Croatia in Eurovision
Croatia debuted in Eurovision back in 1993, and since the introduction of the semifinals in 2004 have qualified to the grand final seven times. Following six non-qualifiers out of their last eight participations, Croatia are hoping to turn their luck around in 2021.
In 1996, Maja Blagdan achieved the first of Croatia’s best results with her song ‘Sveta ljubav’ (‘Holy love’), followed up in 1999 by Doris Dragović with ‘Marija Magdalena’ (‘Mary Magadelene’). Both of these songs came 4th at the contest, with 98 points and 118 points respectively.
2021 entry: Albina – ‘Tick-Tock’
Semi-final: Albina will compete in semi-final 1 in 10th position in the running order
My Eurovision Scoreboard fan ranking: 17th out of 39 entries
Odds to win ranking: 21st out of 39 entries
Odds to qualify ranking: 10th out of 16 entries
(rankings as of 3 May 2021)
About the artist
22-year-old Albina Grčić, professionally known under the mononym of Albina, was born in Split, Croatia, and came to fame through her participation in the second season of ‘X Factor Adria’ and the third season of ‘The Voice Hrvatska’.
While taking part in ‘X Factor Adria’ in 2015, Albina actually quit the show despite leaving an amazing impression on the judges. The shows producers had decided that they wanted to put her in a girl group, while she was auditioning as a soloist.
Four years later, however, she returned to singing competition ‘The Voice Hrvatska’, where she made it all the way to the final, finishing third overall. Immediately after her placing, she was signed to a record deal with Universal Music Croatia, having left such an amazing impression with her vocal skills.
She was chosen for Eurovision 2021 through HRT’s national final ‘Dora 2021’, where she beat out tough competition from the likes of Nina Kraljić and Tony Cetinski.
About the song
‘Tick-Tock’ is written by Branimir Mihaljević, Max Cinnamon, and Tihana Bukiljaš Bakić, and is produced by Branimir Mihaljević.
The song has been a major success in Croatia, where it peaked at number on HR Top 40, the Croatian music charts, and has led to Albina being nominated for Best New Artist at the Porin Awards (the Croatian version of the Grammys or the ARIA Awards).
Aussievision podcast Croatia episode
Apple
Spotify
Podcast addict: https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/1958380