HRT, the Croatian national broadcaster, has confirmed that Dora will be used to select the Croatian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.
Dora 2021 will be held as an open selection in February 2021 in Opatija. The director of Dora will be Uršula Tolj a long-time editor, journalist, host on HRT Entertainment and the Head of Delegation for Croatia. HRT also thanked Damir Kedžo, who was due to represent Croatia in Eurovision 2020 with “Divlji vjetre”, for his cooperation:
“Together, we got the most out of this year without the standard Eurovision Song Contest: we presented ourselves with dignity on social media, as well as in the special show Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light. Damir proved to be a great professional, and despite the situation, he did a great job of all the promotion – and the song, we can conclude without hesitation, achieved great success both in Croatia and abroad.”
Today’s news means that Damir will not go to Eurovision 2021 unless he competes in Dora again. He previously stated that he didn’t want to force HRT to make a decision during COVID-19 and that he would compete in Dora 2021 if he had the right song.
Damir posted this statement on his social media accounts after the news was released:
— Damir Kedžo (@DamirKedzo) June 23, 2020
Dora was used to select the Croatian Eurovision entry from the nation’s debut in 1993 until 2011. After a series of internal selections, Dora was revived in 2019.
Image Source: HRT / Source: HRT
Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest
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 Croatia returned to the contest in 2016 having withdrawn after the 2013 contest due to a string of poor results and financial difficulties.
