Croatia | Dora to return in 2021 as Croatia's national selection

Big news from Croatia! The national broadcaster HRT have just announced that they will be selecting their 2021 entry via their national selection Dora. Consequently, this means their 2020 entrant Damir Kedzo will not be internally selected as the Croatian entry for 2021. Despite this, he is still eligible to compete in Dora next year with a different song.

HRT will be completing their two year contract with the venue in Opatija, and will be hosting Dora for a second year in a row with Croatian head of delegation Ursula Tolj directing the show. HRT released a statement regarding their decision to use Dora as their national selection as well as showing gratitude to Damir Kedzo and his team, stating:

“After (Eurovision) being postponed to next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, HRT has decided to continue its tradition and that Dora will be held next year as planned in February 2021. Accordingly, who wins will get to represent Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021”.

"Together, we got most out of this year without the standard Eurovision Song Contest: we presented ourselves with dignity on social media, as well as in the special contest, Eurovision: Love Shine a Light. Damir proved to be a great professional, and despite the situation, he did a great job of all the promotion - and the song - we can conclude without hesitation, achieved great success both in Croatia and abroad."

Damir Kedzo also released a statement himself in his social media accounts, which you can check out below:

Damir Kedzo was to represent Croatia this year in Rotterdam with the song "Divjli Vjetre". He was set to perform in the first semi final in the 11th position prior to cancellation. You can check out his national selection performace below: