Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Country	Croatia
National selection
Selection process	National Final
Selection date(s)	Semi-final 22 February 2008 Final 23 February 2008
Selected entrant	Kraljevi Ulice & 75 cents
Selected song	Romanca
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Qualified (4th, 112 points)
Final result	21st, 44 points

Croatia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 and placed twenty-first in the final. Having missed their first Eurovision final, Croatia hoped for a better result in Belgrade. Ten songs pre-qualified for the final of the Dora that was held in Opatija on 23 February 2008. They were joined by six qualifiers from a semi-final on 22 February 2008. A jury/televoting mix chose the entry. Kraljevi Ulice & 75 Cents were declared the winners, even though they had the same number of points as Antonija Šola, because they were the jury's favorites. Among the performers in competition were Emilija Kokić the lead singer of the Eurovision Song Contest 1989 winners Riva and 1996 Croatian entrant Maja Blagdan.

Before the final there was a Semi-Final with 14 performers competing, with 4 reserves in case of withdrawal or disqualification. The top 6 songs - chosen by a mix of Televoting and jury vote - qualified for the National Final. "Milina", a song by Dino Dvornik & Bane, was disqualified just 2 nights before the final, so the official scoreboard contained their name and the phone number for televoting, but the votes weren't counted.

National final

Draw	Artist	Song	Televote		Jury	Total	Place
1	Dye and the Colors	"Zažmirim i putujem"	496	8	4	12	12
2	Hari Rončević	"Ležim na suncu"	229	4	2	6	15
3	Emilija Kokić	"Anđeo"	1554	12	8	20	6
4	Prva Liga i Druge	"Vila"	2571	14	6	20	6
5	Tamara Obrovac	"Amor"	279	6	14	20	6
6	Pero Galić	"Otvori mi oči"	690	9	6	15	10
7	Antonija Šola	"Gdje je srce tu je dom"	4119	16	15	31	2
8	Ivo Gamulin Gianni	"Sanjam"	1858	13	12	25	3
9	Alen Islamović	"Mirno spava kosa plava"	193	3	8	11	13
10	Maja Blagdan	"Zvala sam ga Anđele"	247	5	4	9	14
11	Giuliano	"Plava vještica"	117	2	12	14	11
12	Maja Šuput	"Lako zaljubljiva"	835	10	12	22	5
13	Kraljevi Ulice & 75 cents	"Romanca"	3882	15	16	31+1=32	1
14	Bonaca & Nera	"Tvoje oko ka' more duboko"	1246	13	11	24	4
15	Ivana Banfić	"Mir"	358	7	9	16	9
16	Dino Dvornik & Bane	"Milina"	0	1	1	2	16

At Eurovision

Croatia took part in the second semi-final on 22 May 2008, qualifying for the final.^[1]. In the final they performed 9th following Poland and preceding Finland. They gained 44 points and were ranked 21st.^[2]

Commentators and spokespersons

• Commentators - Duško Ćurlić^[3]
• Spokespersons - Barbara Kolar^[4]

See also

• Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest

References

1. ^ Eurovision Song Contest 2008 Semi-Final (2) | Second Semi-Final | Eurovision Song Contest - Belgrade 2008
2. ^ Eurovision Song Contest 2008 Final | The Final | Eurovision Song Contest - Belgrade 2008
3. ^ "www4.hrt.hr/raspored/?raspored=1&mreza=3&datum=2008-05-20". http://www4.hrt.hr/raspored/?raspored=1&mreza=3&datum=2008-05-20. 
4. ^ "Voting Eurovision Songcontest 2008 Croatia". http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=AuJtAbmfRbk&feature=related. Retrieved 2008-05-07.