After eight years, Dora is once again organized by HRT – Croatian national broadcaster, in order to find their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. A couple of weeks ago the 16 finalists have been revealed, but now due to other engagements, one of the participants – the group Četiri tenora, had to withdraw from the competition.
Četiri tenora were set to compete in this year’s Dora with the song “Brod bez imena”, which is written by Eduard Botrić and Matko Šimac. Due to other commitments they previously agreed to, they are now unable to compete. They stated the following:
We were really looking forward to performing in Dora, so we are very sad that we are forced to withdraw our participation in the big comeback of Dora due to commitments we couldn’t move.
According to the rules of Dora, the first back-up act is going to replace the one that withdrew. That was going to be Tonka, with the song “Don’t Say You Love Me”, however she also decided not to perform. Thus the second back-up song is now going to be in the final, and that is Kim Verson, with the song “Nisam to što žele“.
Due to all these changes, HRT published the names of the songs which came in 19th and 20th place, as the next two back-up entries, should anything else happen. The two additional back-up entries are:
- Patricia Gašparini – Pretend
- Eni & Vjeko – Čudo
Dora 2019 will take place on the 16th of February in Opatija, and the winner will be chosen by a mix of 50% televoting and 50% jury votes.
