Since 1993 Croatia takes part in the Eurovision Song Contest as an individual country. And there were quite successful entries so far the most significant ones were “Marija Magdalena” by Doris Dragovic in 1999 (rank #4) and “Neka mi ne svane” by Daniela in 1998 (rank #5). Many people describe Croatia as the “new Italy” in many ways, and in the Eurovision Song Contest, you will also find many heartwarming ballads with traditional roots and folkoristic elements like Italian music has. Croatia also profits from the neighbour countries, when it comes to the voting. Due to the fact that these countries share the same taste of music it always brings Croatia good rankings in the recent years.

This year we are having Igor Cukrov with his traditional song called “Lijepa Tena”. This is a dreamy ballad, the style is typical for Croatia and nothing really new. In fact, it’s a bit old fashioned, if you compare this entry with countries like Greece or the Ukraine – the gap of contemporary and old fashioned music is immense.
The style of music always varies from country to country and from year to year. If the stage setting and the atmosphere on stage is convincing, this song will qualify for the final. The voice seems a bit weak in the video clip, maybe it should sound like that?