Croatia begins its journey to find Mark Bošnjak’s successor tonight as the first semi final of Dora 2026 kicks off.
The first semi-final
The 8 qualifiers tonight were decided entirely by the public. Barbara Kolar, Duško Ćurlić, Iva Šulentić and Ivan Vukušić hosted the show.
| Running Order | Entrant | Entry | Result |
| 1 | Lima Len | “Raketa” | Qualified |
| 2 | Jasmina Makota | “Higher” | Eliminated |
| 3 | Ananda | “Dora” | Qualified |
| 4 | Toni Sky | “O ne!” | Eliminated |
| 5 | Fran Uccellini | “Ako bolje bude sutra” | Eliminated |
| 6 | Ema Bubić | “Vrijeme za nas” | Qualified |
| 7 | Noelle | “Uninterrupted” | Qualified |
| 8 | Alen Đuras | “From Ashes to Flame” | Qualified |
| 9 | Fenksta | “Memento mori” | Eliminated |
| 10 | Cold Snap | “Mucho Macho” | Qualified |
| 11 | ToMa | “Ledina” | Qualified |
| 12 | Lelek | “Andromeda” | Qualified |
Dora 2026 continues tomorrow night, February 13, where another 8 finalists will compete for the remaining 8 spots in the final.
What is Dora?
Dora has taken place 25 times since its inception in 1992, and has selected the majority of Croatia’s Eurovision entries, except for a hiatus between 2011 and 2019. Since its return, the competition has usually consisted of a single final of around 14 to 18 songs, but the format has changed in 2024 to include a semi-final stage for the expanded amount of 24 songs. The winner will be decided by a 50/50 split between a televote, and four national and four international jury panels.
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 happy with tonight’s results? 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: HRT
Photo credit: HRT
Tim J 
Samantha