DORA 2021 – Croatian National Selection – February 13, 2021
Summary by Kyle Woods
Another year has gone by, and it’s time to turn our eyes to Opatija, Croatia for the next edition of Dora. Unlike many other countries, Croatia did not give last year’s selection a free pass to the final – in fact Damir Kedžo did not even compete this year. On the whole, the crop of songs wasn’t the best, though there were certainly at least some interesting outfits to see!
See my quick thoughts below for each of the 14 entries:
1. Nina Kraljić – Rijeka (River) (Placed 2 of 14)
https://youtu.be/xL2sMVwtpk4
I enjoy Nina Kraljić as a performer, but I did not enjoy this performance. Her outfit was horrible, and while the song eventually got around to highlighting her vocal ability, it sure took its time getting there and I am not sure it was worth the journey. Other than the pole dancer, all we had to look at was Nina’s take at cultural appropriation, standing in the middle of the stage with some blue Zulu warrior outfit. I was excited to see she was performing but very disappointed at the result.
2. Eric Vidović – Reci mi (Tell Me) (Placed 10 of 14)
https://youtu.be/vNbf2A2aACM
Eric is adorable, though I don’t know what was going on with the camera work during his number. The song is his own work and he seems to be really enjoying it. I don’t really know what was going on with the creepy shadow dancer on the screen, though. All-told, this was one of the better performances of the night, though, and I suspect we’ll see more of this performer in the future.
3. Ella Orešković – Come This Way (Placed 9 of 14)
https://youtu.be/D8peN0PHmec
I am a sucker for a sea of fog, so I was poised to like this one when it started. The visual effect of Ella’s white dress coming out of the fog was quite striking. Then she turns around and reveals that that beautiful gown is unfortunately backless. The song itself is okay, but Ella seems like she is phoning in the performance.
4. Bernarda Brunović – Colors (Placed 7 of 14)
https://youtu.be/A9_oZ7jzqMM
I don’t know that this one was anything special, though I love Bernarda’s voice. The song itself feels fairly cliched – it feels like something we would see at Eurovision from Azerbaijan probably. The performance itself was unspectacular – Ella stood in a large deltahedron that changed colors periodically. Also, Bernarda may need to talk to her hairdresser. Given the singer’s blindness, I guess there is a message behind the lyrics, but song itself wasn’t really anything special.
5. Sandi Cernov – Kriv (Guilty) (Placed 14 or 14)
https://youtu.be/73PlxuMYsQs
I don’t know that this one was staged very well – the bright blue and purple lighting really didn’t work well and made the song look like something it wasn’t. However, Sandi has a good voice and seemed sincere (even though he doesn’t ever open his eyes). I do not really love his plaid suit and unbuttoned shirt, though.
6. ToMa – Ocean of Love (Placed 6 of 14)
https://youtu.be/sYz4KEibOj4
I loved the silhouette opening here – it looks fun. Unfortunately, once that’s over the song performance kind of feels disjointed. The backup dancers had some questionable outfits, and the lyrics themselves were vapid. It was a fun upbeat performance, though.
7. Filip Rudan – Blind (Placed 5 of 14)
https://youtu.be/vllNxNa_NHg
This is a soft song well-executed. I liked Filip’s circling with the microphone stand and the whistling in final minute is nice. He certainly has a good voice and he succeeds in connecting with his audience. I really enjoyed this one, although ultimately it wasn’t particularly memorable. Still I think it was probably the best performance of the night. The video screens behind him were full of visual noise, and caused me some anxiety, but Filip was a joy to watch.
8. Beta Sudar – Ma zamisli (Imagine that) (Placed 12 of 14)
https://youtu.be/yB0KZAzKVdQ
Tiffany blue anyone? That’s the biggest takeaway from the song, as Beta came out in skin-tight tiffany blue miniskirt, top, and knee-high boots. The performance was certainly upbeat though. Even if the song itself wasn’t anything special, Beta certainly was selling it. She interacts well with her dancers and looks like she is having a good time.
