May 11, 2022 - Osijek native Mia Dimšić represented Croatia with the song 'Guilty Pleasure' on the first semifinal night of the Eurovision Song Contest but failed to reach the final of the competition.
Dimšić performed 11th out of a total of 17 performers. Apart from Croatia, Albania, Latvia, Lithuania, Switzerland, Slovenia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Moldova, Portugal, Denmark, Austria, Iceland, Greece, Norway, and Armenia competed.
Croatia's Eurovision representative did her best and said she left her heart on the stage. The night before the semifinals, Mia said that she felt proud and euphoric. Still, she also admitted that she was a little nervous because she had to present herself in the best light so far in just three Eurovision minutes, reports Jutarnji List.
"The performance in Turin, where I represented Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest, for me, regardless of the placement, is a great personal and business success from which I learned a lot, and that is the most important thing," said Mia, who was encouraged at the Arena in Turin family members, friends and, of course, the HRT delegation led by Tomislav Štengl.
"We are sad because we did not make it to the final, and we are all sorry for that. Of course, we believed and hoped to advance, but sometimes we need to have a little luck. Mia performed superbly and left a great impression on the Eurovision stage. We are proud of her and thank her and her team for all the effort and moments we spent together on this journey from Dora to the Eurovision Song Contest," Štengl said.
In the Eurovision Song Contest final, which TV viewers will be able to watch on Saturday on HTV1 starting at 9 pm, 10 of the 17 semifinalists passed from Switzerland, Armenia, Iceland, Lithuania, Portugal, Norway, Greece, Ukraine, Moldova, and the Netherlands. They will be joined by ten finalists from the second semifinal, which is scheduled for this Thursday.
The last time Croatia was in the final was in 2017, when it was represented by Jacques Houdek. A year earlier, Nina Kraljić also advanced to the final. In 2014 and 2015, Croatia did not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest as it did not have a viable contestant.
TCN had the chance to interview Mia back in February after winning the Dora song competition. You can read our full interview with Mia HERE.
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