Croatia CROATIA 2016 - Nina Kraljić - Lighthouse

[Hele.]

I just can't understand why in my country main theme must be "who" wrote the song, "what nationality" is that person and other irrelevant things and why someone desn't say anything about "song quality" which is really important in the end for "good of Croatia"

If they really back NF concept I hope they will allow BOTH, domestic and INTERNATIONAL authors and LET PUBLIC to decide WHAT IS BEST!

 

[Yazy]

If the people in charge are going to decide by themselves which composers and songwriters should participate, and who gets the direct wildcard to finals, then forget it.

That´s no different than 3 people in their office deciding that " Mižerja" would be our entry in 2013.

 

[i anixi]

Yes, but only because in most cases - singing is average. So of course they care about everything else, too. That's my point. Look at "Molitva" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSueQN1QvV4

Her outfit was nothing spectacular. It was sloppy actually a little bit. There were no special effects, background vocalists were there just to elevate the song. But she had a great song, great vocal skills and she won. What helps some artists to win, is not "a must" for others to win.

What are you talking about? Molitva's staging was one of its trumps, it was very good and every detail thought and measured to perfection, including the outfits. The way they looked at each other, how they touched each other, the masculine outfits. It all coveyed the idea of a lesbian show, very subly and tastefully done. That, together with a great song and excellent vocals made the winner.

Staging is not about having elephants on stage just because, it's about telling a story. That's what they did

Hope Nina and her team can do something special as well. They already have a sensational song.

 

[DanielLuis]

If the people in charge are going to decide by themselves which composers and songwriters should participate, and who gets the direct wildcard to finals, then forget it.

That´s no different than 3 people in their office deciding that " Mižerja" would be our entry in 2013.

That's the method RTP used for Portugal from 2012-2015. Needless to say the results were horrible.

 

[Yazy]

That's the method RTP used for Portugal from 2012-2015. Needless to say the results were horrible.

Yeah, when I was writing this post, Portugal was INDEED one of the countries that came to my mind with this type of selection methods.

Another example that came to my mind was when France elected Lisa Angell.

 

[Euterpa]

To me the title "Povratak Dore" is very misleading. When reading it, the old Dora first comes in mind. But it doesn't have to be the exact same old Dora. So we are kind of saying the same but I end up being misunderstood by most of you. I will have to think about what do I say that makes you all think something totally different from what I actually wanted to say.

Because also, when I said "Molitva" had no spectacular staging and that it was simple..Argh...it becomes a little bit frustrating for me to explain myself now hahah. So - what I really meant: it was simple and it was beautiful, meaningful in its simpleness. If you see what I see, everything what was happening around Marija drove attention to Marija. That's what I want for Nina, too. And not some big shiny spectacular background visuals that will drive all the attention from Nina to those effects. So again - I DIDN'T mean no staging at all or poor staging, but something simple yet effective.

And I said that because when reading YouTube comments and some posts here, I have a feeling that many people want just that - awesome background that steals the show.

 

[Matt]

And I said that because when reading YouTube comments and some posts here, I have a feeling that many people want just that - awesome background that steals the show.

I agree. Although I do think there are compromises and effective ways to have a beautiful backdrop without taking attention away from the singer. One example that comes to mind is Iceland 2009. It was beautiful to look at but Yohanna was always the "star" if that makes any sense.

 

[Euterpa]

True, but I don't think they will come up with an alternative. I think a NF with two semis and a final is a good song selection procedure.

I'm just afraid that no matter what the procedure is - we'll get the situation that somehow the best song/artist doesn't win and that we'll embarrass ourselves. Again. I mean...Daria Kinzer with "Celebrate" instead of Jacques Houdek sounds like a good joke but it is a sad reality, and Dora made it happen.

Plus, I have to notice that "HDS" is defending its view with "public had no say in the song selection process" yet they completely ignore that same public that wants to have a say in this "scandal" and public that says "we don't want 'Dora' back and we are happy with the way 'Lighthouse' is selected." Pretty ironic.

I agree. Although I do think there are compromises and effective ways to have a beautiful backdrop without taking attention away from the singer. One example that comes to mind is Iceland 2009. It was beautiful to look at but Yohanna was always the "star" if that makes any sense.

It does. Yes, Iceland did it well, I hope Croatian team will, too.

 

[Luki]

I'm just afraid that no matter what the procedure is - we'll get the situation that somehow the best song/artist doesn't win and that we'll embarrass ourselves. Again. I mean...Daria Kinzer with "Celebrate" instead of Jacques Houdek sounds like a good joke but it is a sad reality, and Dora made it happen.

Plus, I have to notice that "HDS" is defending its view with "public had no say in the song selection process" yet they completely ignore that same public that wants to have a say in this "scandal" and public that says "we don't want 'Dora' back and we are happy with the way 'Lighthouse' is selected." Pretty ironic.

Well truth to be told 2011 was a lost edition for us from the very start... besides "best" song choice varies depending on every person. I don't think we'll get anything other than standard Dora because HRT doesn't have the budget to start a team to make a new concept. I don't see what's wrong with having Dora anyway, from my side I just want to have the power of televote in every ESC edition possible. But that is coming from a person who is not even slightly interested in Croatian music scene mainly because of HDS and similar associations of "artists" that basically control the airplay.

 

[DanielLuis]

I agree. Although I do think there are compromises and effective ways to have a beautiful backdrop without taking attention away from the singer. One example that comes to mind is Iceland 2009. It was beautiful to look at but Yohanna was always the "star" if that makes any sense.

