Croatia CROATIA 2025 - Marko Bošnjak - Poison Cake

[ESC United Mod Team]

 

[RainyWoods]

Luka Nižetić - Južina = 9/10
Marin Jurić-Ćivro - Gorjelo je = 9/10
NIPPLEPEOPLE - ZNAK = 9/10
Teenah - Aurora = 8/10
IVXN - Monopol = 7/10
Fenksta - Extra = 7/10
Natalli - Dom si srcu mom = 7/10
Marko Škugor - Šta da Boga molim ja = 6/10
Matt Shaft - Welcome to the circus = 6/10
Ananda - Lies Lay Cold = 6/10
Petar Brkljačić - KRAJ = 6/10
EoT - Bye, Bye, Bye = 6/10
Irma - Enigma = 6/10
Marko Tolja - Through the dark = 5/10
SWINGERS - FUL KUL = 5/10
Martha May - Running To The Light = 5/10
Supersonic Trio - Animal = 5/10
Jelena Radan - SALUT = 5/10
Ogenj - Daj, daj = 5/10
Magazin - AaAaA = 5/10
laurakojapjeva - NPC = 5/10
Filomena - Strong = 5/10
LELEK - The Soul of my Soul = 4/10
Marko Bošnjak - Poison Cake = 2/10


I would ask for my 72 minutes back but that would be a bit unfair as I did get 9 minutes of joy here, along with 3 minutes of unintentional hilarity so that's something.

Južina for me has the most promise, and the one that also seems the most ready. The music video is striking, memorable and fun. It's quirky without being too try hard. Most importantly, that chorus is an earworm. I think it has all the necessary ingredients to win over the Eurovision audience. Please consider it.

I enjoy Gorjelo je. It's warm and comfy. Like a less ambitious Croatian The War On Drugs or something, but still extremely likeable. Make no mistake though, this wouldn't be the right choice for the contest, especially with the the absence of the jury vote in the semi. I really like the song though and hope it does well in the selection.

ZNAK stands out as well. Love how deliciously synthy it is, and melodically it travels to some nice places. Perhaps it's a bit too vibey to work at Eurovision but it's so different to everything else in the selection, and could stand out even more with a memorable visual.

I wasn't supposed to like Aurora but as soon as the first "aurora borealis" line came, I spat out my tea. I'm a silly man and this is peak Eurovision unintentional ridiculousness, actually tied to a sweet, charming song. There's quite a bit to like here.

Monopol I'll soften on a bit eventually, as I can't say no to an over the top poundshop bop. This one really gives me last place 2000s Spanish entry vibes though, so be careful with it. I always welcome seeing actual hip hop songs in selections, so Extra I appreciated. I think it needs work but I enjoy the old school vibes.


The rest of the songs for me are mostly ok/mid. I don't want to hear Poison Cake ever again. I'm about 26 years too old for it. Would have been nice though I suppose celebrating my 8th birthday party at McDonald's back in the day with it.

 

[aef]

I don’t know what to think of this selection… no song that caught my full attention yet…

Magazin - AaAaA sounds like a Eurovision top 10 from the 200s. The song would have potential, I would like it more with more variety (even though it’s not my preferred genre), it’s very monotonous.

And I don’t know why Monopol is liked by many fans, I don’t care about the song at all, boring.

Marko Bosnjaks song is a disappointment, I hoped for something totally different.

 

[Journalist]

MONOPOL or ... nothing.

 

[AlekS]

Marko Bošnjak - Poison Cake = 2/10

*high five*

 

[EscGeek]

Another day, another set of bangers for me

"NPC" is like Teya & Salena with a touch of swedish Epadunk and the type of slayness only Moldovan and Belarussian auditions could bring. Easily my favorite here!

I'm also proud to announce i have Fenksta on my Dora podium. Apparently he's a superfan like us.

2 years, 8 backup entries, 3 of which ended up competing and all three of them are fking awesome and should never be backup in the first place. What are Dora jurors smoking?


1-Laurakojapjeva "NPC"
2-Swingers "Ful kul (Full Cool)"
3-Fenksta "Extra"
4-Ogenj "Daj, daj"
5-Luka Nižetić "Južina"
6-Magazin "AaAaA"

 

[AlekS]

Natalia Balmix revealed her disqualified entry.

 

[Mainshow]

It's not as good as Mr-fake-d*ck-pad but I'd place Natalia's entry inside my Top 5.
It's a bit repetitive but really catchy/fun.

