Croatia: Franka – Crazy

Martin: Controversy surrounds the Croatian entry this year. Several weeks after Franka Batelić’s “Crazy” was presented to the public, Romanian artist Guez pointed out that he had released a song, “Ceea ce iubim”, with exactly the same backing track shortly beforehand. It seems the instrumental track may have been sold to both teams of composers by an unscrupulous producer who promised each of them exclusivity. That’s collaborative composition in the internet age for you, folks!

Whatever the truth of the matter, the real controversy is how a song this mediocre managed to be internally selected in the first place. It’s a shame for Franka, a performer with a decent track record who deserves better than this cliché-ridden piece of MOR pop that could come from literally anywhere on the continent. There’s not a scrap of personality about the project – as neatly illustrated by the fact that they’ve bought an off-the-shelf backing track in the first place – and unless they’re planning a remarkable stage show, I don’t see any reason why televoters or jurors should have an interest in making it three qualifications in a row for Croatia. Indeed, it wouldn’t surprise me if last place in the semi was on the cards.

Felix: Oh yes, Croatia is taking part this year, I forgot. I haven’t heard a song from them yet, despite apparently watching the video of “Crazy” a few times. When will they submit one? Isn’t it a bit late now?

Shi: From a future Jeopardy! episode, filmed after the US follows Australia’s footsteps and joins ESC:
“I’ll go with Eurovision Fan Problems for 200, Alex.”
“CROATIA 2018”
“What is the one song I’ll always end up forgetting when I try to list them from memory?”

video and title image source: eurovision.tv