HRT, the Croatian national broadcaster, has confirmed that Croatia will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.
HRT also confirmed that Dora will be used to select the Croatian entry for Eurovision 2024. The submission window for entries opened today and will remain open until November 30. Some of the rules of the selection are as follows:
- Entries must not have been released or publicly performed in any way.
- If the composer and lyricist are not the same person, the lyricist must give permission for their lyrics to be used.
- Performers must be at least 16 years old when the application is submitted. Performers under 18 must provide a written statement from their legal representative in order to participate.
- Performers must be Croatian citizens.
- Songs must not be longer than 3 minutes.
- Applications must be submitted through the HRT website.
- Songs can be performed in Croatian or any other European language.
The full set of rules and application form can be found here and here.
A professional jury will evaluate the applications and will pick up to 28 songs for the live final. A total of four reserve songs will also be selected in case a song cannot compete for any reason. The participants will be announced in early December.
HRT will also make a decision on how many shows Dora 2024 will consist of by January 10 2024 at the latest. Dora has consisted of multiple rounds in the past, most recently in 2011. However, since the contest was revived in 2019, Dora has only consisted of one show. Dora 2024 will take place in February 2024.
Let 3 represented Croatia in Liverpool with “Mama ŠČ!” and brought the country to the final for the first time since 2017. They finished 13th in the final with 123 points.
Image Source: EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett | 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 Dragović finished 4th in Jerusalem. She performed the song “Marija Magdalena” which scored a total of 118 points, including 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 Croatia returned to the contest in 2016 having withdrawn after the 2013 contest due to a string of poor results and financial difficulties.
