Baby Lasagna says goodbye to award money as he donates it to charity.
In the wake of Baby Lasagna achieving Croatia’s best ever result in the Eurovision Song Contest, the Croatian government awarded him 50,000 euros as a special recognition for his contribution to promotion and international visibility of Croatia through his Eurovision 2024 participation and success.
However, Baby Lasagna has declined all of the 50,000 euros, and instead, he has asked for it to be donated towards good causes, thanking the Croatian government for the money, but at the same time, stating that he could not accept it.
“I thank the Croatian Government for the monetary award in the amount of 50,000 euros. However, I cannot accept that money. I could give many reasons why, but the first, most important and sufficient one is that there are many other individuals and organizations that this money will help far more.
Hereby, I am asking Mr. Plenković to donate 25,000 euros on behalf of me and the Croatian Government to the Institute for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology with the day hospital “Mladen Ćepulić”. Furthermore, I would like to donate the other 25,000 euros to the Institute for Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation at KBC Zagreb.”
The Directors of both of the hostpitals which Baby Lasagna has decided to donate his award money to, have thanked the singer and have mentioned that the money he has donated will enable them to invest in equipment and facilities. Professor Ph.D Goran Roić, MD and director of the Zagreb Clinic for Children’s Diseases has said of Baby Lasagna’s donation:
“It is an exceptional donation, a donation obviously from the heart, and of course it surprised us very, very pleasantly. Baby Lasagna, whom we supported and will continue to support, showed how normal, self-effacing and big-hearted he is.”
Professor Ph.D. Ante Ćorušić , MD and director of KBC Zagreb, has also shared his joy at Baby Lasagna’s donation: “I am especially glad that the donation comes from the currently most popular Croat in general and a man who, with his performance at the Eurovision Song Contest, did a lot for the promotion of our entire homeland. I thank him once again. The money will be used where he wanted, which is to equip the Institute for Children’s Hematology. We are opening it at the end of June or the beginning of July.”
The Prime Minister of Croatia Andrej Plenković congratulated Baby Lasagna and is thrilled with everything that he has managed to achieve at Eurovision 2024, stating that he expected as much from soneone like Marko Purišić: “This is the best success of any Croatian representative at the Eurovision Song Contest since Croatia became independent, i.e. since the success of the group Riva in 1989 and the then Eurovision organization in Zagreb. This is a fascinating success and result… Those were wonderful moments of a great young man and his team, and we wish him much success in further career… I even told my colleagues, as much as I felt him, he will surely give it to the one who needs it more and that’s exactly how it was.”
From only making to the reserve list for Dora 2024, to being brought into the contest after Zsa Zsa withrew, to qualifying to the final where he landslided the jury and televote, to quickly asserting himself as one of the big favourites to win Eurovision 2024, Marko Purišić, known by his stage name Baby Lasagna, has been on an incredible journey over the last few months.
At Eurovision 2024 in Malmö, Baby Lasagna went on to win semi final one, giving Croatia their first semi final win. In the final, he achieved third place and 210 points from the juries (Croatia’s first top three jury placing), then went on to win the televote with 337 points (Croatia’s first televote win), giving them an overall score of 547 points, putting them comfortably in second place.
What are your thoughts on Baby Lasagna donating his award money to two hospitals in Croatia? What do you think is next for Baby Lasagna? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
