Prior to the 2017 contest, Croatia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-three times since their debut in Millstreet 1993. The nation's highest placing in the contest was fourth, which they achieved two times: in 1996 with the song "Sveta ljubav" performed by Maja Blagdan and in 1999 with "Marija Magdalena" performed by Doris Dragović. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, Croatia had featured in six finals. Croatia's least successful result in the final has been twenty-third place, which they achieved in 2016 with the song "Lighthouse" performed by Nina Kraljić, their first final performance after 7 years. And Croatia's least successful result in semi final has been sixteenth place, which they achieved in 2007 with the song "Vjerujem u ljubav", performed by Dragonfly and Dado Topić. In 2017, Croatia qualified to the final, placing 13th with the song "My Friend", performed by Jacques Houdek.