The race to find Mia Dimšic’s successor is on. Croatian broadcaster HRT has revealed the list of artists competing in Dora 2023 to sing for their country at Eurovision in Liverpool next May.
Eurovision alum Damir Kedžo is amongst the Dora 2023 lineup. The “Djivlji vjetre” singer is back in the Croatian national final after his song contest dreams were cut short when the 2020 Rotterdam show was cancelled.
Meri Andraković, Tajana Belina and Martha May are also amongst the lucky eighteen competitors. An additional four artists are on the reserve list.
Croatia at Eurovision 2023: Dora lineup confirmed
Here’s the full list of artists and songs competing in Dora 2023.
- Damir Kedžo — “Angels and Demons”
- Meri Andraković — “Bye Bye Blonde”
- Martha May — “Distance”
- Tajana Belina — “Dom”
- Dana — “Free Fallin'”
- Boris Stok — “Grijeh”
- Patricia Gasparini — “I Will Wait”
- Maja Grgic — “I Still Live”
- Krešo i kisele kiše — “Kme Kme”
- Eni Jurišic — “Kreni Dalje”
- The Splitters — “Lost and Found”
- Yogi — “Love at First Sight”
- Let 3 — “Mama šc”
- Master Blaster — “Detour”
- Hana Mašic — “Nesreca”
- Harmonija Dissonance — “Nevera (Lei, Lei)”
- Barbara Munjas — “Putem Snova”
- Top of the Pops feat. Mario 5rekovic — “Putovanje”
Reserve artists:
- Lana Mandaric Lanchi — “Sama”
- Mirna Škrgatic — “Odlazi”
- Voice For You — “On the Same Train”
- Rosanna Kumerle — “Talking to Me”
Dora takes place on 11 February 2023. Eighteen acts will compete for the right to represent Croatia in Liverpool. The result will be determined by a combination of votes from a professional jury and the Croatian public.
Which artists are you excited to see compete at Dora 2023? Who will sing for Croatia at Eurovision? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Am I reading correctly that Boris Suboti? is the songwriter behind Hana Maši?’s song? Might have myself a frontrunner here if it’s anything like his song from the Serbian selection last year.
Let 3 are in???
OMG
But were they not supposed to have semifinals? Seems like it will just be one evening..
I do not know most of the artists taking part I must confess so I do not know what to expect.. Ursula Tolj knew what she was doing and I wanted Croatia to continue with it. Perfect mix of famous and unknown and mix of genres. Not sure how this new approach will work but let us see
Lots of unknown names which is not bad. I hope the fans will vote for the best song, not the most famous name, which, in this case would be Kedzo, Eni and Let3. Kedzo – foreign production going on, Eni – local production that made a few hits in Cro, example – “Trebas li me”, Let3 – well, fans have been calling them to Eurovision for the longest time, they could probably serve an art performace or a goof, second which I’m not really happy about. I really hope some of the unknown names surprise us, and I hope artist… Read more »
I’m still hoping Croatia sends something as good as You Will Never Break My Heart by Indira. I’m convinced she would’ve become an icon in the Eurovision world and landed Croatia a top 10 result.
More Balkan bangers from Croatia, please!
Totally agree my dear, we really need Indira back!
They’ve already had Houdek and Roko, haven’t they suffered enough? That Indira track is exactly the type of stuff that no one outside the ESC bubble listens to, it wouldn’t have even qualified. Sorry.
Indira’s song has the most views out of all of the Dora 2020 contestants on YT, even more than the winner! If that doesn’t prove that people love her song, what will?
It would’ve absolutely stormed through its SF too. The Balkans and probably most Eastern European countries would go crazy for Indira.
That just proves the locals like her. The locals have a really outdated perception of eurovision, they think fast, dance or goofy songs are the only ones that win, which has never been the rule, especially not in the recent years. I don’t think she would be a good choice, her music is really really outdated for the genre in my opinion
I wasn’t a fan of You Will Never Break My Heart, but I have to admit that it looked eye-popping on stage. I’m not a fan of Moldova’s 2022 song either, yet it finished 2nd with the televote, in top 10 overall. So, while YWNBMH wouldn’t be *my personal choice* by any stretch of means, I could see it doing objectively great on ESC.
I’ve been doing a little Youtubing and I’m all in on either let 3 (rock band), Kreso (Balkan punk rock) or Harmonija Disonance (choral group a la Go-A if they were choiry – think Nina Kraljic’s back up vocal group in Rijeka from 2021). The Splitters are also pretty good if you like 80s influenced rockers (these sound like the listened to a of of Genesis and Brice Springsteen).
Have to say I really like where this expanded format is going. The selection is much more eclectic.
But I thought they were going to do semi finals, but I guess they’re scrapping it to just have a one night show again.
Yes, I heard that too? Also there were a couple of announced returning acts that haven’t shown up, including Popovic from 1983.
