Colonia is a Croatian dance music duo from Vinkovci, Croatia. The band has released thirteen albums and over 35 singles to date with various songs and albums gaining platinum status. They are known for winning the first ever Eurodance competition in 2001 and their various hits throughout the years. History 1996–1997: Beginnings and Vatra i led Colonia was founded in 1996 by Boris Đurđević and Tomislav Jelić, two DJs from Vinkovci, Croatia. As the two of them did not sing, they later hired Indira "Ira" Vladić (from Županja) to become their vocalist. The name of the group comes from the ancient Latin name of the Croatian town Vinkovci which was "Colonia Aurelia Cibalae". The first commercial release by the group was "Nek' vatre gore sve" in 1996. The song was sent to radio stations all over Croatia and enjoyed moderate success. The next single released was "Sve oko mene je grijeh" which charted on the Croatian the national charts and became a hit. Colonia soon signed with the record company Crno-bijeli svijet (CBS), which facilitated the release their 1997 debut album Vatra i led which sold over 40,000 copies. 1998–2001: Dora and Croatia Records In 1998, Colonia entered HRT Dora, the Croatian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest with hopes to be the Croatian representative at the yearly song contest. At the final, held on March 6, 1998, the group placed fourth with the song "U ritmu ljubavi" having gained 87 points. The voting was tallied using 20 juries, one from each Croatian province, and a 21st jury consisting of viewer televoting. A few months later, Colonia won a prize for the song "Lady Blue" at Melodije hrvatskog Jadrana (Melodies of the Adriatic), an annual music festival. Then in 1999, Colonia released their next single "Njeno ime ne zovi u snu" and soon after their second studio album Ritam ljubavi. Colonia soon became one of the best selling musical groups in Croatia, and switched record labels, signing with Croatia Records. With Croatia Records, Colonia released their third studio album titled Jača nego ikad which is their first album to be released in all Former Yugoslav republics. The song "Budi mi zbogom" was entered into the Croatian Radio Festival where it won second place and a cover version of "Deja vu" by the Japanese group KinKi Kids had great success in Asia reaching #1 on the charts. "Sexy Body" became