“We can describe this performance in one word—perfection!” “What a blessing, I got goosebumps—unlike anything we’ve ever seen on Croatia’s Got Talent!”
These are just some of the national headlines Agape Family Quartet made after appearing on Supertalent, the Croatian edition of Britain’s Got Talent and the country’s most-watched show. Nicknamed “tata i 3 brata” (dad & 3 brothers), the a cappella quartet consists of pastor Darko Kovačević and his sons Andrija, an artistic director who crafted arrangements for all the songs; Matija, a theology professor at the Adriatic Union College; and Jakov, also working for the Adventist church in Croatia.
The Audition
Introduced through a playful video showcasing their family and church life, Darko shared, “We are all members of our church, and I am a Seventh-day Adventist pastor.”
In Croatia, where 80% of the population identifies as Catholic and less than 0.07% Adventists, this was remarkable, Adventists point out. Their performance of Shall We Gather at the River, from the Croatian Adventist Hymnal, earned a standing ovation.
One judge said, “I haven’t heard something this good in a long time,” while another remarked, “You’ve brought incredible peace and joy to our show.”
The Semi-final
After receiving four “yeses”, the group returned for the semi-final with an a cappella rendition of "Oceans." Vanja Popov, from their larger gospel ensemble Agape, joined for vocal percussion. Two female judges teared up, asking the mother to stand up.
“How can a mother give birth to not one but three such sons? Not only are you talented but you are such well-behaved, beautiful people.”
A male judge said, “The love you have for each other has reached every corner of this studio and all the homes that watched you.”
Even the fourth judge who expressed his general dislike for spiritual music, but gave yes for quality singing, now also admitted, “It’s wonderful that with you we can rejoice over different values from what we’re used to.”
The Final
Though they didn’t make the final due to strong competition, including four golden buzzers in the semi-final episode, they made history when invited as special guests for the final—something never done in the show’s 11 seasons. The quartet closed the season with a Christmas medley, including "O Holy Night," during which a judge who often fought with his colleague from the far side came to her and hugged her, vividly illustrating the point of Christmas: “In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself … entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.” (2 Cor 5:19). The audience and jury gave a standing ovation, and the presenters asked Pastor Darko to invite viewers to the gospel ensemble Agape’s concert a month later.
The premiere of the 11th season of Croatia’s Got Talent attracted 460,000 viewers, with 800,000 video views of the show seen on YouTube in less than 24 hours.
Catholic viewers wrote hundreds of positive comments, such as, “They brought peace to our hearts” and “What denomination are they from? They’re wonderful!” “An example for every family. God bless them!”
Their performances went viral, reaching hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok in a country of just 3.8 million people.
Grateful, the Kovačević family said, “Praise to God alone! We prayed for His help not to bury the talents He gave us but rather use them the way we should. Then, an incentive to apply for Supertalent came from an unexpected direction. After prayerful consideration, we decided to apply. And the rest is history.”
The original article was published on the Trans-European Division news site.
