The Croatian broadcaster HRT revealed today that the final of Dora 2022 will take place on February 19th. Dora 2022 will be held in Opatija. The novelty is that this year the Opatija Tourist Board will become a co-organizer, and the signed addendum to the agreement covers a period of three years, until 2024.
Dora 2022 on February 19
The final of Dora 2022 will take place on February 19 and the new agreement means that Dora will remain in Opatija at least till 2024. Opatija already hosted Dora since 2019 and even hosted the show in the early 2000s.
Already three weeks ago, the fourteen participants for the show have been announced!
14 participants have been announced by HRT to take part in their selection for Eurovision 2022. Eight of the 14 acts have previously taking part in Dora – including five artists who took part in the 2021 edition.
- Mia Negovetić – Forgive Me (Oprosti)
- Mia Dimšić – Guilty Pleasure
- Bernarda – Here for Love
- Tina Vukov – Hideout
- Erik Vidović – I Found You
- Ella Orešković – If You Go Away
- ToMa – In the Darkness
- Mila Elegović – Ljubav
- Roko Vušković – Malo kasnije
- Marko Bošnjak – Moli za nas
- Jesse – My Next Mistake
- Elis Lovrić – No War
- Zdenka Kovačiček – Stay on the Bright Side
- Tia – Voli me do neba
4 reserve songs have also been revealed. These songs will be used to replace one of the 14 selected entries, if one has to withdraw or is disqualified.
- Karlo Vudrić – 3AM
- Vlatka Burić Dujmović Vyan – Gladiator
- Totalni Optimizam – What If
- Stella Scholaja – Ghost
Dora 2022 format
Like the 2021 edition, fourteen entries have been selected (plus four reserves). HRT, the Croatian Music Union, and the Croatian Society of Composers selected the songs. The winner, and therefore Croatia’s entry for Turin, will be determined by public televote and a jury.
Six performers are now allowed in each performance, a number that has increased from 2021, where pandemic restrictions reduced it to five.
Additionally, the winning song may no longer undergo a major revamp. This means that the song that wins Dora in February 2022 will, outside of minor modifications, be the exact song that performs at Eurovision.
Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest
Croatia first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993 with “Don’t Ever Cry” by Put. Since then, they have entered 26 times. Their best results came in 1996 and 1999, 4th with “Sveta ljubav” by Maja Blagdan and “Marija Magdalena” by Doris Dragović. More recent Croatian results have been mixed. Their most recent appearance in the Grand Final was in 2017 with Jacques Houdek’s “My Friend” which finished 13th.
In 2021, Albina ended up winning the selection after placing first in both the jury vote and the televote with her song “Tick-Tock”. In Rotterdam, however, Albina narrowly missed out on a place in the Grand Final, placing in 11th in semi-final one with 105 points, just 5 points behind Norway’s TIX in 10th. The Dora 2022 participants will all be hoping to be the one to return Croatia to the Eurovision final.
What do you think about the revealed Dora participants? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to follow us on Spotify and YouTube to see our reactions to the news in the run up to the 2022 national final season!