CROATIA 2025

The Croatian entry was chosen on March 2nd through the show "Dora 2025". There were two semi finals of 12 songs, 8 going through to the final from each show. T50% of the score came from the televote  with 25% each coming from a national and international jury. Going to Basel is Marko Bošnjak with "Poison Cake".

Marko Bošnjak is 21 and is originally from Mostar in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Marko started out at a young age and at aged 11 won a children's Serbian talent show called "Pinkove Zvezdice" (Pink's Little Stars) singing songs in both English and Serbian. His first attempt at going to Eurovision occurred in 2022 and came second and this gained him his first HR Top 100 entry. He has since competed at the Split Festival, performed at Serbian Pride, took part in Croatia's version of "Your Face Sounds Familiar" and sang at a charity show for Gaza at Zagreb's Klub Močvara. His Eurovision entry is his ninth single release.

Marko is joined on stage by four female dancers. Marko is in a black suit, with pointed shoulders and a cape The overall look is slightly wicked, Dracula-like. The dancers are dressed like evil chefs in their black tops, peplums, trousers and hats. The five of them appear to be in a kitchen as Marko starts the song sitting on a counter top and the dancers pop up through the windows or through the doors that double as fridges and cupboards. The song and performance is full of extremes with Marko able to switch between vengeful, gothic, spurned lover and camp, happy best friend with ease. The lighting and dance moves also changes between these differing emotions. After verse one comes the two-part pre chorus then chorus. The next verse is slightly longer than the first but continues into the pre chorus and chorus. Finally there is a building refrain before the screaming end where the beat also kicks up a gear and the dancing becomes even more frenetic.

This is one of the more curious entries this year. There is no doubt Marko is a star: his vocal ability is clear and his ability to shapeshift between parts is quite extraordinary. The problem is that this is absolutely bonkers - so bonkers it almost doesn't make sense. This leans into the fairy tale narrative of good versus evil, a trope not new in Eurovision terms, however having one person playing all the parts is. In the way Jacques Houdek played two parts through lighting changes, a split costume and vocal changes, Marko does by changes of facial expression, body language and tone of voice. Although I can see how the staging and dancing fits the song, I almost feel it doesn't go OTT enough. The posse of dancers works well but the choreo is too nondescript and needs to hammer home the storyline. The lyrics are a little basic and contains odd turns of phrase. The chorus is extremely one note (and one lyric) and the shouting at the end is rather disconcerting. The balance inside this entry needs recalibrating - better costumes, more stage space and better technical scope will help. If they do that, they might just get away with it.

ARTIST - Marko Bošnjak

SONG - Poison Cake

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Marko Bošnjak, Emma Gale, Filip Majdak, Ben Pyne, Bas Wissink