Croatia has been represented at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest five times, winning the inaugural edition in 2003. The Croatian participating broadcaster in the contest is Hrvatska radiotelevizija (HRT). It participated in the first four editions, from 2003 to 2006, organising a national final to select its entrant. The first Croatian entry was "Ti si moja prva ljubav" by Dino Jelusić, which finished in first place out of sixteen participants, with a score of 134 points. HRT was absent from the contest between 2007 and 2013, but it decided to return to the contest in 2014 and selected its entry internally. In 2014, "Game Over" by Josie finished in last place, after which HRT again withdrew from competing the following year.
Croatia are one of the sixteen countries to have made their debut at the inaugural Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003, which took place on 15 November 2003 at the Forum in Copenhagen, Denmark.[1] After problems occurred with the prospective host for the 2004 contest, Croatian broadcaster Hrvatska radiotelevizija (HRT) stepped in to host the contest.[2] However, this was later abandoned after it was revealed the venue HRT had planned on using for the contest was to be in use during the period of the contest.[3] HRT was one of six other broadcasters to enter a bid to host the 2005 contest, however this was unsuccessful.[4] Croatia also expressed an interest in hosting the 2006 contest[5] and made another unsuccessful bid to host the 2007 contest.[6]
HRT withdrew from the 2007 contest, due to expense and difficulties in broadcasting the contest live.[7] In October 2007, the broadcaster was fined 10,000 Swiss francs for breaching the rules of the 2006 contest by not broadcasting the show live on one of their main terrestrial channels despite initially declaring it would do so,[8] and instead decided at the last minute to broadcast it only on satellite channel HRT Plus which was not widely available in the country;[9] consequently a reserve jury had to take the place of the televoting.[10] A recording of the contest was later aired, in a late evening slot, on a main channel.[11] The broadcaster had sent several requests to the EBU to move the show to an earlier time slot, using 17:00 as an example and also asked for permission to broadcast the contest in a delayed time slot more convenient for its programming schedule but these requests were declined.[10][7] The EBU would later relax the rule ahead of the 2007 contest.[8]
On 23 September 2014, it was announced that Croatia could possibly return to the 2014 contest in Marsa, Malta due to a tweet composed by the Executive Supervisor of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, Vladislav Yakovlev.[12] Their return was officially confirmed by the EBU on 26 September 2014, with the 2014 contest being scheduled to be broadcast on HRT 2.[13] On 23 June 2015, it was announced that HRT would withdraw from the 2015 contest, leaving Croatia out of the edition which took place in Bulgaria.[14] On 17 August 2016, HRT ruled out a return to the 2016 contest.[15] On 20 May 2017, the Croatian broadcaster announced their ambitions to return to the 2017 contest in Tbilisi. However, Croatia was not on the final list of participants released by the EBU and did not compete in the contest.[16]
On 3 November 2024, the broadcaster published a programme schedule for the day of the 2024 contest which shows that HRT intends to broadcast the contest live on HRT 2 for the first time in a decade. A few days later the Croatian Head of Delegation for Eurovision, Tomislav Štengl confirmed on Dobro jutro, Hrvatska[hr] that the broadcaster was evaluating a potential return to the contest in 2025 and invisioned that the inaugural winner of the upcoming kids version of The Voice Hrvatska would be the chosen representative.[17]
On 16 April 2025 during Kod nas doma it was officially confirmed that Croatia will return to the contest in 2025. It was also confirmed that Marino Vrgoč will represent Croatia in the contest.[18]
The contests are broadcast online worldwide through the official Junior Eurovision Song Contest website junioreurovision.tv and YouTube. In 2015, the online broadcasts featured commentary in English by junioreurovision.tv editor Luke Fisher and 2011 Bulgarian Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrant Ivan Ivanov.[22] The Croatian broadcaster, HRT, sent their own commentator to each contest in order to provide commentary in Croatian. Spokespersons were also chosen by the national broadcaster in order to announce the awarding points from Croatia. The table below list the details of each commentator and spokesperson since 2003.
↑ "Kod nas doma, 16. travnja 2025"[Kod nas doma, April 16, 2025]. HRTi (in Croatian). 2025-04-16. Retrieved 2025-04-16. Ususret 23. Dječjem Eurosongu svratit će nam pobjednik prve sezone The Voice Kids Hrvatska Marino Vrgoč, u pratnji mame Mande i voditelja projekta Dječji Eurosong Tomislava Štengla.[On the eve of the 23rd Junior Eurovision Song Contest, the winner of the first season of The Voice Kids Croatia, Marino Vrgoč will be visiting us, accompanied by his mother Manda and the host of the project Junior Eurovision, Tomislav Štengl.]
↑ "tv program – subota, 20.11.2004"[TV programme – Saturday, 20 November 2004]. Karlovački tjednik (in Croatian). Karlovac, Croatia. 18 November 2004. p.22. Retrieved 21 November 2024– via Gradske knjižnice "Ivan Goran Kovačić" Karlovac.
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For the most recent participation see
