"Rock Me" was the winner of 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 Broadc ...

, performed by

Riva Riva may refer to: People * Riva (surname) * Riva Castleman (1930–2014), American art historian, art curator and author * Riva Ganguly Das (born 1961), Indian diplomat * Riva (footballer), Brazilian former footballer Rivadávio Alves Pereira ...

, representing , the only time that the country won the contest. It was originally performed in Croatian, but the lead vocalist

Emilija Kokić Emilija Kokić (born 10 May 1968) is a Croatian singer. She was the lead singer of the Croatian pop band Riva, which won the Eurovision Song Contest 1989 for Yugoslavia, with the song '' Rock Me'', just four days before her 21st Birthday. Current ...

sang it in English during the winners' encore. The song's victory led to international awareness of Yugoslav and Croatian rock. 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 by

Toto Cutugno Salvatore "Toto" Cutugno (; born 7 July 1943) is an Italian pop singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known for his worldwide hit song, "L'Italiano", released on his 1983 album of the same title. Cutugno also won the Eurovision Song Conte ...

representing with " Insieme: 1992". It was succeeded as Yugoslav representative that year by

Tajči Tajči Cameron ( , ; born Tatjana Matejaš, , on 1 July 1970) is a Croatian singer, television show host, published author and blogger, who now lives in the United States. Career As a pop star in the former Yugoslavia in the late 1980s and earl ...

with "

Hajde da ludujemo Yugoslavia was the host nation of the Eurovision Song Contest 1990, held in Zagreb, Socialist Republic of Croatia, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia. It was represented by Tajči and the song "Hajde da ludujemo" Before Eurovision Jugovizija 1990 The Yug ...

". In 2022, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' named it 44th best Eurovision-winning song of all time.

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1989 Eurovision songs of Yugoslavia Eurovision songs of 1989 Croatian songs Eurovision Song Contest winning songs 1989 songs Macaronic songs