Rock Me (Riva song)

Summary

"Rock Me" was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1989, performed by Riva, representing Yugoslavia, the only time that the country won the contest. It was originally performed in Croatian, but the lead vocalist Emilija Kokić sang it in English during the winners' encore.

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia "Rock Me"
Eurovision Song Contest 1989 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Stevo Cvikić
Conductor
Nikica Kalogjera
Finals performance
Final result
1st
Final points
137
Entry chronology
◄ "Mangup" (1988)
"Hajde da ludujemo" (1990) ►

The song's victory led to international awareness of Yugoslav and Croatian rock.[1]

Riva's frontwoman Kokić continued to appear in various shows but had no significant success after the 1989 victory.

The song was succeeded as winner in 1990 by Toto Cutugno representing Italy with "Insieme: 1992". It was succeeded as Yugoslav representative that year by Tajči with "Hajde da ludujemo".

In 2022, The Independent named it 44th best Eurovision-winning song of all time.[2]

References edit

  1. ^ Ramet, Sabrina P. (2002). Balkan Babel: The Disintegration of Yugoslavia from the Death of Tito to the Fall of Milosevic. Westview Press. p. 145. ISBN 0-8133-3905-7.
  2. ^ Kelly, Ben (2022-05-10). "All 68 winning Eurovision songs ranked from worst to best". The Independent. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
Preceded by Eurovision Song Contest winners
1989
Succeeded by