It was 1993 when Bosnia & Herzegovina dipped their toes in the Eurovision waters for the first time as an independent nation, and since then, have participated all but four times. In the scheme of things, the nation has been quite successful, landing a number of Top 10 finishes over the years. Today we’ll be starting our Best of the Bunch journey in 2006, and like all our other Best of the Bunch posts, we’ll be continuing until 2015 – although, Bosnia & Herzegovina did not participate between 2013 and 2015, so we’ll have to finish our journey in 2012! Recap on all the songs and vote for your Best of the Bunch below!
We’re starting in 2006, where Bosnia & Herzegovina landed their best result in their Eurovision history. The act was Hari Mata Hari, and the song was called Lejla, and was actually composed by former participant (at that time, and he went on to represent Serbia again in 2012) Željko Joksimović. The song wasn’t automatically in the final due to the nation finishing outside the top 10 the previous year, but cruised through to the final in 2nd place, and the in the final finished in 3rd position with 229 points!
The following year, the nation sent Marija Šestić with the Serbian language song Rijeka bez imena. Thanks for Hari Mata Hari the previous year, Marija automatically qualified to the final, and in the final, Bosnia & Herzegovina ended up in 11th place with 106 points.
In 2008, the nation had a change of pace with their selection of Laka with the very eccentric performance of the song Pokušaj. It may be one of the most memorable Bosnian entries, and for good reason, with a staging full of surprises. The song improved a place on the previous year, finished in 10th position with 110 points.
The next year, the rock band Regina was chosen to represent the nation, and they took more of a Balkan ballad style song to the Eurovision stage, titled Bistra Voda. The performance impressed audiences in the semi-final, finishing in 3rd place and qualifying comfortably. In the final, the results weren’t as well replicated, with the band finishing in 9th place with 106 points.
In 2010, the selection was made internally through a submission process, and it was announced that Vukašin Brajić would be the one representing Bosnia & Herzegovina with the song Thunder and Lightning, which was originally in national language, but changed to English for the contest. The song qualified in 8th in the semi, and then went on to finish in 17th place in the final.
In 2011, Dino Merlin was selected to return to Eurovision, after writing the song of the debut entry for the nation, and then participating himself alongside Beatrice in 1999. This time around, his song was called Love in Rewind, a feel-good song that slid through to the final in 5th place, and the in the final finished in 6th position with 125 points.
The last song to discuss is Korake ti znam, which was the ballad sung by Maya Sar, who had previous been a backing artist for Dino Merlin the year previous, as well as in 2004. It was definitely a different style to what both her previous experiences were, but she oozed class on stage. She qualified in 6th place, and then finished in 18th position in the final with 55 points.
And there we have it! Which Bosnian entry is your Best of the Bunch? Vote here:
