Croatian broadcaster HRT has gifted us with the list of participants, song titles, running order, hosts, and more information for the 2020 edition of their national selection show Dora where the winner will represent Croatia at Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam!
Unlike last year, it is unlikely that we will be hearing any snippets of the songs before the show itself, but if anything changes, we will keep you posted
Dora 2020 will take place at the Marino Cvetković Sports Hall in Opetija at 8:05pm CET on the 29th of February 2020 (6:05am Sunday AEDT) . With the show not far away now, it’s time to get to know everything you need to know about Dora 2020!
Who’s competing for the ticket to Rotterdam?
From big names in the Croatian music industry to newcomers, Dora veterans to talent show competitors and rising stars, the lineup of 16 artists competing for the honour of representing Croatia in the Netherlands is incredibly diverse! The Dora 2020 acts will be performing in the following running order:
1. Elis Lovrić - ‘Justo’
Initially named as one of the reserve acts, Elis Lovrić is replacing Goran Karan after his withdrawal from Dora 2020. Goran withdrew from Dora 2020 as he had performed an earlier version of his Dora song ‘My Legacy is Love’ at a festival and decided it was best to pull out of the contest to avoid any controversy.
Elis is a contemporary folk singer-songwriter and actress, and many of her songs have lyrics in the Labinjonska cakavica dialect. She is a Dora returnee, as she placed 7th in Dora 2019 with the song ‘All I Really Want’.
2. Bojan Jambrosić - ‘Vise od rijeci’ (More Than Words)
Bojan is the winner of the first season of the talent show Hrvatska traži zvijezdu (Star Search Croatia/Croatian Idol), which took place in 2009. He has taken part in the CMC Music Festival in 2012 and 2014, and has also been on Season 5 of Ples sa zvijezdama, the Croatian version of Dancing with the Stars.
Most recently, he took part in Dora 2019 alongside Danijela Pintarić with the song ‘Vrijeme Predaje’, which came 9th.
3. Edi Abazi - ‘Coming Home’
17-year-old Edi Abazi’s rise to Croatian superstardom has been a very unique rags-to-riches story. Since the age of 11, he had been in care at the House of Dugave after running away from home. He was then discovered by Jerko Maric (the frontman of Adastra), who is the mastermind of the Talent Against Violence Among Youth project and took Edi under his wing. As part of the project, Edi entered and won a competition, where his prize was to record his debut single ‘Miljama daleko’ (Miles Away). Edi’s success has only blossomed from there, having signed a five-year contract with Croatia’s largest record label in 2019. His song ‘Coming Home’ promises to be a very personal, emotional song inspired by his life story.
4. Zdenka Kovačiček - ‘Love, Love, Love’
At 75 years old, Zdenka Kovačiček is a long-lasting prominent musician in the Croatian music scene. She performed in Dora in 2001 and 2004, as well as participating in Dora in 2002. Her song this year is co-written by Mario Mihaljević, who wrote the 1983 Yugoslavian Eurovision entry ‘Džuli’, as well as Mario’s son Branimir Mihaljević, who co-wrote Croatia’s 2010 entry ‘Lako je sve’ and their 2018 entry ‘Crazy’.
5.Alen Vitasović & Božidarka Matija Čerina - ‘Da se ne zatare’ (Not to get old)
Alen Vitasović is a Dora veteran, having participated in Dora 1996, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2009. This year will be his 7th participation at Dora - 7th time lucky?
Božidarka Marija Čerina participated in the first season of The Voice of Croatia and she also performs regularly at the Festival of Melodies of Istria and Kvarna. Not only is she known for her traditional music styles, but she is also trained in Capoeira dancing and does volunteer work for children with special needs!
6. Đana - ‘One’
Đana Smajo, a.k.a. Đana, was a finalist in Season 3 of Croatian singing show Zvjezdice (The Stars) in 2018. Will she be the ‘One’ to go to Eurovision for Croatia?
7. Aklea Neon - ‘Zovi ju mama’ (Call Her Mum)
Aklea Neon describes herself as a “one-woman block party from Zagreb”, mixing afro-soul with ethno-beats. She co-wrote her Dora 2020 entry ‘Zovi ju mama’.
8. Nikola Marjanović - ‘Let’s Forgive’
A versatile musician, Nikola Marjanović has been in many bands, most notably Sane and Radio Luksemburg, and he plays the double bass. More recently, he launched his independent solo music career, participating in Season 2 of X Factor Adria in 2015.
9.Lorenzo, Dino Purić & Reper iz sobe - ‘Vrati se iz Irske’ (Return from Ireland)
Lorenzo is a young musician with “explosive energy”. Dino Purić was on Season 1 of The Voice Croatia. Reper iz sobe describes himself as an “atypical rapper” and cites jazz, funk and soul as his musical inspiration. Together, this eclectic trio will perform their Dora entry ‘Vrati se iz Irske’, written by Lorenzo, Reper iz sobe, and Porin award-winning composer Zvonimir Dusper.
10.Marin Jurić Čivro - ‘Naivno’ (Naive)
Marin Jurić Čivro participated in the first season of The Voice of Croatia, finishing third. Who won that season? None other than Nina Kraljić, Croatia’s 2016 Eurovision representative!
11. Lorena Bućan - ‘Drowning’
You may recognise Lorena as the runner-up of last year’s edition of Dora where she sang ‘Tower of Babylon’. She has also participated in Zvjezdice (The Stars) in 2018. Vjekoslava Huljic, who wrote Croatia’s 1999 and 2009 Eurovision entries co-wrote ‘Drowning’. Can Lorena improve on last year’s fantastic result?
12. Indira Levak - ‘You Will Never Break My Heart’
Indira Levak is the former lead vocalist of Colonia, who she will be competing against in Dora 2020. Given her experience, she is more familiar with judging singing competitions rather than participating in them, as she is a coach on The Voice Croatia and a judge on Zvjezdice (The Stars), as well as making several appearances as a guest juror on Tvoje lice zvuči poznato (Your Face Sounds Familiar). Will the judgement at Dora be in her favour or will the result break her heart?
13. Jure Brkljača - ‘Hajde nazovi me!’ (Call Me!)
Jure participated in Dora 2019 with the song ‘Ne postojim kad nisi tu’. He also finished 4th in Season 1 of The Voice Croatia in 2015, where he was coached by Tony Cetinski, who represented Croatia in Eurovision 1994.
14. Colonia - ‘Zidina’ (Walls)
Colonia are no strangers to the Croatian music industry, having participated in Dora 1998. They won the first ever ‘Eurodance’ competition in 2001, and are incredibly successful in Croatia. ‘Zidina’ is co-written by Croatia’s 2011 songwriter Boris Đurđević.
15. Mia Negovetić - ‘When It Comes to You’
Hailing from Rijeka and at 17 years old, Mia already has a growing list of accomplishments to her name, having won the first series of Zvjezdice in 2015, as well as appearing on the American TV show Little Big Shots in 2016. In 2018, she also became the judge of Zvjezdice. She also has some Dora experience, as she was a guest performer at Dora 2019. Her Dora 2020 entry ‘When It Comes To You’ is written and produced by Linnea Deb (famous for writing Eurovision hits such as ‘You’, ‘Heroes’, and ‘Monsters’) and Anderz Wrethov (‘Always’, ‘Fuego’, ‘Too Late For Love’).
16. Damir Kedžo - ‘Divlji vjetre’ (Wild Winds)
Damir participated in Dora 2011. He is also the winner of Season 3 of Tvoje lice zvuči poznato (Your Face Sounds Familiar) in 2016. Watch his audition tape for Dora 2011, where he performs a fantastic rendition of ‘Angels’ by Robbie Williams below:
Three reserve acts were also announced, though it’s unlikely we will see them competing in Dora 2020:
Marcela Orosi - ‘Let Me Break Your Heart’
Dino Petrić - ‘Što si meni ti’ (What Are You To Me)
Singrlice - ‘Zavičaj’ (Homeland)
What else do I need to know about the show?
Dora 2020 will have four hosts: Zlata Mück Sušec, Doris Pinčić Rogoznica, Duško Čurlić and Mirko Fodor. The show will be 2 hours long, with 10 minutes of voting time.
HRT have announced that Netta Barzilai (Israel 2018), who famously won the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest with her song ‘Toy’, will perform at Dora 2020. Croatia’s 2019 Eurovision artist Roko Blažević will also be returning to the Dora stage for a special guest performance.
That sounds fantastic! When and where can I watch the show?
The final of Dora 2020 will be broadcast on HRT-HTV1 and HRA2 at the following times:
Australia: 1st March 2020
3:05am (WA)
4:35am (NT)
5:05am AEST (QLD)
5:35am (SA)
6:05am AEDT (NSW, VIC, ACT, TAS)
Europe: 29th February 2020
7:05pm GMT
8:05pm CET
The winning song, which will go on to represent Croatia in Rotterdam, will be performed in the second half of the first semi final at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.