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Croatia in 2003
Claudia Beni
Song
Više nisam tvoja
Andrej Babich
Composer(s)
Andrej Babich
More information
Biography
When in a daily she read the commentary “another debutante at Dora 2003” next to her name, Claudia, who this year is turning 17, exclaimed: “What were you doing when I performed at Dora!”, which was accompanied by jokes and laughter from the people present.
Her commentary might have sounded cheeky if it had not been justified. Those who keep up with Dora will recall that in 1999 the contest opened with song “Miris ljubavi” (Fragrance of love) and that the Teens were probably the youngest performers in the history of Croatian national finals.
At the time Claudia was only 12, but she already had lots of experience as a band singer. The Teens, who at the time were called Mici rokeri (Little Rockers), got together in 1996 and changed their name in 1998, when they captured the attention of Mario Šimunovic, a music teacher who became their manager. With the Teens Claudia has performed all over Croatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Slovenia and Montenegro.
After three albums: “U tami i svjetlosti” (In Darkness&Light), “Blue laguna” (Blue lagoon) and “Andeo cuvar” (Guardian Angel) sold in almost 30.000 copies, her hits such as “Miris ljubavi” (Fragrance of Love) (Dora 1999), “Neki dani” (Some Days), “Hajde reci nešto” (Come on, say something) (Dora 2002), “Idem ja” (I’m Leaving), “Laži nekom drugom” (You Better Lie to Someone Else) and the Porin prize to the new artist won in 2002, Claudia breaks away from the Teens.
Her first solo album came out soon. The already experienced author team (Marko Tomasovic, Aleksandar Valencic, Mario Vestic, Denis Dumancic and Andrej Babic), to which later on joined Davor Devcic and Sandro Beni led by the manager Mario Šimunovic, got to work.
The album “Claudia” containing 12 songs, came out just before the summer of 2002. It had been announced by singles “Tako hrabar da me ostaviš” (Brave Enough To Leave Me) (the best new album at Split Festival 2001), “Ili ona ili ja” (It’s her or me) (Zagrebfest 2001), and “Led” (Ice) (HRF 2002), which catapulted Claudia to the top of the charts.
The proof that Claudia, apart from her model looks, has all the qualities of a good musician, is her cooperation with “the veteran” of the Croatian pop scene Ivana Banfic in the song “Hrvatice vas vole” (Croatian Women Love You), dedicated to the national football team during the World Championship in Japan.
Yet, Claudia’s musical exporession differs somewhat from that of the Teens. It is a perfect mixture of dance pop, dance and pop-rock.
As to Dora 2003, having got the maximum votes from all Croatian regions, Claudia won with the song “Više nisam tvoja” (I’m No Longer Yours). It is a catchy pop song with provocative lyirics. She is accompanied by five back vocals from Rijeka – Martina Majerle, Saša Hajdinic, Ana Kabalin, Amira Hidic and Andrej Babic – some of which acquired their skills and knowledge in the bands of “Putokazi”, “Put”, “E.N.I.” etc.
Together with her team, Claudia will do her best to transmit waves of positive energy to millions of viewers around the world, thus representing her country in the best possible way. They are looking forward to their journey to Latvia, to spending time with other performers as well as to performing to their largest audience until now.
Claudia, who on May 30 will be turning 17, is a secong grade student of Hairstylists’ School in Opatija. She lives with her parents Klaudio and Lidija and her brother Sandro (a Teens member) at Pobri near Opatija.
The music and lyrics of the song are by Andrej Babic, a 25-year-old musician from Rijeka. As most of musicians in his town, he began his career in the Putokazi band. His first works as a composer appeared in the middle of the nineties. But his first real succes came as late as in 1997 when his song “Nemamo to pravo” (We Don’t Have That Right), also performed by young Ksenia, was accepted at the anonymous competition for Dora 1997. National festivals ensued, but the real boom of his career happened after he had met Mario Šimunovic, the manager of the Teens. Due to his many Teens hits popular among the teenagers, Andrej got himself the reputation of a well-selling national composer. This year he appeared at Dora for the fourth time. After 17th, 14 th and 4 th place, the victory came with the song for which he wrote the lyrics himself, though he also makes music for other people’s lyrics. With his song he wants to prove to Europe that young people in Croatia keep up with the trends as well as those in the rest of Europe. He adores Eurovision song contests and by going to Riga a great wish of his is being fulfilled. He hopes to justify the trust that the nation has given him and that this song will play an important role in his career, which he hopes will be a long one. For, as he says «music is my life».
Andrej is a student of the Faculty of Economics in Rijeka. He chose to study economics in order to match his talents with his marketing methods, which help him promote his music.
He lives with his family in Rijeka and says he could never live elsewhere. So much does he love his town and its people.
Country profile
Do you want to learn more about Croatia ? At worldatlas.com you can read a detailed country profile, including maps, flags and you can even listen to the national anthem!
History
We are currently updating our country history pages and therefore, they are temporarily unavailable! How many times they won? Who represented the country in 1960? This and a lot more is available in the history section soon!
All Participations for Croatia
| Year | Artist | Song | Points | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Kraljevi Ulice and 75 cents | Romanca | 0 | 9 |
| 2007 | Dragonfly feat. Dado Topic | Vjerujem u ljubav | 54 | 16 |
| 2006 | Severina | Moja štikla | 56 | 12 |
| 2005 | Boris Novkovic feat. Lado members | Vukovi umiru sami | 115 | 11 |
| 2005 | Boris Novkovic feat. Lado members | Vukovi umiru sami | 169 | 4 |
| 2004 | Ivan Mikulic | You are the only one | 50 | 13 |
| 2004 | Ivan Mikulic | You are the only one | 72 | 9 |
| 2003 | Claudia Beni | Više nisam tvoja | 29 | 15 |
| 2002 | Vesna Pisarovic | Everything I want | 44 | 11 |
| 2001 | Vanna | Strings of my heart | 42 | 10 |
| 2000 | Goran Karan | Kada zaspu andeli | 70 | 9 |
| 1999 | Doris Dragovic | Marija Magdalena | 120 | 4 |
| 1998 | Danijela | Neka mi ne svane | 131 | 5 |
| 1997 | ENI | Probudi me | 24 | 17 |
| 1996 | Maja Blagdan | Sveta ljubav | 98 | 4 |
| 1995 | Magazin and Lidija | Nostalgija | 91 | 6 |
| 1994 | Tony Cetinski | Nek'ti bude ljubav sva | 27 | 16 |
| 1993 | Put | Don't ever cry | 31 | 15 |
