Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008


Croatia was represented by Kraljevi Ulice & 75 cents in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Romanca".

Before Eurovision

Dora 2008

Dora 2008 was the Croatian national selection Dora, which selected Croatia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.

Competing entries

200 entries were received by the broadcaster during a submission period. An expert committee selected fourteen artists and songs for the competition from the received submissions. An additional nine entries were written by composers invited by HRT for the competition. The invited composers were:
Among the performers in the competition were Emilija Kokić, the lead singer of the Eurovision Song Contest 1989 winners Riva, and 1996 Croatian entrant Maja Blagdan.

Semi-final

The semi-final took place on 22 February 2008 at the Crystal Ballroom of the Hotel Kvarner in Opatija, hosted by Duško Ćurlić, Nikolina Pišek and Lana Jurčević. The fourteen entries selected from the public submissions participated and six advanced to the final. The qualifiers were determined exclusively by a public televote.

Final

The final took place on 23 February 2008 at the Crystal Ballroom of the Hotel Kvarner in Opatija, hosted by Duško Ćurlić, Mirko Fodor, Nikolina Pišek and Lana Jurčević. The six entries that qualified from the preceding semi-final and the nine pre-qualified entries written by the invited composers participated and the winner was determined by a 50/50 combination of points awarded by an expert jury and from the public televote. "Milina" performed 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.
As there was a tie for the first place, where Kraljevi Ulice & 75 cents won the jury vote while Antonija Šola won the televote, the results of the jury took precedence and led to the victory of Kraljevi Ulice & 75 Cents.

At Eurovision

The 2008 Contest was the first to implement two semi-finals, with all countries, apart from the "Big Four" countries – Germany, Spain, France and the United Kingdom – and the host country Serbia, taking part in the semi-finals. Croatia took part in the second semi-final on 22 May 2008, qualifying for the final.
In the final they performed 9th following Finland and preceding Poland. They gained 44 points and were ranked 21st.

Points awarded by Croatia

Semi-final 2

Final

12 points10 points8 points7 points6 points

  • 5 points4 points3 points2 points1 point
  • 12 points10 points8 points7 points6 points

  • 5 points4 points3 points2 points1 point

  • Commentators and spokespersons

  • Commentators - Duško Ćurlić
  • Spokespersons - Barbara Kolar