Franka Batelić

1992–2006: Early life and education

Franka Batelić was born on 7 June 1992 in Rijeka.^[4] She has a younger brother Nikola who is the singer and guitarist of the Labin-based band "Storm".^[5] She began singing at the age of three, initially as a soloist with the Minicantanti choir and also sang in the church choir of St. Andrew Catholic parish in Rabac.^[5][6]

After finishing elementary and high school in her hometown, Batelić spent two semesters at the Berklee College of Music, and later enrolled at the Zagreb School of Law.^[7]

2007: Career beginnings

Batelić participated in auditions for the first season of Showtime in 2007, singing "Come saprei" by Giorgia for judges Jacques Houdek, Ivana Husar, and Boris Banović.^[8] Batelić won the competition on 22 December 2007 by receiving the highest number of cast televotes in the finals.^[9] As a prize, she signed a recording contract with the Hit Records record label.^[10] Batelić's winner single "Ovaj dan" was released officially on 14 November 2007.^[11]

2008–2013: Breakthrough and continued success

Batelić's second single, "Ruža u kamenu" – produced and written by Miro Buljan, Boris Đurđević, and Neno Ninčević – was released in May 2008 in Croatia.^[12] It was performed at the "12th Croatian Radio Festival" in Opatija where it won the Public's Award in the Pop/Rock category by receiving the most televotes.^[13] Later that year, "Ruža u kamenu" was chosen to represent Croatia at the 2008 OGAE Song Contest, an audio event organised by a network of 42 Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs. She won the contest.^[14]

"Pjesma za kraj" was released as Batelić's third single in January 2009.^[15] The song was recorded for the Croatian selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 where it finished seventh with a total of 18 points.^[16] In December 2009, Batelić and her dance partner Ištvan Varga won the 4th season of Ples sa zvijezdama, the Croatian version of Dancing with the Stars.^[17]

In April 2013, Batelić was the opening act on the Beyoncé's concert at the Arena Zagreb, performing in front of 18,000 people.^[18][19] In November 2013, Batelić released the single "Ljubav je" whose lyrics were signed by one of the most performed and awarded Croatian pop musician-songwriter Antonija Šola. "Ljubav je" was the first Franka's single to appear on the Croatian national HR Top40 list.^[20]

2017–2018: Comeback, Eurovision Song Contest 2018 and S tobom

On 27 November 2017, Batelić confirmed via social media that she will release her comeback single "S tobom" on 4 December 2017.^[21] The song was first played on Nives Čanović's 385 Show on Narodni radio on 4 December with Batelić interviewed live.^[22] The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Sandra Mihaljević and Igor Ivanović and premiered on RTL Televizija's HR Top show on 10 December 2017.^[23] It was announced on 13 February 2018 that Batelić would represent Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Crazy". She came in 17th in the first semi-final, thus not qualifying for the grand finale.^[24][25]

Batelić's debut studio album S tobom was released on 6 December 2018 and peaked at number 19 on the Top of the Shops albums chart in Croatia.^[26] The album's third single, "Kao ti i ja", was released in June.^[27] Its fourth single "Ti mi nosiš sreću" was released in October, while the fifth single "Tajno" was released in December.^[28]

2019–present: Second studio album

On 17 June 2019, Betelić released "Ljubav, ništa više" as the first single from her then-upcoming second studio album.^[29] In October "Sve dok sanjaš" was released as the album's second single.^[30] "Sve dok sanjaš" debuted at number two on the HR Top 40, eventually peaking at number one, becoming Batelić's first chart topping single in Croatia.^[31][32] She performed the song at the 2020 Cesarica Awards and won the "Song of the Year" award with it.^[33]

On 7 July 2023, Batalić released the single "Putuj s poljupcima".^[34]

Studio albums

• S tobom (2018)