Soon, Roko will be jetting off to Tel Aviv for the start of rehearsals. Ahead of this, he has released a piano medley of three former Eurovision winners. In the video, Roko covers Loreen’s “Euphoria” (Sweden 2012), Conchita’s “Rise Like A Phoenix” (Austria 2014), and Marija Šerifović’s “Molitva” (Serbia 2007). He had previously released an all-Croatian version of “The Dream”.
According to Jacques Houdek, Roko will have ‘striking’ staging in Tel Aviv. The former Eurovision representative wrote The Dream, and is currently mentoring Roko alongside working on Jesus Christ Superstar. The choreographer of the latter will also be helping to stage Roko’s performance, and teased that there will be ‘some surprises’ in store. Roko will be joined by dancers ENDI and Diego Siqueira in Tel Aviv. It is also likely that Roko’s angel wings, a major focal point of his Dora performance, will join him in Tel Aviv also.
You can watch the medley below:
Who is Roko?
Roko Blažević was born in Split in 2000 and has been performing since 2017. He rose to fame after winning Pinkove Zvezdice in Serbia in July 2017. In 2018 he then went on to finish second in the Croatian show “Zvijezde”. Throughout this Eurovision journey, he has been mentored by 2017 Eurovision representative Jacques Houdek.
“The Dream” emerged as the clear winner of Dora. It picked up the maximum score after all regional jury votes had been calculated. Dubrovnik, Split and Rijeka awarded top points to the song. Televoting also had Roko first, meaning he became the first winner of Dora since Daria Kinzer in 2011.
Roko’s song has been written by familiar Eurovision faces. Jacques Houdek, who represented Croatia back in 2017, is one of the composers together with Charlie Mason. He has previously been behind Eurovision entries such as “Rise Like A Phoenix” and “Beauty Never Lies”.
Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest
Croatia have competed in the contest 24 times as an independent nation. Previously, they competed as Yugoslavia alongside Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. As Yugoslavia, seven of the 27 entries were Croatian, including Riva’s “Rock Me”, which won the contest in 1989.
Croatia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993, where they were represented by Put with “Don’t Ever Cry”. They finished in 15th place with 31 points. Last year, Croatia was represented by Franka Batelić in Lisbon with “Crazy”, finishing in 17th place in semi-final 1 with 63 points. Roko will be hoping to bring Croatia back to the Grand Final this year.
What do you think about his version of “The Dream”? Are you looking forward to seeing Roko’s staging in Tel Aviv? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! We’ll also be posting plenty of content on our YouTube in the run up to Tel Aviv!
