Nina Kraljić, who represented Croatia at 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, recently released the video for the song ‘Rijeka’. With this song, she came second in this year’s Dora, the Croatian national selection.
Dora 2021 was such a huge let down for Nina Kraljić. The bookmakers had the 29-year-old artist as a big favourite to win for the second time, but that didn’t happen as she finished second. After the competition, Nina Kraljić couldn’t hide her disappointment. She accused the organisers of preventing her to win. She complained that this year’s Dora’s order of participants wasn’t determined by a draw as she considered it as a disadvantage that her song Rijeka was the opening act. Furthermore, Nina mentioned that many people wrote to her that they weren’t able to vote for her song. She also explained, that during the rehearsals she heard the winning song Tick-Tock in her in ears, implying that the winner of Dora was determined in advance. The public reacted pretty negative towards Nina’s accusations which made an impact on the artist, so she decided to delete some of her social profiles.
Now, around six months later, Nina Kraljić has released the video for the song Rijeka which translates to River. Rijeka marks a kind of new beginning in Kraljić’s carrier as she lately has been focusing on ethno music inspired by Slavonic mythology.
Would Croatia have scored a better result had they sent Nina to the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest? Would Nina have managed to score a better result this year than Albina, who finished 11th in the first semi-final? We’ll never know.
In the video below you can watch the new video Rijeka. Below the video, Nina explains the new video.
Nina Kraljić explains Rijeka and the symbolic video
The song Rijeka is symbolic and significant for me not only because I began to build a clear and focused stylistic musical expression within the ethno, our Old Slavonic customs and elements with the inevitable connection with nature, but also because the meaning of the river is to let go, to clean the old and to immerse into the new and the courage to move unhindered towards what we really are, can and want. The search for and transformation into something new and stronger is the theme of this song and the video itself. The bird is a powerful protector and guide in seeking, discovering, and indulging in the individual path of an authentic individual if the individual dares to embark on that challenging, inner journey.
The bird is the archetype of old tunes and customs, the guardian of everything valuable that has been there from the very beginning and the connection with the otherworldly and the earthly. It tests the protagonist whether she is really ready and worth the venture and whether she will find the right path or deviate from it because the path is not easy. All of us, if we really want to progress at one point, must bravely tread untrodden paths only with the belief that what keeps us going is enough to give in to every challenge that life brings. We feel a huge urge to live ourselves completely. We look for signs, listen and merge. The protagonist in the story encounters certain symbols that lead her to the final initiation. At the end of the journey, with the help of mysterious water fairies, that help her truly “dive” into the water, she makes the last decisive step to transform herself into a new, stronger and more focused person. First at the end of the journey, the bird makes direct contact, transmits its wisdom, protection and ancient knowledge, as it leaves after the initiation, while the protagonist visibly experiences change on the outside and inside. The bird turns into the logo of the Alkonost of the Balkan project in the sky, announcing a new beginning.