 

[Leydan]

Monopol >>

Instant hit, hot guy and the WOOAAHHHAAAHHHHs remind me of Marija Magdalena, another Croatian hit entry.

 

[FabiESC]

01 IVXN – Monopol 10/10
02 Luka Nižetić – Južina 9/10
03 Jelena Radan – SALUT! 9/10
04 Magazin – AaAaA 8/10
05 Ananda – Lies Lay Cold 6/10
06 laurakojapjeva – NPC 6/10
07 NIPPLEPEOPLE – ZNAK 5/10
08 Fenksta – Ekstra 4/10
09 EoT – Bye, Bye, Bye 4/10
10 Natalli – Dom si srcu mom 4/10
11 Marko Škugor – Šta da Boga molim ja 4/10
12 Ogenj – Daj, daj 3/10
13 Petar Brkljačić – KRAJ 3/10
14 Marko Bošnjak – Poison Cake 3/10
15 Marko Tolja – Through the dark 3/10
16 LELEK – The Soul of my Soul 3/10
17 Teenah – Aurora 2/10
18 Irma – Enigma 2/10
19 Filomena – Strong 2/10
20 SWINGERS – FUL KUL (Full cool) 1/10
21 Supersonic Trio – Animal 1/10
22 Marin Jurić Čivro – Gorjelo je 1/10
23 Matt Shaft – Welcome to the circus 0/10
24 Martha May – Running to the Light 0/10

For me it must be IVXN with Monopol, what a HIT! To be fair Luka, Jelena & Magazin are also good and i could live with them.
Overall, this is DORA is very meh, after Baby Lasagna i expect more this year from Croatia. Very disappointing.

 

[NikolaiMoller]

IVXN – Monopol pleaseeeee , this is for eurovision !!! what a banger

 

[Mrm]

1. Marko Bošnjak
2. Nipplepeople
3. Fenksta
4. Ananda

If Ananda pulls it off live, I can stand behind her.. I know it will be quite difficult... Yeah, but let's hope..

 

[aef]

what is so good about Monopol that I don’t get, interesting

 

[Deluxenite]

My Favorites are Marko Skugor- Sta Da Boga Mosim Ja, Marin Juric-Civro - Gorjelo Je , Marko Tolja Through The Dark and Swingers FUL KUL.

In That order.
The beginning of Sta Da Boga Mosim Ja reminds a bit of Ti Amo.

 

[Yazy]

Dude, I´m not even one for the turbo folk stuff, but Natalie´s disqualified song absolutely slaps!

Like yeah, the lyrics are criminal but so many of the official competing DORA entries have criminal lyrics, both in Croatian and English. Except those ones are trying to be serious, which makes it even worse in my eyes (and ears).

At the very least, with "Život ide dalje" you know what you are getting. And foreigners won´t even care. All they will care is that its a bop.
I´m not gonna fantasize too much cause its not guaranteed that the entry would be good live, but I am sad about the whole situation, admittedly. (yeah I know that there was nothing shady behind the disqualification)

 

[rasmuslights]

I still think Nipplepeople are the best choice. Who cares if it doesn't have a key change and is not "suited" for esc, it's still bloody good.

 

[Yazy]

I still think Nipplepeople are the best choice. Who cares if it doesn't have a key change and is not "suited" for esc, it's still bloody good.

Their song is still gonna be something that I´m gonna be listening the most in my own time at the end of the day.

But I also can´t shake that feeling of melancholy that whenever the artist that I am mega hyped for (cause I loved their previous stuff) shows up at DORA, it always ends up being their weakest material.

It already happened with few of those. Nipplepeople....Boris Štok.....and maybe few others.

 

[BorisBubbles]

what is so good about Monopol that I don’t get, interesting

Nothing. Don't underestimate the self-hatred of unemployed, uneducated, chronically online gays that would sell their soul for any banger (or in this case a ken doll with a fake bulge).

 

[lavieenrose]

I don't dislike "Monopol" but on a scale from 1 to Janet Leon on how unlikely it is to win an NF I'd give it a Sasha Bognibov

 

[Underdark]

Me and my collegue (she was one of the back vocals for Daria in Dusseldorf) are obsessed with NPC. We were having a party in the office today with it on repeat . And yes we now how silly the song is but we don't care. Best song of Dora 2025.

 

[Grinch]

Ooh mono-mono-mono-monopol