Croatia has confirmed their intention to participate at the 2027 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, due to be held in Bulgaria. The Croatian broadcaster HRT announced that the country will partake in the contest in May.
Applications for Dora 2027 officially open
In a post uploaded to their social media, Croatian broadcaster HRT confirmed that applications were now open for Dora 2027. This officially confirmed that Croatia would be present at the next edition of the Contest in Burgas.
According to HRT, a total of 24 songs will be chosen to compete in the competition. Any interested acts will have to apply through the dedicated website for Dora applications. The submissions window was officially opened with the announcement of participation, and will close on November 29th at 23:59 CET. No information has been released on when Dora 2027 will take place, but traditionally is held in mid-February.
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 โ 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 โDonโt Ever Cryโ. Since then, Croatia has gone on to score as high as 2nd place in 2024, with Baby Lasagne’s “Rim Tim Tagi Dim” scoring 547 points in Malmรถ.
Croatia’s national selection show 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 since 2024 to include semi-final stagse for the expanded amount of 24 songs. The winner of Dora in 2026 was decided by a 50% public vote, with 25% coming from regional jury members and 25% coming from international jury members.
In 2026, Croatia’s Dora chose ethno folk group LELEK to represent the nation in Vienna with their song “Andromeda”. Performing in the first semi-final, Croatia managed to qualify for the final, ultimately placing fifteenth with a total score of 124 points. Some 53 points came from the jury, whilst the remaining 71 points came from the televote.
What do you think of Croatia confirming their participation in the 2027 contest? Who would you like to see represent them in Bulgaria? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow โThat Eurovision Siteโ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, Bluesky, and ZOOP for more information about Eurovision 2027!
News Source: HRT
Image Credit: Corinne Cumming / EBU
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Rory Gannon