Croatia has revealed details of the song that broadcaster HRT hopes will bring it success at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest (JESC).

Hrvatska Radiotelevizija held an internal selection and chose Josie, with the song ‘Game over’. It was revealed on the TV show Puni Kerg. Despite the title, the song will be performed both in Croatian and English.

Josie (born Josephine Zec) will be 14 at the time of the contest, and was actually born in Philadelphia. But she’s of Croatian heritage and has lived there since she was two months old. She’s been performing for some time, including as a member the Zvijezdice choir

This is Croatia’s fifth participating in JESC, and their first since 2006, and it’s really good to see them back. For those of you die-hards that have watched JESC since its early days, you’ll know that Croatia won the very first JESC in 2003, with the song ‘Ti si moje prva ljubav’ by Dino Jelusić. Dino has gone on to big things, releasing several singles and albums, and currently fronts an Iron Maiden tribute act ‘Made in Iron’. In 2004, Croatia also finished third. So despite the notable absence, there is a pedigree to do well for the Adriatic nation.

We wish her and Croatia the best of luck in November. This year’s JESC takes place on Saturday 15 November from the Malta Shipbuilding in the locality of Marsa, just down the coast from the capital Valletta.

Author: John Stanton (with a bit of help from our friends at Junior Eurovision Luke and Ervin)