|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Croatia’s Dora has always been one of those selections you ignore at your peril, and the second semi final of 2026 did nothing to change that impression. It wrapped up the line‑up for Sunday’s show and, more importantly, proved there’s real depth behind the headlines.
The basics: tidy telly, clear stakes
HRT kept things pleasingly simple: back to the studio in Zagreb, same hosting team, twelve songs, eight spots in the final and the viewers holding all the power. The result was a show that rattled along without any format faff which is great!
With the first semi already having trimmed its half of the field, this second night was all about balancing the final. What we ended up with was a set of qualifiers that nudged Dora 2026 further towards moody pop and atmosphere, without losing sight of the more straightforward, radio‑friendly entries that keep a national final watchable.
Entries and results
Here’s the full semi‑two line‑up, with qualifiers marked the way we like them – a simple Q in the final column.
| Song | Performer(s) | Qualified |
|---|---|---|
| Profumi di mare (Scents of the sea) | Ritam Noir | Q |
| Ni traga (Not a trace) | Irma | Q |
| Light Up | Gabrijel Ivić | |
| My Mind | Zevin | |
| Crying Eyes | Ivan Sever | |
| Tama (Darkness) | Lana Mandarić | Q |
| Nema te (You’re gone) | Stela Rade | Q |
| Over Me | Devin | Q |
| 3 ujutro (3 a.m.) | Kandžija | |
| Neotuđivo (Inalienable) | Marko Kutlić | Q |
| Scream | Sergej | Q |
| Mantra | Lara Demarin | Q |
How it played out on the night
Ritam Noir and Irma set the tone early – slick, stylised and very aware of the camera, the sort of packages that look like they arrived at rehearsal with a storyboard tucked under their arms. Devin and Marko Kutlić occupied the “could easily be drawn between two fan favourites in a Eurovision semi and hold their own” lane, while Lana Mandarić and Stela Rade leaned into darker, moodier territory without disappearing into indulgence (Thankfully)
Sergej and Lara Demarin rounded out the qualifiers list with performances that felt like they knew exactly what they were: three‑minute slices of televote bait, dressed up just enough to catch the eye without frightening the horses. For the four that fell at this hurdle (see what I did there?) it was less about catastrophe and more about landing in a semi where there simply wasn’t room for everyone.
What it means for Sunday
Put this eight together with the qualifiers from the first semi and you get a Dora final that looks, whisper it, properly competitive. There are obvious televote magnets, some jury‑friendly polish and a couple of songs that sit squarely in the “this is what Eurovision in 2026 sounds like” bracket.
The big question now is whether Croatia leans into that and sends something distinctive to Vienna, or blinks at the last minute and opts for safe and beige. On the evidence of this second semi, the good options are absolutely there – it’s over to Sunday night to see if the voters and juries pick the same winner the rest of us would.
