Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Country	Croatia
National selection
Selection process	Dora 2009
Selection date(s)	Semi-final 27 February 2009 Final 28 February 2009
Selected entrant	Igor Cukrov feat. Andrea
Selected song	"Lijepa Tena"
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Qualified (13th, 33 points)
Final result	18th, 45 points

Croatia were represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, held in Moscow, Russia, by Igor Cukrov feat. Andrea Šušnjara with the song Lijepa Tena (Beautiful Tena) after winning the Croatian national final, Dora 2009.

Dora 2009

Dora 2009 was held in the Croatian city of Opatija, despite rumours that HRT would move Dora to another city. The contest was the same as last year, with one semi-final, on 27 February, being held before a grand final, held a day later on 28 February.^[1][2] HRT had revealed that Dora 2009 will follow the same format as last year's contest, with a public call for songs by local composers only being held. 14 songs through this method were selected by HRT to compete in the semi-final, with the top six through televoting progressing to the final. They were joined by ten songs submitted by selected composers by HRT, with the winner being selected from these 16 songs by a 50/50 mix of jury and televoting.^[3]

The deadline for songs passed on 12th December 2008. The names of the 10 invited composers were revealed on 15th December, while the 14 semi-finalists were revealed on 23rd December.^[4][5]

Semi-final

The Dora 2009 semi-final was held on 27 February 2009 at the Hotel Kvarner in Opatija, and featured 14 songs. The top 6 in a televote passed to the final, where they will be joined by 10 other songs.^[6] The songs that will compete in this semi-final were revealed on 23 December 2008,^[7][8] and the draw for the running order was held on 26 February, one fday before the contest.^[9]

Boris Novković's song, "Raduj se", had been selected to be performed in the semi-final, however Novković was forced to withdraw from the competition, claiming that he didn't have time to select a performer to his song. His song will be replaced by "Kao jedno", to be performed by runner-up Sandra Bagarić.^[10] Goran Karan also pulled out of the semi-final on 2 February as he did not think his song, "Adam i Eva" accomplished all the expectations and is not for the kind of festival where Croatia decides upon their song for Europe. He will be replaced by Mario Battifiaca with "Ma gdje bila".^[11][12]

Dora 2009 Semi-Final - 27 February, 2009

Draw	Artist	Song	Lyrics (l) / Music (m)	Televote	Place
1	Sandra Bagarić	"Kao jedno"	Inge Privora (m & l), Dražen Scholz (m)	560	12
2	Maja Vučić	"Tebe imam ja"	Duško Rapotec-Ute (m), Robert Pilepić (l)	489	13
3	Ricardo Luque & Maja Vasilj	"Ljubav ima njeno lice"	Duško Rapotec-Ute (m), Robert Pilepić (l)	616	10
4	Alen Vitasović & Lela Kaplowitz	"Tamo gdje ljubav počinje"	Emilija Kokić (m), Haris Brković (m), Antonija Šola (l)	648	9
5	Sane	"Dečko"	Nikola Marijanović (m & l), Thomas Balaž (m), Stjepan Krznarić (m)	837	8
6	Tomislav Bralić & Klapa Intrade	"Ne damo te pismo naša"	Ivica Badurina (m), Branko Slivar (l)	3957	1
7	Dražen Žanko	"Samo ti"	Dražen Žanko (m), Matija Fuček (l)	1202	5
8	Marta Kuliš	"Makni se"	Srđan Sekulović-Skansi (m & l), Gojko Tomljanović (m)	432	14
9	Jelena Radan	"Voljet ću te sutra"	Meri Jaman (m), Anita Valo (m), Ines Prajo (l), Arjana Kunstek (l)	573	11
10	Mario Battifiaca	"Ma gdje bila"	Robert Grubišić (m), Marina Valković (l)	2380	3
11	Čager Zoc & Papak Dance Company	"Ritam da se ritam"	Miran Hadži Veljković (m & l), Zlatko Petrović (l)	1116	6
12	Marko Tolja	"Stranci"	Olja Dešić (m & l)	855	7
13	Ivo Gamulin Gianni	"Daj mi jedan razlog"	Alka Vuica (m & l)	2488	2
14	Feminnem	"Poljupci u boji"	Branimir Mihaljević (m), Neda Parmać (l)	1941	4

Final

The final of Dora 2009 was held a day after the semi-final, on 28 February. The final list of participants in the final of Dora 2009 were released on 28 January 2009, which include Croatian contestants from the Balkan talent show Operacija trijumf, Ana Bebić and Igor Cukrov.^[13][14][15] 16 songs in total competred, the 10 automatic finalists as well as the six semi-final qualifiers.

