Danijela Martinović represented Croatia in the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest after winning the national final selection with the song "Neka mi ne svane".
| Eurovision Song Contest 1998 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Croatia | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Dora 1998 | |||
| Selection date(s) | 6 March 1998 | |||
| Selected entrant | Danijela Martinović | |||
| Selected song | "Neka mi ne svane" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 5th, 131 points | |||
| Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Before Eurovision
Dora 1998
Twenty songs were presented in the national final, which was held on 6 March 1998 at the Crystall Ballroom of the Hotel Kvarner in Opatija, accompanied by the big orchestra of Croatian Radio Television. Daniela Trbović and Ljudevit Grgurić Grga hosted the event, and the winning song was chosen primarily by jury voting - 20 juries - one each in the 20 Croatian provinces, plus a 21st jury which came from the votes of the televoting public.[1]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Jury | Televote | Total | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valentina Brzović | "Sve što si ti" | Valentina Brzović | 0 | 2 | 2 | 17 |
| 2 | Zorica Kondža | "Nebo" | Alida Šarar, Davor Tolja | 78 | 0 | 78 | 7 |
| 3 | Ready Cool | "Život iza ponoći" | Marin Limić | 27 | 5 | 32 | 15 |
| 4 | Stijene | "Još te volim kao nekada" | Marin Limić | 70 | 0 | 70 | 8 |
| 5 | Ena | "Stara zvone jedne ljubavi" | Nenad Ninčević | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| 6 | Melani | "Ja ću po svom, ti ćeš po svom" | Fayo, Franjo Valentić | 10 | 0 | 10 | 16 |
| 7 | Tina and Nikša | "Ako me ikad poželiš" | Nikša Jurinović | 48 | 0 | 48 | 13 |
| 8 | Branimir Mihaljević | "Daj daj" | Branimir Mihaljević | 125 | 7 | 132 | 3 |
| 9 | Colonia | "U ritmu ljubavi" | Boris Đurđević | 83 | 4 | 87 | 4 |
| 10 | Magazin | "Na svijetu sve" | Vjekoslava Huljić, Tonći Huljić | 73 | 6 | 79 | 6 |
| 11 | Ivan Mikulić | "Pjesma putuje" | Zrinko Tutić | 51 | 10 | 61 | 11 |
| 12 | Marsell Benzon | "Sve je za tebe" | Marina Valković, Slobodan Vujović | 52 | 0 | 52 | 12 |
| 13 | Alen Nižetić | "Bez ljubavi" | Nenad Ninčević, Alen Nižetić | 63 | 0 | 63 | 10 |
| 14 | Andrea Čubrić | "Samo ti je ljubav potrebna" | Alida Šarar, Davor Tolja | 42 | 0 | 42 | 14 |
| 15 | Sanja Trumbić | "Da bar vječno živimo" | Zeljko Krušlin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| 16 | Lana Cenčić | "Ljubi me i to je to" | Sanja Mudrinić, Fayo, Miro Buljan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| 17 | Danijela | "Neka mi ne svane" | Petar Grašo, Stjepan Kalogjera, Remi Kazinoti | 165 | 12 | 177 | 1 |
| 18 | Zrinka and Goran | "Bolero" | Vjekoslava Huljić, Zdenko Runjić | 125 | 8 | 133 | 2 |
| 19 | Novi fosili | "Pričaj mi o ljubavi" | Stevo Cvikić, Rajko Dujmić | 66 | 3 | 69 | 9 |
| 20 | Azzurro and Nikad dosta | "Ruku na srce" | Zlatan Stipišić Gibonni | 82 | 1 | 83 | 5 |
| Draw | Song | Bjelovar | Čakovec | Dubrovnik | Gospić | Karlovac | Koprivnica | Krapina | Osijek | Pazin | Požega | Rijeka | Sisak | Slavonski Brod | Split | Šibenik | Varaždin | Vinkovci | Vukovar | Zadar | Zagreb | Televote | Total score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Sve što si ti" | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | "Nebo" | 7 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 78 | |||||||
| 3 | "Život iza ponoći" | 8 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 32 | |||||||||||||||
| 4 | "Još te volim kao nekada" | 3 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 70 | |||||
| 5 | "Stara zvone jedne ljubavi" | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | "Ja ću po svom, ti ćeš po svom" | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | "Ako me ikad poželiš" | 6 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 48 | |||||||||||||
| 8 | "Daj daj" | 5 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 132 | |||||
| 9 | "U ritmu ljubavi" | 6 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 87 | ||||||||||
| 10 | "Na svijetu sve" | 1 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 79 | ||||
| 11 | "Pjesma putuje" | 4 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 61 | ||||||||
| 12 | "Sve je za tebe" | 12 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 52 | ||||||||||
| 13 | "Bez ljubavi" | 8 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 63 | ||||||||
| 14 | "Samo ti je ljubav potrebna" | 3 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 42 | ||||||||||||
| 15 | "Da bar vječno živimo" | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | "Ljubi me i to je to" | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | "Neka mi ne svane" | 10 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 177 | |
| 18 | "Bolero" | 2 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 133 | |
| 19 | "Pričaj mi o ljubavi" | 10 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 69 | ||||||
| 20 | "Ruku na srce" | 6 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 83 |
At Eurovision
Heading into the final of the contest, BBC reported that bookmakers ranked the entry joint 12th out of the 25 entries.[2] Danijela performed 1st in the running order on the night of the contest, preceding Greece. At the close of voting "Neka mi ne svane" received 131 points,[3] placing Croatia 5th out of 25 competing countries.[4]
The Croatian televoting awarded its 12 points to the United Kingdom.