They probably didn’t get chosen in the end
Good luck, Croatia!
Where is Bernarda?????
Very much looking forward to seeing Damir again. Sad to not see Bernada here this year
You have one mistake in the article. Detour is the name of the band and Master Blaster is the name of the song.
Anyway, I really like the line up cause it seems very diverse and braver than previous years. I have highest expectations from Kedzo, Eni, Let 3 and Harmonija disonance!
Many rock bands ! Yess !!
I’m so happy for Damir Kedzo come back.
Additionally, I have to address the fact that, despite having more songs, this is probably the line-up with the least amount of famous names since Dora’s revival. Kedžo and Let 3 are the only two “big names” here, with perhaps Eni Jurišic being somewhat known in a last couple of years. There is an article in Croatian heavily criticizing Štengl for that, but I hope that the worries are unfounded and that these less famous names have good songs. Last year was certainly a step in the right direction, so I hope we don’t go back to mediocrity.
Knowing Croatia, they’ll probably select a so-so song that fans don’t pay attention to from a singer with a good vocal as they’ve kept doing since 2019. Croatia’s got some real vocal talent, you can’t deny that, but unfortunately the songwriting side is still quite lackluster leaving them with difficulties when it comes to qualifying for the final in Eurovision. After all, the last time we saw Croatia qualify was with ‘My Friend’ in 2017. Here’s to hoping they have a better shot this year with some more prominent and remarkable songs at their disposal. Especially with the jury gone,… Read more »
“Lost and found” Lol
I know only Damir and Let 3 from this line up. I’m curious about the songs. Pity we will not see Mia and Toma
Sadly no Mia negoveti? 🙁
Not this year.
Hopefully keeping her away from the awful songwriters she associates with. Girl deserves better.
Oprosti remains one of our biggest disagreements of the last season. I think that Barker and Mia did a really good job on that song, and it’s my favorite one of Mia’s Dora entries. However, it’s not my favorite performance of hers, and the backdrop didn’t help at all. Staging and performing wise, I still prefer She’s Like a Dream. I hope that Mia returns stronger after a year or two of a break. She has the huge potential of having a full ESC package one day.
That was actually the best song of Dora last year. It is a song that could hit world charts. Problem was the staging. Did not do the song justice and felt flat. That killed every chance she had of winning.
Shame, the song alone would have been a winning contender..
Sadly Bernarda not competing this year, her songs were my favorites. I hope she’ll return next year.
I don’t get the point of having reserve artists. Surely if their songs were so good they would’ve been chosen to be part of the main list of songs instead. Not to mention none of them would actually get to perform at Dora unless someone withdraws.
I don’t remember any song from Croatia that I would have ever liked
Damir was charisma vacuum and awful, nobody liked him and knew he won’t qualify and now Europeans again changed their opinion, hypocrites
I liked him a lot and hope he makes it.
I liked his voice and charisma but the song was boring. I hope he has a good song now
Me too, he must be a shoo-in, as will Ulrikke if she reappears in Norway.
But it has been three years since he won door 2020, so I don’t know if he’ll be lucky to win again. So he better have the best song for tour 2023 if He’s gonna get that second chance.
Song title translations:
4. Dom – “Home”
6. Grijeh – “Sin”
9. Kme kme – Onomatopeia title
10. Kreni dalje – “Move on”
13. Mama šc – “Šc (or šic) could be a sound for sending someone away. Usually a cat. Could be funny.
15. Nesreca – “Misfortune / Accident” (depending on the context)
16. Nevera – “A local type of a storm”; possibly “Infidelity”, if it’s in ekavian dialect
17. Putem snova – “Through the path of dreams”
18. Putovanje – “Journey”
———————-
1. Sama – “Alone”
2. Odlazi – “Go away”
Yes, those songs get released soon, but on the same playlist as the official line-up for Dora.
*not on the same playlist*
Last year they were realeased weak earlier and I think that’s about to repeat this year. Ursula Tolj, while she was HOD, wanted them not to be released before the show. The new HOD doesn’t share her opinion on that.
I know there was some controversy about her being outed as HoD, but I feel like they already have more enthusiasm than they did before. More submissions, more songs overall. I’m hopeful Croatia can make that tiny bit of difference next year! They’re so close!
Glad that Damir is back! He totally deserved to win in 2020, and he would’ve been among my personal top 10 qualifiers with “Divlji vjetre”. He fully deserves to go to ESC, but I don’t want him to have a pity win if the new song isn’t as good or if the competition is better. However, I do expect a lot from him. Another interesting name are Let 3. Italy has Achille Lauro, we have them (both very distinctive acts, though). They are a rock band with a distinctive eccentic flair and funny lyrical content, usually in Croatian. Expect a… Read more »
Damir is easily winning this, glad to see him back.
If he happens to have the best song in the selection. He really deserves a second chance.
I hope he wins because the song is good and not because of pity because people feel he was robbed