Riva was a Croatian

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

band formed in

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ser ...

in 1986. After forming in 1986, the band appeared on Zagrebfest 1988, Performing with the song “Zadnja Suza” (“Last Tear in Croatian). Their song " Rock Me" won the

Eurovision Song Contest 1989 The Eurovision Song Contest 1989 was the 34th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lausanne, Switzerland, following Céline Dion's victory at the with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi". Organised by the European Broad ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, with a score of 137 points. According to author John Kennedy O'Connor in ''The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History'', it was an unexpected win.O'Connor, John Kennedy The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 The band proved sceptics wrong, bringing the first and only victory for Yugoslavia. The contest was then hosted in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

, representing Yugoslav Radio Television. After the success, they released two subsequent albums, one titled after their winning track “ Rock Me” (1989) and “Srce Laneta” (“''Laneta Heart”'' in Croatian) in 1990. Shortly after the success of both albums, the band signed to a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

Agency where they started production on their planned 3rd album titled “''Lude Glave, Lude Godine”'' (''“Crazy Heads, Crazy Years”'' in Croatian). With

Per Gessle Per Håkan Gessle (; born 12 January 1959) is a Swedish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the male half and primary songwriter of the Swedish pop rock duo Roxette, which he formed with Marie Fredriksson in 1986 and which was d ...

of popular pop rock duo

Roxette Roxette was a Swedish pop rock duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson (vocals and keyboards) and Per Gessle (vocals and guitar). Formed in 1986, the duo became an international act in the late 1980s, when they released their breakthrough second ...

to be featured with whom they were supposed to be opening acts for on a world tour. Disagreements arose when the

Agency misrepresented the validity of

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

a then recently independent country opting for the band to remain as being from Yugoslavia for press purposes as well as the bands performances focusing on humanitarian issues in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

to help victims of the Yugoslav Wars. Feeling betrayed by the agency’s portrayal of what was happening in their hometown at the time the members cut all ties with the agency with front woman Emilija Kokić stating in a 2019 interview : ''“We come from Zadar, our families are huddled in basements because grenades of the Serbian army are falling on Zadar, and we would act like Yugoslavians How? That would be the biggest betrayal! They would become people to whom a career means more than anything”.'' After the resignation, the planned album which was scheduled for release remained unreleased with only 3 songs from the album being available from their performance at the Croatian preselection Dora in 1993. During 1991 the band decided to have a hiatus originally planned to be short, which ended up being the end of Riva as members focused on their own personal lives with only very few small reunions taking place between 1993-2016.

Personnel

* Emilija Kokić – vocals * Dalibor Musap – vocals, keyboards * Nenad Nakić – vocals, bass * Zvonimir Zrilić – guitars, vocals * Boško Colić – drums * Aleksandra Kalafatović – keyboards

Citations

External links

Dalibor Musap's official website (establisher and leader of the group RIVA)

Emilija Kokić's official website
Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Yugoslavia Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1989 Eurovision Song Contest winners Croatian pop music groups Croatian rock music groups {{Croatia-stub