Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026
| Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 2026 | ||||
| Participating broadcaster | Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) | |||
| Country |  Croatia | |||
| Selection process | Dora 2026 | |||
| Selection date | 15 February 2026 | |||
| Competing entry | ||||
| Song | "Andromeda" | |||
| Artist | Lelek | |||
| Songwriters |
| |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
| ||||
Croatia is set to be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 with the song "Andromeda", written by Filip Lacković, Lazar Pajić, Tomislav Roso and Zorica Pajić, and performed by the band Lelek. The Croatian participating broadcaster, Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT), organised the national final Dora 2026 in order to select its entry for the contest.
Background
Prior to the 2026 contest, Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Croatia 30 times since its first entry in 1993. Its best result in the contest was second, achieved in 2024 with the song "Rim Tim Tagi Dim" performed by Baby Lasagna. This was also its first top-five finish since "Marija Magdalena" by Doris Dragović in 1999. Following the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Croatia had thus far featured in nine finals.[1] In 2025, Croatia failed to qualify to the final with Marko Bošnjak and the song "Poison Cake".[1]
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, HRT organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. HRT confirmed its participation in the 2026 contest on 22 September 2025.[2] Between 1993 and 2011, HRT organised the national final Dora in order to select its entry. In 2012 and 2013, the broadcaster opted to internally select its entry and continued the internal selection procedure from 2016 to 2018 after missing the contest in 2014 and 2015. Since 2019, it returned to use Dora to select its entry, a method that will be continued for its 2026 participation.[2][3]
Before Eurovision
Dora 2026
Dora 2026 was the twenty-seventh edition of the national selection Dora, organised by HRT to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. The competition took place at the HRT studios in Zagreb, and consisted of two semi-finals and a final in February 2026.[4][5]
Competing entries
On 22 September 2025, HRT opened a submission period where artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster with the deadline on 23 November 2025.[3] 251 entries were received by the broadcaster during the submission period, a new record since Dora was relaunched in 2019.[6][7] A seven-member expert committee consisting of Tihomir Preradović (composer and music producer), Denis Mujadžić (composer and music producer), Ivana Kindl (singer), Mia Negovetić (singer, composer, voice actress), Monika Lelas Halambek (radio host and editor), Jelena Balent (music editor and singer) and Davor Medaković (music editor) reviewed the received submissions and selected twenty-four artists and songs as well as four backup entries for the competition.[8] HRT announced the competing entries on 3 December 2025.[9] On 10 December 2025, HRT announced that Karolina Ilić was disqualified from the competition due to not being a Croatian citizen, and that she would be replaced by Gabrijel Ivić.[10][11]
Entry disqualified Replacement entry
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Alen Đuras | "From Ashes to Flame" |
|
| Ananda | "Dora" |
|
| Cold Snap | "Mucho Macho" |
|
| Devin | "Over Me" | Devin Juraj |
| Ema Bubić | "Vrijeme za nas" | Lara Pilepić |
| Fenksta | "Memento mori" |
|
| Fran Uccellini | "Ako bolje bude sutra" | Fran Uccellini |
| Gabrijel Ivić | "Light Up" |
|
| Irma | "Ni traga" |
|
| Ivan Sever | "Crying Eyes" |
|
| Jasmina Makota | "Higher" |
|
| Kandžija | "3 ujutro" | Stjepko Galović |
| Karolina Ilić | "Breathe Her In" |
|
| Lana Mandarić | "Tama" |
|
| Lara Demarin | "Mantra" |
|
| Lelek | "Andromeda" |
|
| Lima Len | "Raketa" |
|
| Marko Kutlić | "Neotuđivo" | Marko Kutlić |
| Noelle | "Uninterrupted" |
|
| Ritam Noir | "Profumi di mare" | Moris Orbanić |
| Sergej | "Scream" |
|
| Stela Rade | "Nema te" |
|
| ToMa | "Ledina" |
|
| Toni Sky | "O ne!" | Toni Volar |
| Zevin | "My Mind" |
|
| # | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
| ||
| 2 | Dorian Stipčić | "Loved" |
|
| 3 | Bria | "Soho" |
|
| 4 | Vanessa Kralj | "Tišina prije kiše" |
|
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final took place on 12 February 2026. Twelve acts competed in this semi-final with the top eight entries qualifying for the final.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lima Len | "Raketa" | TBA |
| 2 | Jasmina Makota | "Higher" | TBA |
| 3 | Ananda | "Dora" | TBA |
| 4 | Toni Sky | "O ne!" | TBA |
| 5 | Fran Uccellini | "Ako bolje bude sutra" | |
| 6 | Ema Bubić | "Vrijeme za nas" | TBA |
| 7 | Noelle | "Uninterrupted" | |
| 8 | Alen Đuras | "From Ashes to Flame" | |
| 9 | Fenksta | "Memento mori" | TBA |
| 10 | Cold Snap | "Mucho Macho" | TBA |
| 11 | ToMa | "Ledina" | |
