Croatia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "", written by Zrinko Tutić, and performed by Maja Blagdan. The Croatian participating broadcaster, Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT), selected its entry through Dora 1996.
Before Eurovision
Dora 1996 Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) organised Dora 1996 to select its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996. The national selection, held on 3 March 1996 in Opatija, consisted of a televised final with 20 songs selected from a public call for submissions from songwriters and composers. The winner was chosen by 20 regional juries.
+ Final – 3 March 1996 Artist Song Points Place 1 Alen Vitasović "Marija" 18 13 2 Erwin "Uvijek ti" 16 14 3 Novi fosili "Spray" 76 6 4 Leo "Postojiš samo ti" 11 15 5 Srebrna krila "Divno je znati da netko te voli" 52 9 6 Juci "Moja posljednja molitva" 4 19 7 Marinella and Tutti Frutti "Sjeti se" 137 3 8 Massimo "Kao more" 33 12 9 Branimir Mihaljević "Zbog ljubavi" 39 11 10 Giuliano "Sjaj u očima otkriva te" 104 5 11 Ivana Banfić and Rene Cooler "Dani ludila" 1 20 12 Renata Kos "O mama, mama" 10 17 13 Maja Blagdan "Sveta ljubav" 214 1 14 Divas "Sexy Cool" 50 10 15 Jelena "Aha" 156 2 16 Naim Ayra "Dvije ruže" 10 17 17 Ivan Mikulić "Budi ona prava" 55 8 18 Zrinka "Tako sam ranjiva" 106 4 19 Petar Grašo "Otkada nije mi tu" 57 7 20 Sandra Sagena "Ne želim biti dama" 11 15 + Detailed Regional Jury Votes Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total 1 "Marija" 7 4 3 1 3 18 2 "Uvijek ti" 8 4 1 1 2 16 3 "Spray" 5 1 4 1 5 1 3 6 1 10 5 7 5 6 6 4 6 76 4 "Postojiš" 2 3 4 2 11 5 "Divno je znati da netko te voli" 3 7 4 3 6 5 4 7 8 2 3 52 6 "Moja posljednja molitva" 4 4 7 "Sjeti se" 6 12 5 7 1 8 10 5 10 7 12 6 5 6 7 3 10 3 7 7 137 8 "Kao more" 4 2 2 3 12 6 4 33 9 "Zbog ljubavi" 3 7 2 1 2 8 8 8 39 10 "Sjaj u očima otkriva te" 7 8 10 6 2 7 7 1 4 6 6 10 12 1 4 5 3 5 104 11 "Dani ludila" 1 1 12 "O mama, mama" 1 2 1 6 10 13 "Sveta ljubav" 12 10 12 10 10 12 8 10 12 12 8 12 12 12 10 10 12 6 12 12 214 14 "Sexy Cool" 5 4 4 3 5 4 8 5 2 10 50 15 "Aha" 10 7 6 12 12 5 12 7 8 10 3 10 8 4 5 12 7 10 8 156 16 "Dvije ruže" 2 8 10 17 "Budi ona prava" 3 1 3 10 2 8 5 2 3 4 5 2 7 55 18 "Tako sam ranjiva" 4 6 8 8 6 6 5 4 8 7 10 8 2 7 1 1 5 10 106 19 "Otkada nije mi tu" 8 2 3 6 12 6 3 7 1 2 3 4 57 20 "Ne želim biti dama" 1 5 2 2 1 11
At Eurovision In 1996, for the only time in Eurovision history, an audio-only qualifying round of the 29 songs entered (excluding hosts Norway who were exempt) was held in March in order for the seven lowest-scoring songs to be eliminated before the final. "Sveta ljubav" received 30 points, placing 19th and thus qualifying for the final.
On the night of the contest Maja Blagdan performed 7th, following and preceding the . The song received 98 points at the close of the voting, placing 4th of 23 countries competing. This was Croatia's joint-best placing at the contest, shared with the Croatian entry in 1999, "Marija Magdalena" by Doris Dragović, until 2024 when Baby Lasagna finished in 2nd place with Rim Tim Tagi Dim.
Voting
Qualifying round
+ Points awarded to Croatia (qualifying round) Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
+ Points awarded by Croatia (qualifying round) Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Final
+ Points awarded to Croatia (final) Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
+ Points awarded by Croatia (final) Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
References