This evening saw the first semi-final in Croatia. Twelve acts competed for the six places available for the Dora final, to be held in March.
The show was hosted by Leona Paraminski and Aleksandar Kostadinov. Although the six acts would be chosen by the viewers, three ‘experts’, Milna Vlaovic, a songwriter, Dino Jelusic, 2006 JESC winner and singer, Gabi Novak, were on hand to give their opinions of the singers.
Each singer was not singing their entry for the Dora. Instead, they all sang well known songs with the aim of impressing with their vocal and performing abilities.
The twelve competing acts were:
Damir Kedzo- Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Ivana Brkasic –Iznad Oblaka
Artemija Stanic – Believe
Miro Tomic – Sjecam se Prvog Poljupca
Mila Soldatic – Wuthering Heights
Tina Vukov – S Vremena na Vrijeme’
Mario Sambrailo – Sway
Sabrina Hebiri – Tempera
Dora Benc – This is the Life
Jelena Vanjek – Gdje Dunav Ljuvb
Jacques Houdek – Molitva
While the public were casting their votes, Feminem entertained the audience with a variety of Eurovision songs. Five acts were announced as qualifiers, with the sixth act to be announced in next week’s show, with the phone lines remaining open for this act to be voted for.
The five acts for whom the wait is over and who know they are through to the next round of what is a complex selection process are:
Damir Kedzo
Miro Tomic
Sabrina Hebiri
Dora Benc
Jacques Houdek
The second round is next Saturday.
Update: Croatian broadcaster has revealed that an error occurred during the processing of the voting. Damir Kedzo is no longer qualified, instead Jelena Vanjek is through.
