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
Hrvatska radiotelevizija (HRT) in
Opatija. The winner was
Maja Blagdan with "Sveta ljubav".
Before Eurovision
Dora 1996
HRT organised the Dora contest to select the Croatian entry to the
Eurovision Song Contest 1996, held in
Opatija. The national contest consisted of a televised final with 20 songs selected from a public call for submissions from songwriters and composers. The winner was chosen by 20 regional juries.
At Eurovision
In 1996, for the only time in Eurovision history, an audio-only qualifying round of the 29 songs entered (excluding hosts Norway who were exempt) was held in March in order for the seven lowest-scoring songs to be eliminated before the final. "Sveta ljubav" received 30 points, placing 19th and thus qualifying for the final.
On the night of the contest Maja Blagdan performed 7th, following
Malta and preceding the
Austria. The song received 98 points at the close of the voting, placing 4th of 23 countries competing.
This was, and still is as of 2022, Croatia's joint-best placing at the contest, sharing with Croatia's
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 ...
entry, "
Marija Magdalena" with
Doris Dragović.
Voting
Qualifying round
Final
References
External links
Dora 1996at the Eurofest Croatia website
{{Eurovision Song Contest 1996
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 ...
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996
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 ...