We’re heading to Opatija, Croatia this weekend, as Croatia is selecting their entry for Eurovision 2022 – in the meantime, we had a little chat with Mia Negovetić, who’ll perform ‘Forgive Me (Oprosti)’. Take a look at our interview with Mia below.

Mia, welcome back to Dora and to the Eurovision world – third time lucky this year?
Thank you! Well, I can only imagine the feeling of winning Dora, knowing that you’re going to represent your country on Eurovision. I always give all of my energy in the performance, I try to interpret the song as best as I can. I would be so happy to win, of course, but to have fun and just perform on the stage of Dora makes me so grateful.

Year 2021 has been quite an exciting year for you, you were nominated for the Best New Artist Award at the 2021 edition of the Porin – what kind of recognition is that for you?
I really couldn’t believe that I was nominated in the first place, I didn’t think that it would happen, that I would be chosen among all of the talented people in our country. That really gave me even more motivation, to create, explore and enjoy music.

This year you’re coming back again – what did you prepare for the Dora viewers?
I prepared a little bit different performance in comparison to my past performances on Dora. This year’s song has a special meaning to me, it will always remind me of a certain period of my life. That song gives me so many emotions at the same time, when I sing it, I feel every single word of it.

Last two years have been quite a roller coaster – how have you been dealing with the whole situation, did you find any new exciting hobbie for that matter?
I have to say, it was so hard from time to time not performing in front of people, not dancing and singing on the stage. But, because I had so much time for myself, I used it to write and compose. Started working on my first album, which is not finished yet, but will be soon, I hope.

It’s your third time performing at Dora this year – in that time you’ve probably met the Eurovision fandom through various occasions – what is – in your opinion – the best advantage of participating on such festivals, as Dora is?
I think that stages like Dora give you more recognition among people, but also gives you so much experience. I have learned a lot through years of Dora and I’m always so happy to be back.

Your song is called Forgive me (Oprosti) – how different will this year’s participation be, apart from the other ones and what is the message of your song?
This song could be interpreted in a lot ways. We wrote it because of a situation I have in my life, but generally it speaks about how hard it is sometimes for people to say ”I’m sorry’. Relationship (no matter what kind; girlfriend/boyfriend, parent/kid, friends) can be hard from time to time, things can get very complicated and when you think there’s no hope to save anything, there’s an honest forgiveness that people forget to give. All of us make mistakes, so we could grow and learn, and gain more experience from life, to build our own and have the best and the worst parts of it. In my opinion, mistakes are here to be made, and to be learned from.

Apart from performing your new song – what is the thing you’re excited about the most about this year’s Dora 2022?
I’m looking forward to come up the stage as a more grown person, I really learned a lot in the last year and I can’t wait to share my emotions through a song with everyone.

Tell us one thing about you that the Eurovision community doesn’t know about you, but it should?
I am a very emotional person, and everytime I sing, my emotions come to light. I usually try to hide them on everyday basis, but when I sing that’s almost impossible.

What is your message to the readers of ESCBubble?
Well, I hope everyone has aaaalll the fun that they can, to dance with new artists and songs, to cheer and celebrate! Have fun guys!

We thank Mia Negovetić very much for taking the time to talk to us and wish her the best of luck for the Dora final, which is already taking place this Saturday, February 19th, in Opatija. You can listen to Mia Negovetić’s song “Forgive Me (Oprosti)” below!