HRT has revealed that around 150 songs have been submitted all hoping to compete in Dora 2019.
The Croatian national broadcaster has revealed that around 150 songs have been submitted to compete in Dora 2019. Submissions for the selection closed yesterday. A jury formed of representatives of HGU, HDS and HRT, as well as music critics, singers with experience on Eurovision, composers and songwriters, will select the sixteen finalists.
The contest will be returning to Opatija and be hosted at the Marino Cvetkovic Sports Hall. Opatija is the home of Dora, having previously hosted the contest during its early years in the 1990s. The final of Dora 2019 is now set for February 16, with the winner representing Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest.
Dora will be surrounded by two days of programming from Opatija. In the day before the contest there will be a concert by the Symphony Orchestra, while the day after the Jazz Orchestra of HRT will perform.
Dora was previously used to select every Croatian entry from the country’s debut in 1993 until 2011. HRT cancelled the selection after 2011, citing Croatia’s poor results in the last ten years and decreasing public interest.
Source: HRT
Croatia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993, they were one of three countries to debut in the contest that year. Croatia’s best result came in 1999 when Doris Dragovic finished 4th in Jerusalem. She performed the song “Marija Magdalena” which scored a total of 118 points, this included 12 points from Slovenia and Spain. Croatia returned to the contest in 2016 having withdrawn after the 2013 contest due to a string of poor results and financial difficulties.
