Will Franka sing Croatia to Eurovision final third time in a row?
After years of missing out on the final, Croatia seems to be on the right track these days. Jacques Houdek’s 13th place on Saturday’s final last year was the country’s best result in quite a few years. But of course this year they want even more. Singer Franka was chosen through an internal selection to represent her country with the track ‘Crazy’. Will she bring her country to the final for a third time in a row?
Franka gained fame at a young age when she won talent competition Showtime back in 2007. She participated in the Croatian national final back in 2009, but 2018 will be her moment to shine. Franka will take the stage with ‘Crazy’, which she co-wrote herself. It is a soulful pop number with vocal acrobatics and quite the bombastic production. It is sonically similar to what Alicia Keys would have released ten years ago, but not quite as captivating. Listening to ‘Crazy’, it feels like you hear what Franka and her team tried to do, but they did not quite get there. The chorus is one dimensional and lacks a build up or climax. The spoken part comes across rather messy and unnecessary and I can’t see it being translated well to the stage. Vocally however, I am sure Franka will slay the hell out of this tune. Then remains the question if her belting will be enough to set her apart from the strong competition she is facing in the first semi final. I am afraid it won’t.
Review of Semi Final Performance:
Franka stepped on stage on her own and she completely owned it. Her vocals were spot on and powerful and she looked like a star, working the camera like she stands on the Eurovision stage weekly. Unfortunately, her song ‘Crazy’ did not show off her full potential. True, it gave her room to belt away, but there is not much of a tune there. The spoken bit after the first chorus killed the vibe of the track too. The song simply was not strong enough to make it to the final, but Croatia, please bring back Franka next year with a killer tune!
Read our other Eurovision 2018 reviews: ALBANIA – ARMENIA – AUSTRALIA –AUSTRIA – AZERBAIJAN – BELARUS –BELGIUM – BULGARIA – CYPRUS –CZECH REPUBLIC – DENMARK – ESTONIA – FINLAND – FRANCE – FYR MACEDONIA – GEORGIA – GERMANY – GREECE – HUNGARY – ICELAND –IRELAND – ISRAEL –ITALY – LATVIA – LITHUANIA –MALTA – MOLDOVA – MONTENEGRO – THE NETHERLANDS – NORWAY – POLAND – PORTUGAL – ROMANIA – RUSSIA – SAN MARINO – SERBIA – SLOVENIA – SPAIN – SWEDEN – SWITZERLAND – UKRAINE – UNITED KINGDOM