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 2023 The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is the upcoming 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It is set to take place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, after , winner of the with the song " Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, was unable to meet the dem ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, United Kingdom, with "" performed by Let 3. 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 ''2023'' to select the Croatian entry for the 2023 contest. In the first semi-final, Croatia qualified for the final on 13 May.

Background

Prior to the 2023 contest, Croatia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-eight times since its first entry in . The nation's best result in the contest was fourth, which it achieved on two occasions: in with the song "" 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 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 ...

. Following the introduction of semi-finals in , Croatia had thus far featured in seven finals. Since 2018, the Croatian entries failed to qualify from the semi-finals; the last time Croatia competed in the final was in with the song "My Friend" performed by

Jacques Houdek Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

. In , Croatia failed to qualify to the final with Mia Dimšić and the song "

Guilty Pleasure A guilty pleasure is something, such as a film, a television program, or a piece of music, that one enjoys despite understanding that it is not generally held in high regard, or is seen as unusual or weird. For example, a person may secretly like ...

". The Croatian national broadcaster,

(HRT), broadcasts the event within Croatia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. HRT confirmed Croatia's participation in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest on 20 September 2022. Between 1993 and 2011, HRT organised the national final ' in order to select the Croatian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2012 and 2013, the broadcaster opted to internally select the entry. After missing the contest in 2014 and 2015, the Croatian broadcaster continued the internal selection procedure between 2016 and 2018. Since 2019, HRT has used to select Croatia's entry, a method that was continued for their 2023 participation.

Before Eurovision

''Dora'' ''2023''

'' 2023'' was the twenty-fourth edition of the Croatian national selection ' which selects Croatia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. The competition consisted of eighteen entries competing in one final on 11 February 2023 at the Marino Cvetković Sports Hall in

Opatija Opatija (; it, Abbazia; german: Sankt Jakobi) is a List of cities and towns in Croatia, 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 ...

, hosted by Mirko Fodor, Mario Lipovšek Battifiaca and

Marko Tolja Marko Tolja (born 3 July 1984) is a Croatian singer. Music career 1984–2005: Early life and education Marko Tolja was born on 3 July 1984 in Rijeka to Koraljka and Darko Tolja. Tolja gained his first musical experiences with his uncle Davor, wh ...

. The show was broadcast on

HRT 1 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 streaming service HRTi. The national final was watched by over 900,000 viewers in Croatia with a market share of 42%.

Competing entries

On 20 September 2022, HRT opened a submission period where artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster with the deadline on 20 November 2022. 196 entries were received by the broadcaster during the submission period. A nine-member expert committee consisting of Željko Mesar, Zlatko Turkalj, Robert Urlić, Ema Gross, Igor Geržina, Željen Klašterka, Ivan Horvat, Tomislav Krizmanić and Dražen Miočić reviewed the received submissions and selected eighteen artists and songs for the competition. HRT announced the competing entries on 9 December 2022 and among the competing artists was

Damir Kedžo Damir Kedžo (born 24 May 1987) is a Croatian pop singer. While he started his career in 2003 by participating in '' Story Supernova Music Talents'', he became even more famous in Croatia after winning the third season of '' Tvoje lice zvuči poz ...

, who was set to represent

Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 Croatia originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "" written by Ante Pecotić. The song was performed by Damir Kedžo. The Croatian broadcaster Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) organised the national final ...

before its cancellation.

Final

The final took place on 11 February 2023. The winner, "" performed by Let 3, was determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from ten regional juries and a public televote. The viewers and the juries each had a total of 580 points to award. Each jury group distributed their points as follows: 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 580 points rounded to the nearest integer: 58 points. Ties were decided in favour of the entry ranked higher by the public televote. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the show was opened by 2022 Croatian Eurovision entrant Mia Dimšić, while 1994 Croatian Eurovision entrant

Tony Cetinski Anthony Cetinski (born 31 May 1969), known professionally as Tony Cetinski, is a Croatian pop singer. Today, he is one of the most popular male singers in Croatia and countries of former Yugoslavia. Biography Born into a family of musicians in ...

performed as the interval act.

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, 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 progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Croatia has been placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 9 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2023 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Croatia was set to perform in position 7, following the entry from and before the entry from . At the end of the show, Croatia was announced as a qualifier for the final. All three shows were broadcast live in Croatia on television and radio, with commentary provided 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''. ...

for the broadcasts on

and HR 2. The first semi-final broadcast on 9 May, which saw the participation of Croatia and the country's first qualification for the final since 2017, received an overnight market share of 38.4% of Croatian television viewers, representing approximately 720,000 households.

Voting

Points awarded to Croatia

Points awarded by Croatia

Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Croatian jury: * Branimir Mihaljević *

Nikša Bratoš Nikša Bratoš (born 17 August 1959 in Travnik, Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina, FPR Yugoslavia) is a Bosnian musician. He is known for having played in bands Valentino and Crvena jabuka. He has worked on so ...

Albina Grčić Albina Grčić (; born 6 February 1999), known professionally by the mononym Albina, is a Croatian singer. She began her career after participating in The Voice of Croatia (season 3), season three of ''The Voice Hrvatska'' where she finished thir ...

