CROATIA

The Croatian final took place on the 5th of March at the HRT TV Studios in Zagreb.
The Croatian selection was not eh normal “DORA” as usual. The Croats decided to follow Germany’s lead last year and chose and song and singer similar to the “Unser star fuer Oslo”. After several weeks of knockout rounds, 3 songs were to be sung by the two finalists. The winning combination was German-born Daria Kinzer singing “Lahor”

The song revolves quite strongly around the use of a prop – at first it just looks like a spangly magicians table but ends up being used much more than that. Daria appears from behind it and starts singing. Concealed inside are her two backing singer/dancers who then join her on the stage proper. Then a DJ joins behind and starts spinning decks on the table. She is then further joined by two male break dancers who come on from the wings.

The songs starts off with Daria showing off her lower range, this also makes sure that as the song progresses she can show off the rest of the vocal range and that the song has somewhere to go, vocally. When the chorus kicks in the song really starts to come together. It also gives a chance for the backing track to kick up a gear. The broken down bit in the middle does break the flow of the song slightly and does feel a little out of place. However if more time is takes to make the visuals and choreography of this it fit in, it might make it really stand out as an entry.
This is actually not a bad song and does have quite a few memorable qualities. You actually feel like some car and attention and thought has gone into the song and performance itself. Daria may also benefit from some better choreography as well as a much more flattering dress!

As a winning reprise for having the winning song and being the selected singer, Daria sings it again (or should I say, mime) at the end – but this time in English. The English version is bizarrely called “Break a leg” :o/ I do hope they stay with the original version – or they re-write the English version to one that makes sense! Both entries can be found below so you can make your own minds up!


SINGER – Daria Kinzler
SONG – Lahor (Breeze) / Break A Leg
MUSIC – Boris Đurđević
WORDS – Andrea Čubrić