HRT, the Croatian national broadcaster, has revealed that they will spend €959,000 on Dora and the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.
HRT published their financial plan for 2026 today. In the plan, HRT stated that they are planning to spend €959,000 on Dora and the Eurovision 2026. Of this amount of money, €382,000 will be spent on Croatia’s participation in Eurovision 2026, while €577,000 will be spent on Dora, the Croatian selection for Eurovision. There is expected to be a 19.1% decrease in other production costs overall compared to 2025. This is due to lower needs for external technical services, less quiz show prizes because of fewer quiz shows, lower scenography costs and a lower need for recording and dubbing services in 2026.
Of note is that Junior Eurovision is not mentioned in the HRT financial plan for 2026. The plan was approved before this year’s contest in Tbilisi, meaning that Croatia’s participation in Junior Eurovision 2026 could be decided at a later date.
Dora 2026 will take place in February in HRT Studios in Zagreb and will consist of two semi-finals and a final. The winner will represent Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna.
The Dora 2026 entries are 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”
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: Sarah Louise Bennett/ EBU | 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.