That is a perfect example, gorgeous background but Yohanna was still the one shining on stage

 

[Oshawott]

Daria did all three songs on Dora more justice than Jacques.
I wasn't mad that Daria represented us, I was mad that the jury of three people chose the song instead of the public.
I was mad that everyone in the industry wanted Jacques to win and when Daria won with "Lahor" everyone from the delegation to the producers (Boris Đurđević) gave up. I think that was unprofessional and scandalous and not Daria representing us.
The producers even said that he was expecting Žak to win and didn't know at first how to give the song a better arrangement. And he wrote then the horrid "Celebrate".
I don't blame Daria for one thing that happened that year.

The old Dora can come back with a lot of modifications and upgrades and preferably with a new name, but just not the talent show one...

 

[Jukica]

I agree. Although I do think there are compromises and effective ways to have a beautiful backdrop without taking attention away from the singer. One example that comes to mind is Iceland 2009. It was beautiful to look at but Yohanna was always the "star" if that makes any sense.

Definitely agree I can see Nina going for the performance that shows her voice and talent

 

[Euterpa]

Daria did all three songs on Dora more justice than Jacques.
I wasn't mad that Daria represented us, I was mad that the jury of three people chose the song instead of the public.
I was mad that everyone in the industry wanted Jacques to win and when Daria won with "Lahor" everyone from the delegation to the producers (Boris Đurđević) gave up. I think that was unprofessional and scandalous and not Daria representing us.
The producers even said that he was expecting Žak to win and didn't know at first how to give the song a better arrangement. And he wrote then the horrid "Celebrate".
I don't blame Daria for one thing that happened that year.

The old Dora can come back with a lot of modifications and upgrades and preferably with a new name, but just not the talent show one...

I didn't say I blame Daria, either. But she had many, many mistakes, her singing was terrible. So many missed notes... for me, it was hard to listen to and I didn't manage to listen to her whole performance. So I disagree, to me Jacques was better. Not perfect of course, but better. Plus, "Lahor/Celebrate" instead of "Stotinama godina"...I was really mad because of that. Still don't understand how "Lahor" won, and I don't understand how could anyone think it's a good song to even be in that competition.

But I just made this example as the absolute worst one. That year Dora was a failed experiment, but in my opinion and from what I heard, that year wasn't the only one with (many) issues. And while it took years to just think about changing something and actually change something after all those Dora issues and failures to qualify, now there is a pressure to change everything ASAP - now, when we have the extraordinary artist and a really really great song. Now that is what makes me mad.

 

[Oshawott]

I didn't say I blame Daria, either. But she had many, many mistakes, her singing was terrible. So many missed notes... for me, it was hard to listen to and I didn't manage to listen to her whole performance. So I disagree, to me Jacques was better. Not perfect of course, but better. Plus, "Lahor/Celebrate" instead of "Stotinama godina"...I was really mad because of that. Still don't understand how "Lahor" won, and I don't understand how could anyone think it's a good song to even be in that competition.

But I just made this example as the absolute worst one. That year Dora was a failed experiment, but in my opinion and from what I heard, that year wasn't the only one with (many) issues. And while it took years to just think about changing something and actually change something after all those Dora issues and failures to qualify, now there is a pressure to change everything ASAP - now, when we have the extraordinary artist and a really really great song. Now that is what makes me mad.

Well her vocals were indeed tragic, but she did a better performance on Dora. I guess at the end she didn't care either, cuz no one else cared. That year was a fail from the beginning till the end. I didn't want Jacques to win just because every thought he was the winner before the show even started.
Lahor was indeed the worst song out of the three, but Đurđević is an ''renowned'' producer and writer so he had the best song per se...

 

[Euterpa]

Well her vocals were indeed tragic, but she did a better performance on Dora. I guess at the end she didn't care either, cuz no one else cared. That year was a fail from the beginning till the end. I didn't want Jacques to win just because every thought he was the winner before the show even started.
Lahor was indeed the worst song out of the three, but Đurđević is an ''renowned'' producer and writer so he had the best song per se...

Haha well...I really care about singing and wanted to be a singer myself so that's why if someone can't sing - well it ruins the whole performance for me. Basically, for me there is no good performance without a good singer. I don't care how charismatic and/or a great showman someone is, singing has to be good, too. It doesn't have to be great, average or good is ok, but bad singing is just a big no. But hey, that's just me.

Yeah, I'm predicting "renowned" producers and songwriters making an influence on overall result in future Doras, too... I'm usually very optimistic about everything, but I'm very realistic, maybe even pessimistic about Dora. It's really hard to be a "Dora-optimist" after all.

 

[Oshawott]

Daria is a decent enough singer. Her performance was messy but she just wanted to take revenge because HRT and Đurđević mistreated her.
#pray4daria #dariasrevenge

I watched The Voice tonight and both Toni and Žak have a lot of great singers. Too bad none of them will represent Croatia next year.

 

[Dante]

This will flop so bad in May.

 

[Euterpa]

Daria is a decent enough singer. Her performance was messy but she just wanted to take revenge because HRT and Đurđević mistreated her.
#pray4daria #dariasrevenge

I watched The Voice tonight and both Toni and Žak have a lot of great singers. Too bad none of them will represent Croatia next year.

I don't know...I heard so many mistakes that I stopped counting eventually. I like her voice, though and I think she can really improve with practice (I don't know if she has some new stuff and has improved already?)

Yeah, last night's show surprised me. I was really feeling sorry for some of them because they had to leave the show. And I still have hope that at least one of them will have the chance to compete in Eurovision in the future.

This will flop so bad in May.

Why?

 

[Oshawott]

This will flop so bad in May.

Dream on...

 

[GianlucaTomoe]

This will flop so bad in May.

Even if it comes 11th in the semifinal, it would still be the best Croatian result since 2009.