🇭🇷 Croatia: Karolina Ilić Disqualified from Dora 2026

Karolina Ilić has been disqualified from Dora 2026 for having broken the rules of the competition.

Karolina Ilić, who was supposed to perform at Dora 2026 with the song “Breathe her in”, was disqualified from the competition because she is not a Croatian citizen, which means she does not meet the requirements of the Dora 2026 Competition Rules (Article 3, Paragraph 5).

In accordance with the competition rules, the first reserve artists, Gabrijel Ivić, will now be given the opportunity to perform at Dora 2026 with the song “Light Up”.

The updated list of 24 artists and their songs is as follows:

Alen Đuras – “From Ashes to Flame”
Ananda – “Dora”
Cold Snap – “Mucho Macho”
Devin – “Over Me”
Ema Bubić – “Vrijeme za nas” (Time for us)
Fenksta – “Memento mori”
Fran Uccellini – “Ako bolje bude sutra” (If it’s better tomorrow)
Gabrijel Ivić – “Light up”
Irma – “Ni traga” (No trace)
Ivan Sever – “Crying Eyes”
Jasmina Makota – “Higher”
Kandžija – “3 ujutro” (3 a.m.)
Lana Mandarić – “Tama” (Darkness)
Lara Demarin – “Mantra”
LELEK – “Andromeda”
Lima Len – “Raketa” (Rocket)
Marko Kutlić – “Neotuđivo” (Inalienable)
Noelle – “Uninterrupted”
Ritam Noir – “Profumi di mare” (Scents of the sea)
Sergej – “Scream”
Stela Rade – “Nema te” (You’re gone)
ToMa – “Ledina” (Meadow)
Tony Sky – “O ne!” (Oh no!)
Zevin – “My Mind”

The three remaining artists and songs in the backup list are:

Dorian Stipčić – “Loved”
Gabriela Braičić (Bria) – “Soho”
Vanessa Kralj – “Tišina prije kiše” (Silence before the rain)

Dora 2026 will take place in February in the studios of HRT in Zagreb and will consist of two semi-finals and a final. The winner representing the Balkan country in Vienna at the 70th Eurovision Song Contest.

Marko Bošnjak represented Croatia at Eurovision 2025 with the song “Poison Cake”. He finished 12th in Semi-Final 1 with a total of 28 points and thus, did not qualify for the Grand Final.

Image source: HTV / HRT | Source: HRT

Croatia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest as an independent country in 1993. They were one of three countries to debut in the contest that year. Croatia’s best result came in 2024, when Baby Lasgana finished 2nd in Malmö. He performed the song “Rim Tim Tagi Dim”, which scored a total of 547 points, including 12 points from the juries in Cyprus and Serbia, and 9 sets of 12 points from the public vote. Croatia returned to the contest in 2016, having withdrawn after the 2013 contest due to a string of poor results and financial difficulties.

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