Luck didn’t quite struck Croatia in 2025, as it did for 2024, but that ain’t gonna change things. For 2026, the national final for Croatia, which is DORA, will once again be used to select the Croatian entry for the upcoming edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.
DORA 2026
Since 2019, the Croatian broadcaster (HRT) has selected their entry through the national final. The format was revived back then, after some rather mixed results by entries that were selected internally prior to 2019.
Since 2024, the national final has used two semi-finals and a final, in order to select the winner, and that will be the case as well for 2026.
The competition will consist of a total of 24 participating acts, which will be split into the two semi-finals. In the past, 12 songs participated in each semi-final, with 8 acts qualifying from both semi-finals, in order to make up the final of 16 acts. Whether this will also be done for the contest in 2026, is yet to be confirmed, but at the moment the expected way things will go.
Four acts will also be selected, as back-up participants, should one or more of the original 24 selected acts not be available to compete after all.
The general rules are the same that are used for the Eurovision Song Contest, which means that songs submitted must not have been performed or officially released to the public before September 1st, artists must be 16 years of age, songs can’t be longer than 3 minutes and no more than 6 performers on stage, just to name a few. There are also the local twist to the rules, that people interested in taking part, must be of Croatian citizenship.
At the moment, the date for the national final has not been revealed, but it is possible already to send in entries, with the submission deadline being set to November 23rd 2025. It is however stated, that the shows are expected to take place, sometime in February 2026.
In 2025, Marko BoÅ¡njak was crowned the winner of the Croatian national final, with his song “Poison Cake“. Hence he was given the task to represent Croatia at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Basel, Switzerland. Sadly, this was not the treat the viewers across Europe wanted, as Croatia’s journey in the contest, ended in the semi-final. In the end, finishing at 12th place in the first semi-final, with 28 points.
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Source(s): HRT.hr (In Croatian)