9. Cambi – Zaljubljen (In Love) (Placed 4 of 14)
https://youtu.be/AhHRGhU9tcI
I liked the staging here. The staging has a nice black-and-white effect and the first third of the song is done in with the performers lit only from behind. The performance becomes a little less composed once the lights turn on and the singers stand up. The song itself is a classic Croatian style, and it wasn’t bad.
10. Ashley Colburn and Bojan Jambrošić – Share the Love (Placed 11 of 14)
https://youtu.be/a5fRbbNhkis
This one felt like a classic Eurovision song, but not necessarily in a good way! It is a saccharine “love everyone” song with all the tropes (yes, including making a heart with their hands). Ashley looked kind of tentative and the style of the song made her voice seem weak. The key change is a bit off too, and the pair appear to have a level of romantic chemistry not seen since my last visit to a nursing home. The performance was far from spectacular.
11. Brigita Vuco – Noći pijane (Drunken nights) (Placed 13 of 14)
https://youtu.be/suzkd0tuBWE
Well this happened. The song has a rap style to it, which isn’t really my style. However, it felt like the Brigita was intentionally holding back her talent. There were some interesting visual effects – with the screen blurring in and out at some points. Ultimately the song itself was fairly forgettable. However, Brigita’s outfit was really quite bad. She wore what looked like white track pants tucked into her athletic socks, and a white halter top over a black corset. It was really quite a disaster.
12. Mia Negovetić – She’s Like a Dream (Placed 3 of 14)
https://youtu.be/CcCYGyvSSmA
I believe Mia is the only returning artist from 2020. I loved her song in 2020 and hated her outfit (you will recall she wore a sports bra over her dress). This year, I don’t really know what was going on with the outfit – some sort of metallic lavender skirt with an ugly top. Mia had some nice dance moves though and her natural charm overcame some of the shortcomings of her song. Mia will end up winning Dora one of these days, though hopefully with something a little better than this.
13. Albina Grčić– Tick-Tock (Placed 1 of 14)
https://youtu.be/CX9fBSTjUfk
I am not sure how this won. It was not the best song of the night and not the best performance either. Perhaps Croatia just wants to win the Barbra Dex award this year and went that route with Albina and her dancers serving construction site realness. The song is kind of soulless, though I did enjoy when Albina’s dancers picked her up and held her horizontal for a good long time. At least it was upbeat, though, and with the words “Tick Tock” flashing on the screen, it’s not likely you will forget the title. I think if we were to compare the Albina Tick Tock with Mariya Yaremchuk’s version from 2014, though, Albina would lose hands-down!
14. Tony Cetinski and Kiki Rahibovski – Zapjevaj, Sloboda je (Sing, it’s freedom) (Placed 8 of 14)
https://youtu.be/k3zxu1SbjF4
This one has an interesting chess motif going on – the stage was a chess board with oversized chess pieces, and the singers wore black and white. However, the problem was that the song had nothing to do with chess at all. Confusingly, they also chose to display the phrase “freedom of speech” behind them in several different languages.
A nice surprise was the interval act by 2002 Dora winner Vesna Pisarović! She had taken a break from performing for several years, but I have been a long-time fan of Vesna, and anytime I get to see her perform, I get excited. Unfortunately, these songs weren’t really all that memorable for a comeback and was very long. It picked up a bit when she donned some of the ugliest red pants I’ve seen in a while and reprised her 2002 Eurovision entry “Sasvim Sigurna” (the superior Croatian language version) – she seemed to be having more fun with that and the performance wouldn’t have been complete without it! However it was fun to see the competitors dancing along from off the stage.
When the dust settled, Albina won the show with Tick Tock, somehow. On the whole, the crop of songs wasn’t really spectacular this year, with nothing standing out as particularly bad but nothing coming off as particularly spectacular either. However, I am excited to see lots of talent in the younger artists (in particular Mia Negovetić, Eric Vidović, and Filip Rudan) which gives me hope we may see something spectacular come out of Croatia someday, just not this time.