The Croatian national broadcaster, HRT, has confirmed participation in Eurovision 2018.
Croatia will compete at the upcoming 63rd Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon. The confirmation comes following earlier reports of participation discussions being ongoing.
More details on how Croatia will select its artist and song for Eurovision 2018 are expected to follow.
Croatia first participated in Eurovision in Millstreet in 1993. In 2017, Jacques Houdek represented the country and achieved 13th place and 128 points in the Grand Final. This included the maximum 12 points from the televote of both Montenegro and Slovenia.
However, the Croatian entry received much less support from the professional juries in the 2017 contest. My Friend finished 22nd of 26 entries in the Grand Final on the jury vote. Following the contest, Jacques is reported to have expressed disappointment that he did not receive more support from juries in the former Yugoslavian countries.
Nevertheless, the Croatian singer appeared to be satisfied with his overall result. Following the final in Kyiv, Jacques commented:
Thank you to all who trusted us. We are delighted, satisfied with the performance and the 13th place and we hope that the Republic of Croatia will progress every year to Eurovision.
As of 11 September, 30 countries are now confirmed to compete in Eurovision 2018. Earlier today, it was confirmed that Slovakia would not return. Croatia will compete in either the first or second semi-final to be held on 8 and 10 May 2018 in order to win a place in the Eurovision 2018 final to be held on 12 May 2018 at the MEO Arena, Lisbon.
Source: eurosong.hr
[tw-accordion class=””] [tw-accordion-section title=”Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest”] Croatia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993, they were one of three countries to debut in the contest that year. Croatia’s best result came in 1999 when Doris Dragovic finished 4th in Jerusalem. She performed the song “Marija Magdalena” which scored a total of 118 points, this included 12 points from Slovenia and Spain. Croatia returned to the contest in 2016 having withdrawn after the 2013 contest due to a string of poor results and financial difficulties.[/tw-accordion-section] [/tw-accordion]
