E.N.I. or ENI is a Croatianpop band and girl group from Rijeka consisting of members Ivona Maričić, Iva Močibob, Elena Tomeček Zdjelar and Nikolina Tomljanović. The group debuted in early 1997 with their single "Probudi me" which was later chosen at Dora 1997 to represent Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 in Dublin, Ireland. Their debut album Probudi me was released shortly after, in late 1998.
History
1996–2002: Debut, Eurovision Song Contest, Probudi me & Saten
All four founding members of E.N.I. were members of the Rijeka-based supergroup Putokazi.[1] In late 1996 the group's first release was a special album where alongside them another new Rijeka-based singer was presented, Putokazi predstavljaju: E.N.I. i Vivien Galetta.[1] A year later, in 1997, the group's first official single "Probudi me" was released.[2] At the 1997 edition of Dora, the country's selection show to choose its Eurovision Song Contest 1997 representative, the song won the contest with 170 points; 9 points ahead of runner-up Petar Grašo.[3] Performing in Dublin at the Eurovision Songs Contest 1997, E.N.I. came 17th with a total of 24 points.[4] Later the same year, their debut studio album Probudi me was released.[5]Probudi me spawned two additional singles, "Mi možemo sve" and "Ljubav je tu".[5] E.N.I.'s second studio album Saten was released in 1998 through Orfej and spawned three singles, "Ljubav je tu", "Kap po kap" and "You're The One".[5] In 2000, while on a break from recording solo material, the band was featured in several songs such as "Košulja plava" with Šajeta or "Profesor Jakov" with Let 3.[6] In the campaign for 2000 parliamentary elections they, together with many other rock musicians, supported Social Democratic Party of Croatia and other opposition parties.[7] In 2002, another collaboration titled "Treba mi vremena" was released, this time with Rijeka-based rock band En Face.[8]
2003–2007: Da Capo & Oči su ti ocean
In 2003, the group signed a recording deal with Dallas Records and released their third studio album Da Capo on 9 June 2003.[9] The album included 10 cover songs of popular Yugoslav songs released in the 60's, 70's and 80's.[9]Da Capo's lead single "Ti si moja ruža" is a translated Croatian version of Videosex's "Ti si moja roža".[10] The album's second single "Rijetko te viđam sa djevojkama" is a cover version of Idoli's "Retko te viđam sa devojkama".[11] The album cycle came to an end with the release od "Samo jednom se ljubi" which is originally performed by Ivo Robić.[12] On 14 June 2004, the group appeared at the 2004 Zagreb Pride parade and festival where they performed a set of songs.[13] In 2007, E.N.I. fourth studio album Oči su ti ocean was released through Dallas Records.[14] The album included two of the commercially most successful songs; the lead single "Oči su ti ocean" and "Traži se dečko".[15]Oči su ti ocean spawned two addition singles, "Mona Lisa" and "Ja znam".[16] At the 2007 edition of the Porin Awards the group won the award for Best Group Vocal Performance for the song "Oči su ti ocean", while additionally being nominated in the category Best Pop Album for Oči su ti ocean.[17]
