Croatia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 by E.N.I. with the song "Probudi me". The quartet were the winners of Dora 1997, which selected the fifth Croatian entry for the contest.

Background

Croatia first entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993, having previously competed as a part of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

from 1961 to 1991.

SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), or SR Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Sociali ...

was the most successful republic of Yugoslavia at Eurovision, with 11 of the 27 entries that won the

Yugoslavian selection for the Eurovision Song Contest Jugovizija, Cyrillic: Југовизија, English: Yugovision, was the Yugoslav national final to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, organized by the Yugoslav broadcaster Yugoslav Radio Television (JRT) and its subnational public ...

being Croatian. Croatia produced over 11 entries in total for Yugoslavia, giving some of the country's best placings in the Contest. Croatia gave Yugoslavia three of the country's Top 5 placings in the contest, with Riva winning the 1989 Contest with " Rock Me", as well as fourth-place finishes for both Daniel and Novi fosili. 1997 marked Croatia's fifth appearance at the contest as an independent nation. Previous results for the independent Croatia were mixed, with their first two entries gaining 15th and 16th position. However Croatia's entries from 1995 and 1996 both placed within the top 10, with

Magazin Magazin is a Croatian pop band from Split. Founded in 1979 under the name Dalmatinski magazin ("Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside ...

and

Lidija Lidija is a feminine given name. Notable people with the name include: *Lidija Abrlić (born 1969), former Yugoslavian and Croatian basketball player *Lidija Auza (1914–1989), Latvian painter *Lidija Bajuk (born 1965), Croatian singer-songwriter ...

and

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 ...

placing 6th and 4th respectively.

Before Eurovision

Dora 1997

Hrvatska radiotelevizija ''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), the Croatian broadcaster, held a national final to select the Croatian entry for Eurovision 1997, held in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Dora 1997 was held at the Crystal Ballroom of Hotel Kvarner 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 ...

on 9 March, hosted by Ljudevit Grgurić Grga. 20 entries competed, and the winner was decided by 20 regional juries.

At Eurovision

Heading into the final of the contest, RTÉ reported that bookmakers ranked the entry 6th out of the 25 entries. E.N.I. performed 23rd on the night of the contest, following

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and preceding the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The group received 24 points, placing 17th of the 25 competing countries.

Voting

References

External links

Croatian National Final 1997

''HRT'' {{Eurovision Song Contest 1997

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 Eurovision