Croatia | HRT Confirm Eurovision 2019 Participation

According to Eurosong.hr, a Croatian website that reports on Eurovision, Croatia have confirmed their attendance at Eurovision 2019 in Tel Aviv.

It will be the fourth appearance in a row for Croatia, after a short absence in 2014 and 2015 following them failing to qualify for the final between 2010 and 2013.

The news was confirmed by new head of delegation Željan Klašterka, where they stated:

"As a new project manager and the head of Croatian Eurovision 2019 delegation, I confirm that HRT (Hrvatska radiotelevizija, Croatian national broadcaster) will participate in this contest."

He didn't reveal any further detail and it is yet to be discovered which method of choosing this year's act they will use.

In the last three years since the Croatian comeback to Eurovision, all three artists have been chosen internally. In 2016. Nina Kraljić with Lighthouse came 23rd in the final, in 2017. Jacques Houdek opera-pop entry "My Friend" finished 13th in the final, but this year's Croatian Eurovision act didn't manage to qualify for the final - with Franka Batelić's Crazy finishing 17th in the first semi-final.

Maybe it's time for HRT to reconsider the return of "Dora", the format of national selection show that gave Croatia some of its most successful entries like 1996's fourth placed entry "Sveta ljubavi" by Maja Blagdan or Doris Dragović's Marija Magdalena which also secured 4th place for Croatia in the 1999 contest held on Israel.

What do you think? Should Croatia return to a national final format? Or keeping selecting internally? Check out our interview with Franka in Lisbon below: