Will Nina Kraljić's "Lighthouse" shine the way to Croatia's first Eurovision final visit in ten years?
Country: Croatia
Song Title: "Lighthouse"
Artist: Nina Kraljić
First Semi-Final: Position #5
Last year's entry: Did not compete
Croatia last competed at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013, deciding to take a break for budgetary reasons and because they have only advanced to the Final twice since 2007. The time off seems to have served Croatia well, as they have adopted the strategy of using an alum from their version of The Voice -- season 1 winner Nina Kraljić -- to represent the former Yugoslav state. Here is the updated version of the video for "Lighthouse":
I'm not sure why they abandoned the literal use of lighthouses for the video, but whatevs. This song has grown on me since my last review, and the slightly tweaked audio track has cleared up my concern about "Lighthouse" being overproduced. In fact, listening to Nina Kraljić's performance from the Eurovision in Concert event earlier this month has me excited about what we will see in Stockholm. She sounds incredible live, with a purity to her voice that the produced track has tempered for some reason.
I think Croatia is sitting pretty for finally getting to the Eurovision final. Along with the "welcome back" points that usually boost countries returning from hiatus, Croatia has lots of friends and neighbors in the first semi-final, including Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Malta.
Should Croatia advance to the final, it will be interesting to see if Nina Kraljić can navigate her way to the top ten. The bookies have Croatia ranked 12th overall, though that is behind Sweden and Spain (both of which I think are overvalued((YEAH I SAID IT))) and Latvia (which I fear may be under-appreciated). A strong stage performance could make the difference. Either way, welcome back to the party, Croatia!