro (; born 29 July 1962) is a Croatian musician, television host and politician. He is the founder and the first president of the conservative Homeland Movement party, which he established in February 2020 and led until July 2021. As ...

(HDU), Stjepan Mihaljinec ( HDS), Siniša Doronjga (HGU),

Đorđe Novković Đorđe Novković (; 2 September 1943 – 6 May 2007) was a Croatian songwriter who was known for his work in Yugoslavia and Croatia. Novković composed more than 2,500 songs and sold approximately 20 million records. He is also known as the fathe ...

(

Croatia Records Croatia Records is the largest major record label in Croatia, based in Zagreb ( Dubrava). Summary Croatia Records d.d. is a joint-stock company currently led by the chief executive officer Želimir Babogredac, a notable sound engineer. It releases ...

), Fedor Boić (Tonika), Boris Horvat ( Aquarius Records), Silvije Varga (

Dancing Bear A tame bear, often called a dancing bear, is a wild bear captured when young, or born and bred in captivity, and used to entertain people in streets or taverns. Dancing bears were commonplace throughout Europe and Asia from the Middle Ages to the ...

), Siniša Bizović (

Dallas Records Dallas Records is a Croatian record label. It was established in 1987 (in Slovenia), and is owned and run by Goran Lisica - Fox, a music producer and manager who started his career in the 1970s as a music journalist. Signed artists include Gib ...

), Branko Komljenović ( Menart), Tihomir Preradović (Tutico), Željko Barba (Orfej) and

Goran Karan Goran Karan (born 2 April 1964) is a Croatian vocalist. He specializes in songs influenced by Dalmatian folk music and is known for his powerful and refined tenor voice. Karan's collaboration with composer Zdenko Runjić led to some of his most acc ...

(Skalinada) reviewed the received submissions and selected twenty-four artists and songs for the competition. HRT announced the competing entries on 30 January 2003 and among the artists were

who represented

Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 Croatia selected its entry for the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest through the "Dora 1996" contest, which was held on 3 March 1996, organised by the Croatian national broadcaster Croatian Radiotelevision, Hrvatska radiotelevizija (HRT) in Opatija. T ...

and

Emilija Kokić Emilija Kokić (born 10 May 1968) is a Croatian singer. She was the lead singer of the Croatian pop band Riva, which won the Eurovision Song Contest 1989 for Yugoslavia, with the song '' Rock Me'', just four days before her 21st Birthday. Current ...

who won the

Eurovision Song Contest 1989 The Eurovision Song Contest 1989 was the 34th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lausanne, Switzerland, following Céline Dion's victory at the with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi". Organised by the European Broadc ...

for Yugoslavia as a member of

Riva Riva may refer to: People * Riva (surname) * Riva Castleman (1930–2014), American art historian, art curator and author * Riva Ganguly Das (born 1961), Indian diplomat * Riva (footballer), Brazilian former footballer Rivadávio Alves Pereira ...

Shows

Semi-finals

The two semi-finals took place on 7 and 8 March 2003. The first semi-final was hosted by Ljiljana Vinković and Mirko Fodor, while the second semi-final was hosted by Karmela Vukov-Colić and Davor Meštrović. The six qualifiers for the final from each semi-final were determined by a regional televote. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2001 Croatian Eurovision entrant

Vanna Vanna () is a given name that first appeared in recorded European history circa 1294. The Italian medieval feminine name originated in Tuscany, and is particular to Florence, Italy. Though similar in pronunciation to the Italian name Giovanna, an ...

performed as the interval act during the first semi-final, while 2000 Croatian Eurovision entrant

performed as the interval act during the second semi-final.

Final

The final took place on 9 March 2003, hosted by

Duško Ćurlić Duško Čurlić (born 28 January 1968) is a Croatian actor and radio host for Croatian radiotelevision. Born in Zagreb, Čurlić is best known for hosting the Croatian TV shows ''Ples sa zvijezdama'', ''Zvijezde pjevaju'' and ''Kruške i jabuke''. ...

and Danijela Trbović-Vlajki. The winner, " Više nisam tvoja" performed by

, was determined by a regional televote. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Divas performed with

Gabi Novak Gabrijela "Gabi" Novak (; born 8 July 1936) is a Croatian pop and jazz singer. A wife of the prominent Croatian singer-songwriter Arsen Dedić, whom she married in 1973, Novak became popular in the 1960s. Biography Born in Berlin into a family ...

Josipa Lisac Josipa Lisac (; born 14 February 1950) is a Croatian pop rock singer. Biography During the 1960s, Lisac was the vocalist of the group Zlatni Akordi. Her first solo album, '' Dnevnik jedne ljubavi'' (''The Diary of a Love''), recorded in 1973, was ...

Meri Cetinić Meri Cetinić (born 15 June 1953) is a Croatian pop singer and soprano vocalist. Cetinić was born in Split and graduated at the Teachers Academy of the University of Split The University of Split ( hr, Sveučilište u Splitu) is a universit ...

and Radojka Šverko as the interval act during the show.

Preparation

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

version of "Više nisam tvoja" entitled "This Is for Real" was presented to the public on 16 March during a special programme broadcast on HTV1 and HR 2. The language of the song Claudia Beni would perform at the Eurovision Song Contest was determined exclusively by a public televote, and the Croatian version was selected with 10,926 votes while the English version received 5,678 votes. On 21 March, HRT announced that "Više nisam tvoja" would be performed in a bilingual mix of both Croatian and English at the contest.

At Eurovision

According to

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

rules, all nations with the exceptions of the bottom ten countries in the

contest competed in the final on 24 May 2003. On 29 November 2002, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Croatia was set to perform in position 8, following the entry from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and before the entry from

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

. Croatia finished in sixth place with 29 points. The show was broadcast in Croatia on HRT. The Croatian spokesperson, who announced the Croatian votes during the final, was Davor Meštrović.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Croatia and awarded by Croatia in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Russia in the contest.

References

External links

Dora 2003
at the HRT website
Dora 2003
at the Eurofest Croatia website {{Eurovision Song Contest 2003

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003