Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.^[19] On 25 January 2016, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Croatia was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2016, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.^[20]

Once all the competing songs for the 2016 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Croatia was set to perform in position 5, following the entry from Hungary and before the entry from the Netherlands.^[21]

The two semi-finals and the final were broadcast in Croatia on HRT 1 with commentary by Duško Ćurlić.^[18] The three shows were also broadcast via radio on HR 2 with commentary by Zlatko Turkalj Turki.^[18] The Croatian spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the Croatian jury during the final, was Nevena Rendeli.^[18]

Nina Kraljić took part in technical rehearsals on 2 and 6 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 9 and 10 May.^[22] This included the jury show on 9 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.^[23]

The Croatian performance featured Nina Kraljić dressed in a large black-patterned grey coat, which was removed to reveal a white dress with blue and metallic elements.^[24][25] Kraljić's outfit was designed by Juraj Zigman with shoes designed by Ivan Ledenko.^[18] The stage lighting transitioned from blue to red as the performance progressed with the LED screens projecting sea waves and starry skies.^[24] Kraljić was joined on stage by four backing vocalists dressed in black coats: Andrej Babić, Martina Majerle, Danijela Večerinović and Lino Lacmanović Ćućić.^[18] Majerle previously represented Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 together with the group Quartissimo where they failed to qualify to the grand final of the contest with the song "Love Symphony".

At the end of the show, Croatia was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final.^[26] This was Croatia's first qualification to the final in seven years; their last appearance in the final was in 2009. It was later revealed that Croatia placed tenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 133 points: 53 points from the televoting and 80 points from the juries.^[27]

Shortly after the first semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Croatia was drawn to compete in the second half.^[28] Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Croatia was subsequently placed to perform in position 17, following the entry from Lithuania and before the entry from Russia.^[29]

Nina Kraljić once again took part in dress rehearsals on 13 and 14 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show.^[30] Nina Kraljić performed a repeat of her semi-final performance during the final on 14 May. Croatia placed twenty-third in the final, scoring 73 points: 33 points from the televoting and 40 points from the juries.^[31][32]

Voting during the three shows was conducted under a new system that involved each country now awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.^[33] In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.^[34]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Croatia and awarded by Croatia in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

The following members comprised the Croatian jury:^[33]

• Duško Mandić (jury chairperson) – music producer
• Boris Đurđević – music producer
• Damir Kedžo – singer, later selected to represent Croatia in the cancelled 2020 contest
• Pamela Ramljak – singer, represented Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 2005 contest and Croatia in the 2010 contest as member of Feminnem
• Kim Verson – singer

Detailed voting results from Croatia (Semi-final 1)^[35]

R/O	Country	Jury							Televote
		D. Mandić	B. Đurđević	D. Kedžo	P. Ramljak	K. Verson	Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Finland	8	12	15	11	15	14		15
02	Greece	17	16	17	17	16	17		17
03	Moldova	15	10	11	9	10	11		16
04	Hungary	5	7	5	2	3	3	8	3	8
05	Croatia
06	Netherlands	1	15	8	16	5	9	2	6	5
07	Armenia	12	3	7	3	7	6	5	8	3
08	San Marino	16	14	16	10	9	15		12
09	Russia	11	2	3	5	8	5	6	2	10
10	Czech Republic	7	1	1	1	1	1	12	7	4
11	Cyprus	4	5	2	7	2	2	10	9	2
12	Austria	10	13	13	13	12	13		4	7
13	Estonia	9	9	12	15	14	12		14
14	Azerbaijan	6	6	6	8	11	8	3	13
15	Montenegro	14	17	14	14	17	16		5	6
16	Iceland	3	11	10	12	13	10	1	11
17	Bosnia and Herzegovina	13	4	9	4	6	7	4	1	12
18	Malta	2	8	4	6	4	4	7	10	1

Detailed voting results from Croatia (Final)^[36]

R/O	Country	Jury							Televote
		D. Mandić	B. Đurđević	D. Kedžo	P. Ramljak	K. Verson	Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Belgium	6	18	18	15	6	12		18
02	Czech Republic	18	7	2	1	2	2	10	20
03	Netherlands	1	21	13	21	9	14		15
04	Azerbaijan	17	9	20	9	20	19		14
05	Hungary	11	15	12	2	3	6	5	8	3
06	Italy	5	3	5	17	16	8	3	11
07	Israel	3	8	6	8	12	4	7	22
08	Bulgaria	25	16	19	16	15	20		10	1
09	Sweden	10	19	7	19	17	18		4	7
10	Germany	14	23	25	25	25	24		16
11	France	2	4	11	10	7	3	8	9	2
12	Poland	16	10	21	18	5	17		7	4
13	Australia	4	6	8	4	1	1	12	6	5
14	Cyprus	9	17	10	11	4	10	1	13
15	Serbia	12	11	4	7	14	9	2	1	12
16	Lithuania	8	20	14	14	11	15		23
17	Croatia
18	Russia	19	2	3	6	10	5	6	3	8
19	Spain	22	22	22	20	21	22		19
20	Latvia	23	5	15	5	8	11		17
21	Ukraine	24	12	1	12	19	16		2	10
22	Malta	7	14	16	13	13	13		24
23	Georgia	21	25	23	24	24	25		21
24	Austria	20	13	17	22	22	21		5	6
25	United Kingdom	13	24	24	23	23	23		25
26	Armenia	15	1	9	3	18	7	4	12

• Official HRT Eurovision site