Slightly unexpected but she won by a mile at DORA 2021...
Croatia's Albina takes "Tick-Tock" to Eurovision in May!
The fandom had prepared themselves for questions such as "Why Alkonost Of Balkan?" and "will you want to avoid two Barbara Dex awards?" to be asked of what they thought the winner of DORA was going to be. However, we didn't get Nina Kraljić's "Rijeka" winning the ticket to Rotterdam for Croatia from either jurors or public - Albina was top of both polls (by a clear margin with the public) and was a deserved winner. It seems that Croatia wanted an up-tempo pop banger that was well sung and staged - I think that on the night they got it right:
You can tell that she is a Voice alumni, can't you? Aware of where the camera is throughout, solid vocals during an energetic routine and always has the right expression for the public. "Tick Tock" might be the same title as Ukraine's 5th place finish in 2014 but the subliminal message of those words now will make Eurovision viewers wonder if there is a link to a certain popular app. If Albina and HRT (the Croatian broadcaster) have any sense, they'll make sure that this music is ready for teens around Europe to act out their stories to! She is already signed up to Universal there which is very handy for contacts with the best stage directors, vocal coaches etc. - the entry did seem to be very professionally produced and ready for television, so that is a big positive for Croatia when it comes to Eurovision. Albina and her dancers with their hats (memories of Tamta and "Replay" in Tel Aviv, anyone?) look as though they are ready and once she has decided which language to sing this in (or stick with the English/Croatian DORA version), they will be more than ready for that 'live-to-tape' session.
Vocal Capability 4.0/5
Stage Performance 4.0/5
Composition / Originality 3.0/5
Overall Impression 3.5/5
Score 14.5/20 (7.0)
As I said above, those were strong vocals for such a 'made for video' dance routine, she looks amazing and connects all the way through the show, plus up-tempo pop songs are going to be high scorers this year, given that viewers will want to be cheered up and not depressed! The only criticism would be that we have heard tracks like this for years so there is nothing new but how often is any pop track ground breaking? As this was only entry 6 for Rotterdam (Benny Cristo's "Omaga" appeared as the show was airing and therefore will appear here next week), it is far too early to tell how this will do - given that Croatia have not qualified for the Final since 2017, getting to Friday/Saturday night will be the main objective of 2021's entry. You can't get enough mainstream pop tracks and in a Contest where there is likely to be a lot of variety, having something like this is quite comforting. Albina also benefited from being the only entry to be selected last weekend, so coverage for her has been good within the fandom - it also helps that "Tick Tock" is a major earworm and looking at the picture at the top has the song flooding back into my head. Listen to this week's show and then tell me that ain't true!
And the playlist?
"Tick-Tock" (DORA version) - Albina
"SudBina" - VASIL
"Memoria" - Blas Cantó
"Voy a quedarme" - Blas Cantó
"Ma Olen Siin" - Ivo Linna, Robert Linna & Supernova
"Boom Boom" - Mabel
"Rich" - Julia Alfrida
"90-talet" - WAHL ft SAMI
"Tears Run Dry" - Patrick Jean
"Ue La La" - Eden Alene
"La La Love" - Eden Alene
"I Can't Escape" - IMERIKA
"Walking In My Sleep" - Ane.Fin
"Bli med meg på gar'n" - TuVeia
"Coming Home" - RIVER
"Eyes Wide Open" - Rein Alexander
"Faith Bloody Faith" - Jorn
"Cicciolina" - Erika Vikman
"imaginary friend" - VICTORIA
"dive into unknown" - VICTORIA
"Vals" - Beth
"Johnny Bravo" (Siimi remix) - Grete Paia ft pluuto
"Let Me Be The One" - The Shadows
The other big news for artists already at Eurovision was that North Macedonia's VASIL revealed the name of his entry for Rotterdam (no, it isn't the track played on the show, "SudBina")...
"Here I Stand" will premiere in the first week of March and it was internally selected by him and Macedonian TV music professionals. VASIL wrote the melody and lyrics, therefore it all having a great personal significance to him:
"In the middle of the chaos and whirlwind of disappointments last year, I wrote "Here I Stand" in one breath without any specific aim or focus.
I think it rose out of one of those special and rare moments in life when you are at one with yourself: able to let emotions flow in their purest form without self-judgment, freely and sincerely.
I am deeply honoured that I will have the opportunity to represent Macedonia at Eurovision with a song inspired by my personal journey. They say that every human being carries at least one song within themselves. "Here I Stand" is that song for me. I can hardly wait to perform it for you on the Eurovision stage! Thank you all for your love and support. Stay tuned and see you soon".
It sounds as though he will be taking advantage of the new rule for 2021 where backing vocals can be recorded prior to the entry being performed, as he will have former members of the Chicago Children Choir providing those, an organisation he participated with as a child. Many fans will be pleased as the music will be provide by a live symphonic orchestra from Skopje - I am looking forward to the finished result. Thanks as always to Russell Davies for providing that information, along with the picture by Martin Trajanovski.
Jüri Pootsmann - "Magus Melanhoolia"
Koit Toome - "We Could Have Been Beautiful"
Uku Suviste - "The Lucky One"
That would be the strongest Super Final in my humble opinion but there is always scope for a surprise. The Final is on March 6th, so I have played all 24 entries on the show in good time! As a last minute addition, I decided to play the songs that missed out at 'HaShir Shelanu L'Eurovizion' in Israel so that you had listened to all three on the show, including Eden Alene's entry "Set Me Free". Here are my personal preferences again:
Norway's MGP 2021...
A great line-up that might give NRK a dream Gold Duel!
I am certain that KEiiNO vs TIX is what the Norwegian broadcaster wants to see as the culmination of all these MGP shows - that is still the likely scenario but who knows? One of the other acts might throw a surprise and I definitely didn't have TIX in my top four - here is my rankings overall for Norway:
![]()
KEiiNO, EMMY and KiiM have exactly the same scores out of 20 for me - having said that, I would only be confident with KEiiNO making the final 4. If I had to choose a surprise Gold Finalist, I would go with IMERIKA but who knows? I have TIX low down but from my limited knowledge of Norwegian music, I know he is very popular there so I would be a fool to discount him. The most pleasing thing at this point is that I have now completely covered the following national selection processes on the show (number of songs in brackets):
Eurovision France, c'est vous qui décidez! (12)
UMK 2021 (7)
Destino Eurovision (2)
Eesti Laul 2021 (24)
HaShir Shelanu L'Eurovizion (3)
MGP 2021 (26)
I plan to complete Melodifestivalen and DMGP as well, plus the rest of VICTORIA's songs that are up for consideration in Bulgaria, so if you want to hear as many National Final songs as possible, you know which radio show to listen to!
![]()
Next week you will definitely hear on the show the winners in Norway and Finland, the song that Blas gets to sing, plus "Omaga" which is Benny Cristo's song for Rotterdam. That was released on Tuesday evening but the joys of pre-recorded radio means that you have to wait a whole seven days to hear it on LET ME BE THE ONE. You win some, you lose some! You will also hear the completion of VICTORIA's possible songs plus the first half of Denmark's eight entries this year. I'm also putting in a classic track from the 1990s - it is one of the most uplifting songs you will ever hear and one of my favourite ever Dutch entries. Here's a clue as to which one it is...
"De eerste keer" is on show 132...
It is getting busier in 2021,
but there is always time for a song to make you smile!