Albina Tick-Tock Croatia Eurovision 2021
Photo: EBU / Thomas Hanses

Slowly but surely, the list of countries confirmed to be participating at Eurovision 2022 is growing.

On Monday 13 September, Croatia’s national broadcaster HRT confirmed the country will participate in the song contest to be held in Italy next year.

HRT also confirmed Croatia will use the Dora national final format to select its act.

Croatia: Dora will return in 2022

The search to find Albina’s successor is on.

Croatian broadcaster HRT confirmed the country will participate at Eurovision 2022 in Italy, with Dora returning to select the country’s artist and song.

HRT wrote on Facebook:

“Nice September weather only contributes to the preparations for Dora and the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, which are in full swing!

Coming soon, a competition for the Croatian song choice for Eurovision, so stay tuned for more information.”

The broadcaster is yet to disclose dates, rules and submission information for Dora 2022.

However, the recent history of the Croatian selection show suggests we will see a February air date.

Elsewhere, the contest was also recently expanded to allow songs in any European language to compete.

Prior to the 2021 contest, a five-week submission period from late October to early December 2020 saw some 140 entries sent to the five-person expert panel for scrutiny.

Later in February, 14 finalists including Eurovision veterans Nina Kraljić and Tony Cetinski competed in the the Dora final at the Marino Cvetković Sports Hall in Opatija for the coveted Croatian ticket to Eurovision.

A 50/50 split of jury votes and televotes determined Albina as the winner with her track “Tick-Tock”.

The final was shrouded in controversy when Nina Kraljić suggested Albina was favoured by the organisers, while  Bernarda’s sister alleged the “Colours” singer was placed on a ‘blacklist’.

Nevertheless, Albina went on to represent Croatia in Rotterdam. The “Tick-Tock” songstress placed 11th in the first semi-final, missing out on qualification to Norway’s TIX by a margin of just five points.

What do you think? Are you excited for Dora to return? Sound off in the comments below. 

Read more Croatia Eurovision 2022 news here

58 Comments
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Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
2 years ago

i was afraid they’d withdraw for some reason but thank godga they did not. they’re a country i really wanna see doing well.

Noel
Noel
2 years ago

I had the same feeling put I love for them to win the Eurovision song contest soon

BadWoolfGirl
BadWoolfGirl
2 years ago
Reply to  Noel

I’d like to see a lot of countries when your vision for the first time. I hope we get a first time winner next year, Whether it’s Croatia or another country

Bird Lover
Bird Lover
2 years ago
Reply to  BadWoolfGirl

when your vision? grammar has left the chat

Matija
Matija
2 years ago

Good Luck, Croatia! I hope we manage to qualify this year.

Iv***
Iv***
2 years ago
Reply to  Matija

It’s nice to hope but you do know it, I know it and we all know it: it’s not going to happen!

Bird Lover
Bird Lover
2 years ago

why is everyone still pressed about Albina? I dont get why everyone hyped tiktok and were angry when it didnt make it. It sounded dated compared to the other pop songs, very kylie minogue 2005. and all she did was say “tiktok oh no oh no” during the chorus. An easy non qualification. Being 1st to 7th in a semi there’s no “counting errors”. People act like she was a contender to win when she couldn’t even qualify safely from the semi? Maybe this attitude is why Croatia keeps failing

Ga89
Ga89
2 years ago
Reply to  Bird Lover

I think people are mad because she made it through in both jury and public vote yet still didn’t qualify. But math is math, what to do.

Iv***
Iv***
2 years ago
Reply to  Ga89

What to do? Maybe sending decent singers and decent songs?

Ga89
Ga89
2 years ago
Reply to  Iv***

Albina was decent. There were just better songs, she did a good job.

Iv***
Iv***
2 years ago
Reply to  Ga89

She certainly was not. The song and the performance very pretty much dull. The only thing I wonder is how anyone expected her to qualify. That is still a mystery for me. In the end, the song is the product of that “genius” who authored the “masterpiece ‘Crazy'”.

Bird Lover
Bird Lover
2 years ago
Reply to  Iv***

Literally they were going to send “colours” lol which was even more cringe than tiktok. and they still refuse to see why theyre not qualifying. Their national final pool of songs just ISNT ENOUGH

BadWoolfGirl
BadWoolfGirl
2 years ago
Reply to  Ga89

Yeah, after the semifinal one final us were announced, I had pegged Croatia as the borderline That didn’t make it, But when the full televote and jury results where released, it was really shocking to see that croatia actually made the top 10 of both, but their combo wasn’t enough to qualify. I don’t think that has ever happened before at eurovision. Whether you liked tick-tock or not, that’s a pretty shocking outfit. But even if Croatia had qualified, it probably would’ve under performed in the grand final as much as the other diva dance bops this year.

