Country Croatia Language Croatian Lyricist(s) Vjekoslava Huljić | Artist(s) Doris Dragović Composer(s) Tonči Huljić Final result 4th | |
"Marija Magdalena" (English translation: "Mary Magdalene") was the Croatian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999, performed in Croatian by Doris Dragović.
The song was performed fourth on the night (following Spain's Lydia with "No quiero escuchar" and preceding the United Kingdom's Precious with "Say It Again"). At the close of voting, it had received 118 points, placing 4th of 23.
This song is a love song, Dragović singing she "belongs to you" and swearing this by the names both of God and the Biblical character. For a dramatic appearance, she appeared dressed in a white gown and cloak. She was accompanied on stage by one female backing singer dressed in black. At the start of the second verse, she removed the cloak, to reveal a tight bodice.
When the number of countries wishing to enter the contest increased sharply, Eurovision began calculating an average of each country's scores from previous years; countries with the best marks could compete in following years. When it emerged that Dragović used offstage accompaniment (i.e. vocals by a male voice choir not on stage), Croatia was penalised by removal of one third of its marks average. It was too late to dock points from that night's score.
Goran Karan with "Kad zaspu anđeli" succeeded Dragović as Croatian representative at the 2000 Contest.