Dora 2009 Final - 28 February, 2009

Draw	Artist	Song	Lyrics (l) / Music (m)	Votes			Place
				Jury	Televote	Total
1	Ana Bebić	"Mrzim spore stvari"	Nenad Ninčević (m), Miro Buljan (l)	2	11	13	11
2	Hari Rončević & Kvartet Bravo	"Još uvik"	Hari Rončević (m & l)	7	1	8	14
3	Ruswaj	"Što će mi ljubav"	Miroslav Rus (m & l)	3	4	7	15
4	Mijo Lešina	"To nisam ja"	Bruno Kovacic (m & l)	12	2	14	10
5	Dražen Žanko	"Samo ti"	Dražen Žanko (m), Matija Fuček (l)	10	7	17	8
6	Franka Batelić	"Pjesma za kraj"	Boris Đurđević (m), Miro Buljan (m), Nenad Ninčević (l)	4	14	18	7
7	Mario Battifiaca	"Ma gdje bila"	Robert Grubišić (m), Marina Valković (l)	7	10	17	8
8	VIVA	"Opet"	Miro Buljan (m), Nenad Ninčević (l)	1	6	7	15
9	Ivo Gamulin Gianni	"Daj mi jedan razlog"	Alka Vuica (m & l)	14	13	27	4
10	Feminnem	"Poljupci u boji"	Branimir Mihaljević (m), Neda Parmać (l)	16	12	28	3
11	Denis Dumančić	"Srce moram seliti"	Denis Dumančić (m), Fayo (l), Zorica Dumančić (l)	5	5	10	13
12	Danijela Pintarić	"Zlatna rijeka"	Zrinko Tutić (m & l)	10	3	13	11
13	Čager Zoc & Papak Dance Company	"Ritam da se ritam"	Miran Hadži Veljković (m & l), Zlatko Petrović (l)	10	9	19	5
14	Tomislav Bralić & Klapa Intrade	"Ne damo te pismo naša"	Ivica Badurina (m), Branko Slivar (l)	13	16	29	2
15	Igor Cukrov	"Lijepa Tena"	Tonči Huljić (m), Vjekoslava Huljić (l)	15	15	30	1
16	Aria	"Istina je"	Ante Pecotić (m & l)	11	8	19	5

At Eurovision

Igor and Andrea were forced to compete in the second semi-final on May 14 after Kraljevi ulice and 75 cents came 21st in the 2008 contest. At the semi-final on 14 May the duo performed 1st in the running order, preceding Ireland. The duo qualified to the final as the jury's selected qualifier. In the final they performed 5th, following Sweden and preceding Portugal, eventually finishing 18th.

See also

• Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Eurovision Song Contest 2009

References

1. ^ "HRT decides on February 28". Oikotimes. 2008-10-19. http://www.oikotimes.com/v2/index.php?file=articles&id=4202. Retrieved 2008-10-19. 
2. ^ Floras, Stella (2008-10-20). "Croatia: DORA 2009 dates set". ESCToday. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12401. Retrieved 2008-10-20. 
3. ^ Floras, Stella (2008-10-26). "Croatia: DORA 2009 call for songs". ESCToday. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12432. Retrieved 2008-10-26. 
4. ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (2008-12-15). "Croatia: Dora 2009 invited composers". ESCToday. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12696. Retrieved 2008-12-22. 
5. ^ Viniker, Barry (2008-12-22). "Croatia: Dora Eurovision hopefuls announced tomorrow". ESCToday. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12696. Retrieved 2008-12-22. 
6. ^ Fisher, Luke (2009-02-28). "Croatia: Results from DORA semifinal". Oikotimes. http://www.oikotimes.com/v2/index.php?file=articles&id=5240. Retrieved 2009-02-28. 
7. ^ Gudim, Laura (2008-12-23). "Croatia: Dora songs revealed". ESCToday. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12778. Retrieved 2008-12-23. 
8. ^ Konstantopoulos, Fotis (2008-12-23). "Croatia: HRT reveals the 2009 DORA participants". Oikotimes. http://www.oikotimes.com/v2/index.php?file=articles&id=4645. Retrieved 2008-12-23. 
9. ^ Fisher, Luke (2009-02-27). "Croatia: DORA running order for tonight's show revealed". Oikotimes. http://www.oikotimes.com/v2/index.php?file=articles&id=5228. Retrieved 2009-02-27. 
10. ^ Costa, Nelson (2009-01-15). "Croatia: Boris Novković out of Dora 2009". Oikotimes. http://www.oikotimes.com/v2/index.php?file=articles&id=4803. Retrieved 2009-01-15. 
11. ^ Horvat, Ivan (2009-02-02). "Croatia: Goran Karan decided not to participate in Dora". ESCToday. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/13133. Retrieved 2009-02-02. 
12. ^ Calleja Bayliss, Marc (2009-02-02). "Croatia: Goran Karan will not to take part in Dora 2009". Oikotimes. http://www.oikotimes.com/v2/index.php?file=articles&id=4999. Retrieved 2009-02-02. 
13. ^ Costa, Nelson (2009-01-09). "Ana Bebić to compete in Dora". Oikotimes. http://www.oikotimes.com/v2/index.php?file=articles&id=4741. Retrieved 2009-01-09. 
14. ^ Gudim, Laura (2009-01-09). "Croatia: Ana Bebić sings Mrzim spore stvari at Dora". ESCToday. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12858. Retrieved 2009-01-09. 
15. ^ Horvat, Ivan (2009-01-28). "Croatia: Full list of Dora finalists revealed". ESCToday. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/13053. Retrieved 2009-01-28.