Ahead of their participation in Croatia’s Dora this week, Rory grabbed a moment with Tomislav from Ogenj to discuss their song “Daj, daj”. They also chatted about the regional representation in the song and the band’s secret history with Dora.
Watch our interview with Ogenj here:
About Ogenj
Ogenj is a five-piece band from the Podravina area of central Croatia. The band is made up of Andrija Bricelj, Leonardo Ivačič, Neven Žnidar, Petar Šimčić and Tomislav Mihac Kovačić. The band have already scored commercial success in Croatia, having won two prestigious Porin awards in their first year as a band in 2019. Since then, the band have released three albums, each to major success.
Their track for Dora, “Daj, daj” – translated to “Give, give” is sung in the regional Kajkavian dialect of Croatian. The song is written by the band themselves, alongside Benjamin Fabić.
Croatia’s Eurovision journey
Croatia has been a part of the Eurovision family since 1961, as part of Yugoslavia. Ten Croatian artists went on to represent Yugoslavia in the Contest – the most famous of which being Riva, who gave Yugoslavia its only win in 1989. The 1990 Contest was held in Zagreb as a tribute to their Croatian heritage.
Croatia debuted in the Contest as an independent nation in 1993 with the band Put and their song “Don’t Ever Cry”. Since then, Croatia has gone on to score as high as 2nd place in 2024. For 2024, Croatia chose Baby Lasagna to represent the nation in Malmö with their song “Rim Tim Tagi Dim”. Performing in the first semi-final, Croatia qualified for the Grand Final, winning the semi-final in the process. In the Grand Final, Baby Lasagna finished in 2nd place, with a total of 547 points – 210 of which coming from juries, whilst another 337 came from the televote. This was the highest televoting score in the Grand Final of the 2024 contest.
What do you think of ‘Daj, daj’? Are you backing Ogenj in Dora this year? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, and Bluesky for more information about Eurovision 2025!
News source: That Eurovision Site
Photo credit: Ogenj
Giwrgos Oiko