Bird Lover
Bird Lover
2 years ago
Reply to  Ga89

well Keino won the televote. The voting opened and yall voted another way to your now anger in the comments. lol. If you wanted to really send her to the finals you wouldve put her in the top 7. “math math” theres no math to work out when you have a GOOD entry and qualify with margins from 10th place. the whole 11th place/ in with both ranks argument is literally picking the smallest details: it wasnt high enough in either rank because it simply was another basic pop song with a “pop diva”. Cyprus israel and malta were in… Read more »

Last edited 2 years ago by Bird Lover
Iv***
Iv***
2 years ago
Reply to  Bird Lover

Couldn’t agree more!

Sale
Sale
2 years ago

Is there any way you guys from wiwibloggs can contact RTCG to see if Montenegro is returning, they have been pretty quite, but I am eager to know of we will return this year..
I’d be very greatful if you could!

Croatia
Croatia
2 years ago
Reply to  Sale

in this situation, what we have in Montenegro of a social and political crisis, I do not see them returning in this situatio

Last edited 2 years ago by Croatia
Sale
Sale
2 years ago
Reply to  Croatia

Lol we are not at war my friend, paritcipating in esc would be the least of our problems, it’s just that rtcg is one bad national station and that’s all

Alvaro
Alvaro
2 years ago

Definitely looking forward to the national selections, and to see if this one yields a qualifier. Hope it does, Albina deserved it so much imo (but it was a tough one)

Rashad
Rashad
2 years ago

Albina was so overrated, Efendi had the best dance song of the night. Doubt we will get anything spectacular from Croatia next year either, but good luck anyway!

btw
btw
2 years ago
Reply to  Rashad

Efendi’s song was meh and her character even more meh

Eugenie
Eugenie
2 years ago
Reply to  Rashad

Agree on Albina take and disagree on Efendi. I don’t think we should compare dance song of 2021, they all were painfully mediocre.

Azaad
Azaad
2 years ago

Given how close Albina was to qualifying it’s no surprise that they’re sticking with Dora. You have to commit to a national selection for it to gain a good reputation.

Karen
Karen
2 years ago

Send something in Croatian or stay home.

Iv***
Iv***
2 years ago
Reply to  Karen

I am definately for the latter!

ESCFanGA
ESCFanGA
2 years ago

If Croatia wants to do well at the contest they should do an internal selection similar to Switzerland instead of Dora, which has not worked out for them at Eurovision.

BadWoolfGirl
BadWoolfGirl
2 years ago
Reply to  ESCFanGA

Croatia had internally selected entries that didn’t qualify either.

DanyQueen
DanyQueen
2 years ago
Reply to  BadWoolfGirl

Tbf 2/3 of their internal selections qualified

ESCFanGA
ESCFanGA
2 years ago
Reply to  BadWoolfGirl

Not all internal selections are the same. Switzerland’s internal selection process has worked wonders for them since they started doing it in 2019 and Croatia should go down that route.

Denis
Denis
2 years ago
Reply to  ESCFanGA

And do what with Dora?

Iv***
Iv***
2 years ago
Reply to  Denis

Given our “performance” in the last two decades, I am all for the “solution luxembourgeoise”!

Denis
Denis
2 years ago
Reply to  Iv***

What? Hire foreign singers to represent? Yes, a Serbian singer representing Croatia would work well indeed..

Iv***
Iv***
2 years ago
Reply to  Denis

You missed my point. Being that bad and never made it even close to the top 10 in 20 years, I think it’s time to take a creative break and withdraw for a certain amount of time like Luxembourg. As a Croat, I don’t know what’s the point for HRT competing?

Iv***
Iv***
2 years ago
Reply to  ESCFanGA

Are you serious? And then we end with something like that crime against humanity called “Crazy Franka”!.

SayuSayuSayu
SayuSayuSayu
2 years ago
Reply to  ESCFanGA

Lol all 4 of the 0 point televotes this year were internally selected. And 4 out of the top 5 we’re national finals.

CatcoolH
CatcoolH
2 years ago

I hope they don’t miss out on the final by a few points again

Iv***
Iv***
2 years ago
Reply to  CatcoolH

We are going to miss it out, but by far more points. Again! 🙂

Croatia
Croatia
2 years ago

It hurts me a lot when I hear mega songs from Croatian artists that I appreciate and Eurovision is a different fairy tale, they give songs that they don’t perform in their work and I know many good artists with potential for success at Eurovision and they don’t have to be very famous people, e.g. Vinko, who won the voice in Croatia, has songs with a climate, you have to start showing songs hidden in the country and then it will be a success at Eurovision, because when I listen to what is played in Croatia, my heart hurts that… Read more »

Iv***
Iv***
2 years ago
Reply to  Croatia

But that’s what our Dora is for: To filter out quality!

