Ahead of her participation in Dora 2026, Croatia’s selection for Eurovision 2026, Rory was able to speak with Ananda. She is aiming to go to Vienna with her song “Dora”.
Check out our interview with Ananda here!
In the interview, Rory and Ananda chat about how she was not intending to compete at Dora until she was convinced at a songwriting camp. She also spoke out about whether there is a direct connection between the name of her song and the selection show itself. The pair also spoke about how much of a Eurovision fan Ananda is and how it has shaped her musical career.
Who is Ananda?
Ananda Đuranović is a 23-year-old singer-songwriter from Split. As a child, she was introduced to music early in her life, having studied at a music school in her native city. Over time, she honed her craft and is now fully able to play the piano, violin and guitar competently. Outside of her own music, she is also a songwriter, having written for artists across Europe and the world. She has already had a taste of Eurovision, having competed in Dora in 2025 with “Lies Lay Cold”. Her song for Dora 2026, “Dora”, was written by Ananda herself, as well as Diogo Guerra, Dora Pejačević, Tchiah Ommar Abdulrahman, Ynke Dingenen.
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.
What do you think of our interview with Ananda? Who do you think will represent Croatia at Eurovision this year? 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!
News Source: That Eurovision Site
Photo Credit: Ananda
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