Karolina Ilić is the first artist to be disqualified from Dora 2026, which is Croatia’s national selection. This was due to her not being a Croatian citizen.
Who is the replacement?
Gabrijel Ivić has been chosen in place of Karolina Ilić with his song “Light Up”. He had been 1st on the reserve list and therefore will be taking part in Dora 2026. Karolina Ilić had been disqualified due to the fact that she was not a citizen of the Republic of Croatia and, therefore, did not meet the Dora 2026 Competition Rules, Article 3, Paragraph 5. Karolina Ilić was set to perform her song “Breathe Her In”
This is a very similar situation to what Baby Lasagna had gone through with Dora 2024, where he was originally on the reserve list until Zsa Zsa, who was set to perform the song “Probudi usne moje”, ended up withdrawing, leaving Baby Lasagna to enter from the reserve list and to later win Dora 2024.
Croatia’s Eurovision Journey
Croatia has been a part of the Eurovision family since 1961, as part of Yugoslavia. Ten Croatian artists went on to represent Yugoslavia in the Contest – the most famous of which being Riva, who gave Yugoslavia its only win in 1989. The 1990 Contest was held in Zagreb as a tribute to their Croatian heritage. Croatia debuted in the Contest as an independent nation in 1993 with the band Put and their song “Don’t Ever Cry”. Since then, Croatia has gone on to score as high as 2nd place in 2024.
In 2025, Croatia chose Marko Bošnjak to represent the nation in Basel with his song “Poison Cake”. Performing in the first semi-final, Croatia failed to qualify for the final, placing twelfth with a televote score of 28 points.
Are you excited to listen to Gabrijel Ivić’s song? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, and Bluesky for more information about Eurovision 2026!
Source: HRT
Photo Credit: HRT
Rory Gannon