By: Tonci PRUSAC

MELBOURNE - Adelaide's Natali Lovrinov took out first place in the Melbourne heat of the inaugural CroatianFest song contest, held last Saturday night at the St Albans Dinamo clubrooms.

The Melbourne heat, publicised as 'Croatian Idol' and organised by Mladez HDZ Melbourne, was held before an appreciative audience of more than 300 people who had crammed into the lavish Fox Street clubrooms.

The evening's programme was expertly compered by Marko Bajer (in Croatian) and Marisa Vugdelija (English), both members of the Mladez HDZ committee.

Hot on the heels of proficiently co-presenting the spectacular Miss Croatia Australia gala pageant several weeks ago, Vugdelija's performance on Saturday night was enough to suggest she is the hottest MC ticket in town.

The actual song contest attracted a talent laden field of 13 competitiors in two age categories - a total of six competitors took part in the Under 15 section while seven entrants participated in the 15-25 age group.

The members of the judging panel included: Nikola Rasic (host, Croatian Radio Programme SBS), Ivo Vasilj (Croatian Consul in Melbourne), Ivica Juresic (guitarist with local band 'Split') and Beba Placko (presenter, Croatian Radio Programme 3ZZZ-FM).

Although plagued by some unfortunate technical problems with the sound system throughout the evening, the song contest nevertheless showcased some of the brightest young singing talent within the Victorian and South Australian Croatian communities.

The Under 15 category kickstarted the evening with some sublime vocal performances from the event's youngest and smallest competitiors.

Fourteen year old Stefani-Mary Dragovic was the first cab off the rank with a delightful rendition of Minea's "Hej, ljubavi", followed by 12-year-old Hannah Horvat's equally likeable version of Vesna Pisarovic's ''Za tebe stvorena'.

Although both girls commenced with a twinge of nervousness in their voices, as their respective songs progressed so too did their confidence.

The next two competitiors, Ante Kozul and Helena Mabic, at just nine years were in fact the two youngest singers on the night. The diminutive Ante captured the hearts of the audience with his sheer cuteness, while young Helena not only let her talented voice shine through, but also executed an on stage performance that belied her tender age.

Helena's 11-year-old sister, Nikolina, was next with her unique spin on Severina's classic hit 'Djevojka sa sela', while 13-year-old Johnny Vugdelija rounded off the younger category singing ''Stari se'', which was made famous by Marko Perkovic Thompson.

An intermission followed, during which the lively three piece band 'Valovi' entertained the crowd ahead of the main act - the 15-25 age group.

Kristina Bartulovic (15) got the ball rolling with another crowd favourite, the boppy sing-along 'Paloma nera', made famous by Severina in her younger days. Despite having to contend with the sub-performing sound system - which wasn't able to be rectified in the break - Kristian nonetheless managed to put in a solid performance.

Two representatives from Geelong's Croatian community followed, 21-year-old Danijela Coric with a powerful rendition of the Bijelo dugme track "Ne spavaj mala moja". and 15-year-old Ivana Govic with her cover of Magazin's "Gutljaj vina".

Lidija Jagica was next with an unusual song choice. The brave 20-year-old opted for Mate Bulic's "Vijavica". Despite being faced with the tough task of adapting her vocals to the low-pitched range of the song, in the end Lidija did well to execute an overall polished performance.

Prior to last Saturday night's event, 22-year-old Josip Loncaric had battled a severe bout of the flu which had threatened to play havoc with his larynx.

Nonetheless, the soccer player-come-journalist-come singing sensation had the crowd spellbound (especially the love-struck, screaming teenage females in the audience) with his catchy version of Petar Graso's ''Volim i postojim'', which suited his vocal range to perfection.

The following contestant's commitment could not be questioned. Natali Lovrinov travelled 700 kilometres from her home town Adelaide to take part in the Melbourne heat, as no South Australian leg had been organised.

The clasically trained pocket dynamo's rendition of Danijela Martinovic's "Neka mi ne svane" totally blew the audience away with her powerful, yet well controlled vocals. The only performer to successfully utilise the often difficult vocal technique of vibrato in her perfomance, Natali wowed the crowd, but more importantly the judges as well.

