With Croatia returning to Junior Eurovision after eleven years, the nation’s Head of Delegation hopes to see continued participation in the contest.
Speaking on Dobro jutro, Hrvatska, the Croatian Head of Delegation has outlined his hope that Croatia will continue to regularly participate in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Tomislav Ĺ tengl commented:
“It is still being said at the Junior Eurovision “that Croatia was first, so when will you come back.” It is difficult to briefly formulate why we were not there for 11 years. To make it work, you need to separate finances, you need to find a representative. We had some lucky and some not so lucky attempts. Let’s say this is a start, we hope for a good placement. We want this to be a continuity now.”
Croatia was one of the sixteen countries to take part in the first edition of Junior Eurovision in 2003, and won the competition represented by Dino Jelusić. They competed annually between 2003 and 2006, before withdrawing from the contest in 2006. Croatia returned again in 2014 but finished last scoring a total of 13 points.
Marino Vrgoč will represent Croatia at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in Tbilisi. Marino is 10 years old and comes from Ploče in southern Croatia. He won the first season of The Voice Kids Hrvatska in February. He is set to perform “Snovi” which was written and composed by Arjana Kunštek and Ines Prajo.
Image source: EBU/Petra Ivanišević | Source: HRT
Croatia debuted in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2003 and won the first contest with Dino Jelusić and his song “Ti si moja prva ljubav”. Following their victory, Croatia was due to host the competition after the United Kingdom had difficulties. However, Croatia also had to withdraw from hosting as their planned venue was booked for the dates of the contest. Croatia went on to participate annually until 2006 when they withdrew from the competition. In 2014, Croatia returned represented by Josie and her song “Game Over”. She finished last with 13 points. Croatia will return to Junior Eurovision this year.