* Jelena Balent {, class="sortable wikitable collapsible plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" , - , + {{nowrap, Detailed voting results from Croatia (Final) , - ! scope="col" rowspan="2" , Draw ! scope="col" rowspan="2" , Country ! scope="col" colspan="7" , Jury ! scope="col" colspan="2" , Televote , - ! scope="col" , Juror 1 ! scope="col" , Juror 2 ! scope="col" , Juror 3 ! scope="col" , Juror 4 ! scope="col" , Juror 5 ! scope="col" , Rank ! scope="col" , Points ! scope="col" , Rank ! scope="col" , Points , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 01 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Austria, y=2023 , , 14 , , 13 , , 10 , , 10 , , 14 , , 16 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;", , , 15 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;", , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 02 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Portugal, y=2023 , , style="background:#CC9966;" , 3 , , 14 , , 19 , , 18 , , 11 , , 10 , , 1 , , 11 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;", , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 03 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Switzerland, y=2023 , , 21 , , 12 , , 18 , , 8 , , 20 , , 20 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;", , , 16 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;", , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 04 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Poland, y=2023 , , 23 , , 23 , , 24 , , 24 , , 25 , , 25 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , 14 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;", , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 05 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Serbia, y=2023 , , 8 , , 4 , , 6 , , 17 , , 5 , , 7 , , 4 , , 4 , , 7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 06 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, France, y=2023 , , 17 , , 7 , , 8 , , 14 , , 16 , , 12 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;", , , 12 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;", , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 07 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Cyprus, y=2023 , , 15 , , 22 , , 20 , , style="background:#CC9966;" , 3 , , 13 , , 11 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , 20 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 08 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Spain, y=2023 , , style="background:silver;" , 2 , , 15 , , style="background:#CC9966;" , 3 , , 13 , , 8 , , 5 , , 6 , , 19 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 09 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Sweden, y=2023 , , 7 , , style="background:#CC9966;" , 3 , , style="background:gold;" , 1 , , style="background:silver;" , 2 , , style="background:#CC9966;" , 3 , , style="background:silver;" , 2 , , style="background:silver;" , 10 , , 9 , , 2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 10 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Albania, y=2023 , , 18 , , 10 , , 15 , , 22 , , 7 , , 17 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , 5 , , 6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 11 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Italy, y=2023 , , style="background:gold;" , 1 , , style="background:silver;" , 2 , , style="background:silver;" , 2 , , 7 , , 4 , , style="background:gold;" , 1 , , style="background:gold;" , 12 , , style="background:#CC9966;" , 3 , , style="background:#CC9966;" , 8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 12 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Estonia, y=2023 , , 9 , , 18 , , 13 , , style="background:gold;" , 1 , , 19 , , 8 , , 3 , , 25 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 13 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Finland, y=2023 , , 16 , , 6 , , 4 , , 12 , , style="background:gold;" , 1 , , 4 , , 7 , , style="background:silver;" , 2 , , style="background:silver;" , 10 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 14 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Czechia, y=2023 , , 24 , , 9 , , 9 , , 11 , , 12 , , 14 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , 8 , , 3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 15 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Australia, y=2023 , , 20 , , 24 , , 23 , , 5 , , 24 , , 18 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , 18 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 16 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Belgium, y=2023 , , 10 , , 20 , , 17 , , 25 , , 22 , , 22 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , 23 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 17 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Armenia, y=2023 , , 25 , , 21 , , 12 , , 15 , , 15 , , 21 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , 22 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 18 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Moldova, y=2023 , , 4 , , 16 , , 14 , , 6 , , 9 , , 9 , , 2 , , 10 , , 1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 19 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Ukraine, y=2023 , , 22 , , 19 , , 22 , , 4 , , 21 , , 15 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , 13 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 20 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Norway, y=2023 , , 19 , , 11 , , 7 , , 16 , , 10 , , 13 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , 6 , , 5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 21 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Germany, y=2023 , , 11 , , 25 , , 25 , , 23 , , 23 , , 24 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , 17 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 22 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Lithuania, y=2023 , , 12 , , 17 , , 21 , , 21 , , 18 , , 23 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , 24 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 23 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Israel, y=2023 , , 5 , , style="background:gold;" , 1 , , 5 , , 9 , , 6 , , style="background:#CC9966;" , 3 , , style="background:#CC9966;" , 8 , , 7 , , 4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 24 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Slovenia, y=2023 , , 6 , , 5 , , 11 , , 20 , , style="background:silver;" , 2 , , 6 , , 5 , , style="background:gold;" , 1 , , style="background:gold;" , 12 , -class="sortbottom" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 25 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, Croatia, y=2023 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 26 , style="text-align:left;" , {{Esc, United Kingdom, y=2023 , , 13 , , 8 , , 16 , , 19 , , 17 , , 19 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" , , , 21 , , style="background:#AAAAAA;" ,

References

{{Reflist

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.hrt.hr/dora/, Dora–Official site {{Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest {{Eurovision Song Contest 2023

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 Eurovision