Last edited 2 years ago by Iv***
Ga89
Ga89
2 years ago

I like the fact Croatia has passion to compete although they have been failing year after year despite sending some big names like Franka or having big selection like Dora 2021 where most people expected Croatia to make it through… Well, at least in Croatia. Looking forward to see what Dora will bring next year.

Malo
Malo
2 years ago
Reply to  Ga89

Only 3 non qualifications, and this year they were in the top 10 of both televoters and juries, so that’s encouraging.

Ga89
Ga89
2 years ago
Reply to  Malo

The new HoD seems eager to bring big stuff for Croatia so I am not worried. And ratings have been decent as well

Iv***
Iv***
2 years ago
Reply to  Malo

Set the bar low and everything becomes encouraging!

Sapphire
Sapphire
2 years ago
Reply to  Ga89

Latvia and North Macedonia have it worse, but I agree

Iv***
Iv***
2 years ago
Reply to  Ga89

“big names like Franka”… I don’t remember the last time I had to lough out loud that hard! If you’re Croat, the term “sponzoruša” should be familiar to you. If you are not, look it up and you shall know how “big” that Croatian 2018 embarrassment is!

DanyQueen
DanyQueen
2 years ago
Reply to  Iv***

Nije sponzorusa. She’s been an established artist (her popularity varied throughout the years but she’s always been a known figure on the scene) for more than a decade now, way before meeting her husband and marrying him. Not sure why you’d call her using misogynistic terms, are you jealous?

Iv***
Iv***
2 years ago
Reply to  DanyQueen

I guess today is the “ESC fun day”! “Established artist”! Without that sponsor she conveniently calls husband, I guess she would be a cleaning lady somewhere. Why do I call her that? Well, if something looks like a duck, walks like a duck, sounds like a duck I do call it a duck. Hm!? I guess I should have used a more proper comparison… Let me try: If something looks like a horse, walks like a horse, sound like a horse, has teeth of a horse, I do call it a horse.

Last edited 2 years ago by Iv***
Ga89
Ga89
2 years ago
Reply to  Iv***

Dude… Look yourself at the mirror first.

Iv***
Iv***
2 years ago
Reply to  Ga89

I’ve been called names as well. But thankfully I have never been associated with a horse, what’s the first thing we do in Croatian when we hearing ans seeing “the big established” Franka. Like Mr Ed used to sing: “A horse is a horse of course of course”.

DanyQueen
DanyQueen
2 years ago
Reply to  Iv***

God something’s very wrong with you, I hope you find help and peace.

Iv***
Iv***
2 years ago
Reply to  DanyQueen

PTSD my dear! After being exposed to that crime in 2018!!! Coming from a country that has been sending atrociously bad songs to the ESC for two decades now, I am learning to deal with it. One thing i’ve learned during my therapy is to boast that we are the only country in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest that was represented by a mare, back in 2018.

BadWoolfGirl
BadWoolfGirl
2 years ago

As of now, this makes it 30 countries officially confirming that they will participate next year’s Eurovision. I estimate will probably have about 10 more countries to confirm left, yes I believe Armenia will be back next year.

Joe
Joe
2 years ago
Reply to  BadWoolfGirl

Yeah, I can’t see any of the countries yet to confirm that competed last year withdrawing. Certainly there’s been no indicator from any of them that they might.

Joe
Joe
2 years ago
Reply to  Joe

Those countries, for those curious, being: Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Moldova, North Macedonia, Russia, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom.

Joe
Joe
2 years ago
Reply to  Joe

I’m thinking bare minimum 40 countries, possibly more depending on our handful of wildcards (Hungary, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, and Turkey, to varying degrees of likelihood).

Joe
Joe
2 years ago
Reply to  Joe

(Also, the likelihood is slim to none, but let’s not forget that the only country to vote for Morocco at their sole contest appearance was Italy…maybe it’s high time they returned the favor? Just saying.)

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
2 years ago
Reply to  Joe

0 chance. they don’t consider themselves european and even though their islamist parties tanked harder than a nicki minaj song in 2021 at last week’s elections, they still have different ideals from the european ones

BadWoolfGirl
BadWoolfGirl
2 years ago
Reply to  Joe

I was just about to put down a list of those ten countries that have haven’t confirmed yet, but you did the job for me, thank you.

I think at the very least we might get 40 countries next year, Including Armenia and nobody else withdraws.

Last edited 2 years ago by BadWoolfGirl