She even managed to evoke a 'touchdown' call from Ivan Juresic, while Nikola Rasic went so far as to pre-empt the final decision and claim there and then that Natali had 'wrapped up the title'.

The final contestant was Dubravko Palinic, a 19-year-old with a hypnotically, tranquil low-pitched voice who performed the immortal Prljavo Kazaliste classic 'Ruza Hrvatska. Looking the part of a true 'rocker', Dubravko also managed to capture the hearts of the female throng, attracting shrieks of delight from large sections fo the crowd.

In the end however, there could only be one winner for each of the two categories.

In the junior section, Helena Mabic took out first prize, while the main prize in the senior section was awarded to Natali Lovrinov.

The winner of the Melbourne heat, Natali Lovrinov, will now travel to Sydney to compete in the Crofest Song Contest at the Croatian Club Punchbowl in Sydney on Sunday Novermber 6.

The 'Croatian Herald' will publish a special two-part preview of CroFest, commencing in next week's issue with the Under 15 category.

CONTROVERSY AS 'CROWEATER' CROWNED WINNER
The selection provided a hint of controversy with several parochial punters unhappy that a South Australian would supposedly be 'representing' Victoria at the national final in Sydney early next month.

Nonetheless, the Elder Conservatory of Music student was truly a class above the rest and fully deserved the accolades and the ultimate prize.

It must also be said that the contest called for individual contestants and not representatives of geographical zones or communities.

FROM THE ORGANISERS...
A big thank you and congratulations goes out to the people who helped organise this fantastic event, members of the Mladez HDZ Melbourne committee including Marica Vugdelija, Mary Dobran, Vesna Radisic, Natali Munivrana, Jasmine Budisa and Marko Bajer, on their fantastic work.

Thank you also must go out to the entire committee at St. Albans Dinamo Soccer Club for their hard work in providing food and drinks to the 400+ people that attended.

This year's CRO-IDOL would not have been possible without the financial support of its valued sponsors, including Cro Travel World - Josip Cuk, Novak Security - Stjepan Novak, Hrvatski Vjesnik - The Croatian Herald, Cost Less Curtains - Nick Hajnal, DDK Commercial Interiors - Daniel Keas, JMJ Timber & Hardware - Ivan Jacmenovic and Zagreb Croatian Bookshop - Miro Pritisanac.

We hope that a bigger and better event will be staged next year and every year preceeding it, to ensure our Croatian language and culture lives on amongst the younger generation of Australian-Croatians in the future." • Mladez HDZ Committee

Cro-Idol Expression of Interest Application Form - Melbourne 2005
Name & Surname:
Address:
Telephone/Mobile:		Category:	Under 15 years	15-25 years
Please nominate up to three (3) Croatian songs including the original artist's name:
E-mail:

Do you like to sing? Do you think you have what it takes to become
Australia's first Cro-Idol? Then read on...

Mladez HDZ Melbourne is seeking young Australian-Croatians with a talent for singing to enter Victoria's first ever singing competition designed especially for the Croatian community.

With two categories, under 15 years of age, and between 15 and 25, contestants will have a chance to perform in front of a live audience with finalists being selected by a panel of judges and the audience present.

The main criteria for contestants entering, is to sing a song in Croatian from a Croatian artist/group, and that they fall within one of the two age categories.

One winner from each age category will get a complimentary airline ticket to Sydney and compete in the final of the CROFEST 2005 Song Contest being held at the Croatian Club in Punchbowl. There, contestants will have a chance to win major prizes as well as a possible record contract with a Croatian recording studio.

Other minor prizes will also be awarded to runners-up and all contestants.

So, if you feel you have what it takes to become the first Australian-Croatian Idol, register your interest via the following:

Email: mladez@mhdz.com.au
Phone: Marko Bajer - (03) 9449 1175 or Marisa Vugdelija - 0422 902 284

An online application form is also set up on www.mhdz.com.au (above). Once we receive your expression of interest we will contact you with further details of practise sessions and other formalities.

Applications close 15th September 2005.

Marko Bajer
President, Mladez HDZ Melbourne