VIDEO: Croatia Impresses at Eurovision Rehearsal in Portugal

Franka during rehearsals in Portugal (Photo: Thomas Hanses/Eurovision TV)

Critics are predicting that Franka Batelic, who is representing Croatia at the 2018 Eurovision contest, will defy the odds and make it through to the final after rehearsing for the first time on Monday in Portugal.

Franka got a huge round of applause from the press centre as she took to the stage in a flowing lace dress to perform ‘Crazy’.

“Opening to a silhouette before strobe lighting kicks in, this song grabs attention from the start. The vocal is perfect for the music and Franka looks more than comfortable with an emotional and emotive performance. She’s increased the big notes in the song and hits them perfectly. It almost looks effortless. This has surprised a lot of people and is stronger on stage than the official CD. Croatia could be heading back to the Eurovision Song Contest final for the third year running,” Metro writes.

(Screenshot)

‘Crazy’, which is written by Franka herself with the music by Branimir Mihaljevic, will be song number twelve in the first Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Final on Tuesday 8 May.

“It is a love song. It has a mystic vibe and something you would not expect from Croatia. We recorded three songs in the studio and this one suddenly came about. Branimir started playing it on the piano, I started singing the lyrics and the song “Crazy” came about. It simply worked as it was unusual and unexpected. The song is powerful, emotional, and modern. I hope the public will love it,” Franka said.

Eurovision TV was also impressed with Franka’s rehearsal, calling it a powerful performance.

Born in Rijeka in 1992, Franka has won several awards throughout her career and has released numerous hit singles in Croatia.

Croatia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 23 times since making its debut at the 1993 contest. Croatia’s best result in the contest is fourth-place finishes in 1996 (Maja Blagdan) and 1999 (Doris Dragović).

Today’s rehearsal in Portugal below.