| 12 | Lelek | "Andromeda" |
Semi-final 2
The second semi-final took place on 13 February 2026. Twelve acts competed in this semi-final with the top eight entries qualifying for the final.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ritam Noir | "Profumi di mare" | TBA |
| 2 | Irma | "Ni traga" | |
| 3 | Gabrijel Ivić | "Light Up" | TBA |
| 4 | Zevin | "My Mind" | |
| 5 | Ivan Sever | "Crying Eyes" | |
| 6 | Lana Mandarić | "Tama" | TBA |
| 7 | Stela Rade | "Nema te" | |
| 8 | Devin | "Over Me" | |
| 9 | Kandžija | "3 ujutro" | TBA |
| 10 | Marko Kutlić | "Neotuđivo" | TBA |
| 11 | Sergej | "Scream" | |
| 12 | Lara Demarin | "Mantra" |
Final
The final took place on 15 February 2026 and featured the 16 qualifiers from the preceding two semi-finals. The winner, "Andromeda" performed by Lelek, was decided by a combination of votes from a professional jury and the Croatian public via televoting.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phone | SMS | Total | Points | ||||||
| 1 | Ananda | "Dora" | 13 | TBA | 7 | 20 | 15 | ||
| 2 | Sergej | "Scream" | 33 | 9 | 42 | 10 | |||
| 3 | Noelle | "Uninterrupted" | 27 | 11 | 38 | 13 | |||
| 4 | Alen Đuras | "From Ashes to Flame" | 41 | 15 | 56 | 7 | |||
| 5 | Irma | "Ni traga" | 32 | 11 | 43 | 8 | |||
| 6 | Lara Demarin | "Mantra" | 22 | 18 | 40 | 12 | |||
| 7 | Ema Bubić | "Vrijeme za nas" | 3 | 12 | 15 | 16 | |||
| 8 | Lima Len | "Raketa" | 20 | 36 | 56 | 6 | |||
| 9 | Lana Mandarić | "Tama" | 21 | 11 | 32 | 14 | |||
| 10 | Ritam Noir | "Profumi di mare" | 5 | 35 | 40 | 11 | |||
| 11 | Marko Kutlić | "Neotuđivo" | 20 | 22 | 42 | 9 | |||
| 12 | Devin | "Over Me" | 22 | 39 | 61 | 5 | |||
| 13 | Lelek | "Andromeda" | 77 | 96 | 173 | 1 | |||
| 14 | ToMa | "Ledina" | 44 | 27 | 71 | 4 | |||
| 15 | Stela Rade | "Nema te" | 46 | 47 | 93 | 3 | |||
| 16 | Cold Snap | "Mucho Macho" | 38 | 70 | 108 | 2 | |||
| # | Song | Regional juries | International juries | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Zagreb
|
Split
|
Rijeka
|
Osijek
|
Luxemburg
|
Norway
|
San Marino
|
United Kingdom
| |||
| 1 | "Dora" | 3 | 8 | 2 | 13 | |||||
| 2 | "Scream" | 4 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 33 |
| 3 | "Uninterrupted" | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 27 | ||
| 4 | "From Ashes to Flame" | 10 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 41 | |
| 5 | "Ni traga" | 7 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 32 | |
| 6 | "Mantra" | 4 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 22 | |||
| 7 | "Vrijeme za nas" | 3 | 3 | |||||||
| 8 | "Raketa" | 8 | 2 | 10 | 20 | |||||
| 9 | "Tama" | 6 | 10 | 5 | 21 | |||||
| 10 | "Profumi di mare" | 1 | 4 | 5 | ||||||
| 11 | "Neotuđivo" | 6 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 20 | ||||
| 12 | "Over Me" | 1 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 22 | ||
| 13 | "Andromeda" | 3 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 77 |
| 14 | "Ledina" | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 44 | ||
| 15 | "Nema te" | 12 | 8 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 46 | ||
| 16 | "Mucho Macho" | 10 | 5 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 38 | |||
Ratings
| Show | Air date | Viewership | Share (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semi-final 1 | 12 February 2026 | ||
| Semi-final 2 | 13 February 2026 | ||
| Final | 15 February 2026 | 36.3% | |
References
- ^ a b "Croatia". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Retrieved 14 September 2023.
- ^ a b Jiandani, Sanjay (Sergio) (22 September 2025). "Croatia: HRT confirms participation at Eurovision 2026". ESCToday. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
- ^ a b "Otvoren natječaj za DORU 2026". Hrvatska radiotelevizija (in Croatian). Retrieved 8 January 2026.
- ^ "Croatia prepares for Eurovision selection as Dora 2026 finalists revealed". Croatia Week. 3 December 2025. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
- ^ "Croatia: Dora 2026". Eurovisionworld. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
- ^ Conte, Davide (24 November 2025). "🇭🇷 Croatia: Record Number of Applications for Dora 2026". Eurovoix. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
- ^ "Croatia's 'Dora' lineup revealed". Eurovision Song Contest. 16 December 2025. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
- ^ "Dora 2026.: 24 pjesme u utrci za Eurosong". Hrvatska radiotelevizija (in Croatian). Retrieved 8 January 2026.
- ^ De-re, Julien (3 December 2025). "🇭🇷 Croatia: Dora 2026 Participants Revealed". Eurovoix. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
- ^ Conte, Davide (10 December 2025). "🇭🇷 Croatia: Karolina Ilić Disqualified from Dora 2026". Eurovoix. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
- ^ "Gabrijel Ivić na Dori 2026. s pjesmom "Light Up" umjesto Karoline Ilić". Hrvatska radiotelevizija (in Croatian). Retrieved 8 January 2026.
- ^ "HRT-ovo finale Dore 2026. najgledaniji sadržaj na svim televizijama". Hrvatska radiotelevizija (in Croatian). 16 February 2026. Retrieved 16 February 2026.