Roko for Croatia 2019
ðŸ‡ðŸ‡· Croatia 2019 / “The Dream”
Photograph by Damjna Fiket and Marko Košutić
Semi Final 2 | 14th Place | 64 points | Did Not Qualify
Roko Blažević, who will simply go by Roko at Eurovision, won the 2019 edition of Croatia’s national selection process Dora with the song “The Dream” and thus won the right to represent Croatia at Tel Aviv 2019. A relatively young artist, Roko has competed in several music competitions and has been mentored by Jacques Houdek (Croatia 2017)
“The Dream” refers to the collective ideal of a love that extends across humanity, one that bridges us together. This titular dream is one that pieces us as humans back together from war and devastation, and in the Croatian lyrics, to love, even though you are one person, makes you a hero that will help see this dream to fruition. The song was jointly composed by Houdek, Andrea ÄŒubrić, and American lyricist Charlie Mason, who’s writing credits encompass several Eurovision songs including the winning song of Conchita Wurst (Austria 2014) and other international singers such as Miley Cyrus.
Roko was born in Split, Croatia, in 2001 to two musically talented parents. He won the Serbian television series Pinkove Zvezdice in 2017 and then competed on the Croatian series Zvijezde, where he placed second. Given his success on these two series at a young age, he attracted the attention of Houdek who became his mentor. Roko has been occasionally referred to as the “Croatian Michael Bublé” by the Croatian media (Bublé is a Canadian of Croatian descent.)