July the 21st, 2022 - The Dora catamaran is set to connect the City of Dubrovnik and the mainland with the nearby Elaphite islands (Lopud, Sipan and Kolocep/Kalamota) as of next week as the connections between the Pearl of the Adriatic and the islands continues to improve.

As Morski writes, as of next week the Elaphite islands which lie just north of the city and Dubrovnik will be connected by the Dora catamaran, as was recently confirmed to local portal DuList by the Croatian ferry company Jadrolinija.

''At the request of the local population for the use of fast vessels on passenger lines of transport, and with the consent of the Agency for Coastal Liner Maritime Transport, a temporary approval was obtained to put the Dora catamaran on the aforementioned line. Travellers and islanders alike can expect Dora to start performing this task as of next week,'' stated the official answer signed by Jadrolinija Rijeka, as reported by Dulist.

There has otherwise been no answer to the question as to whether the old Premuda vessel which traditionally maintained this line will go in for overhaul and when that will happen. In addition, a question was asked about another ferry, Postira, and whether or not this vessel is still undergoing overhaul, and if so, why did it take so long to start the process and why is it taking so long so complete it.

Better connections between the Dubrovnik region's mainland and the nearby islands...

Furthermore, in the answer from Jadrolinija, they explained that connecting Dubrovnik with the Elaphite islands is being maintained via two state ferry lines.

''One is a ferry and is intended for the daily transport of both passengers and cargo. The second line is a passenger line maintained by the Postira ferry. Given that the pier on the island of Kolocep was reconstructed last year, the ferry line was redefined, which until now didn't have the possibility to dock at the island of Kolocep, so the cargo had to be transported by our passenger line.

With the reconstruction of the pier on Kolocep, the conditions have been created for all of the islands to be connected with a ferry line, so the sailing times of the aforementioned line will be changed in such a way that it will be able to dock at all ports on both departure and return trips in accordance with the requirements of the local community. The aforementioned change will greatly enable a better connection between the mainland and the islands,'' they pointed out from Jadrolinija.

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February 21, 2022 - The artist and song that will represent Croatia at Eurovision 2022 were chosen last Saturday. Mia Dimšić won this year's Dora with the song ''Guilty Pleasure''. The competition was held in the Marino Cvetković Hall in Opatija.

The selection of the Croatian song for the Eurovision Song Contest Dora 2022 was held on Saturday night in the Marino Cvetković Hall in Opatija, and the winner is Mia Dimšić, who received the most votes from the audience and the jury! Mia travels to Turin in May this year and will represent us at Eurosonog in neighboring Italy, reports Dnevnik.

Dora was opened by Albina Grčić with the song "Tick-tock", last year's winner. She performed the song in a different arrangement, and she was joined on stage by dancers. 

Singer Mila Elegović opened the competition part of Dora with the song "Ljubav". She performed the ballad on stage without dancers and did the whole performance on a high chair.

After her, Mia Negovetić took the stage and performed the song "Forgive Me". The young singer with strong vocals shone in an elegant black dress with dropped shoulders and received a standing ovation from the audience. 

The song "Pray for us", authored by Vlaho Arbulić, was performed by the young Marko Bošnjak, and he arrived in front of the audience in a black suit with white stripes. Mia Negovetić cried during his performance.

Twenty-one-year-old Jessa performed the live song "My next mistake" in the company of four dancers. The ladies were fashionably matched, and the miniature tops combined with flashy details blended perfectly into the atmosphere of the song.

Legendary Zdenka Kovačiček competed on Dora with the song "Stay On The Bright Side". She was joined by dancers, and Zdenka wore a striking blue patent leather coat for the occasion and left a strong impression on the audience with her unquestionable vocal abilities. 

Tina Vukov surprised everyone by choosing a dress, and it is not enough to say that she shone in a tight creation with a deep neckline and a wide floor-length body. She sang the song "Hideout" accompanied by a pianist, and the company on stage were backing vocals. 

Roko Vušković performed the song "A little later", and intrigued the audience with his interesting choreography. He was joined by a dancer dressed only in a white shirt. 

After him, Bernarda won the stage with the song "Here For Love" and brought a dose of liveliness with her performance during which she was accompanied by dancers.

ERIC, like Bernarda, competed in Dora last year, and for this year's performance with the song "I Found You", he chose a striking suit with silver details. The single, accompanied by dancers, was catchy, and his merry performance was greeted with applause by the audience.

"In the darkness" was the song with which the singer ToMa competed on Dora this year.

Singer Elis Lovrić filled the hall with a powerful song named "No war", and she performed in front of the audience with nothing else but a guitar.

Ella Orešković made her debut last year on the Opatija stage, and this year she returned with the song "If you go away". The daughter of our former prime minister, in a transparent combination with sequins accompanied by dancers, did her best and received a big round of applause.

Singer Tia took the stage of Dora for the first time this year, and introduced herself to the audience with the song "Love me to heaven".  She chose a transparent dress with bare shoulders for the performance.

The last one was Mia Dimšić with the song "Guilty pleasure". Our famous singer wore a black combination and a mini-skirt, and with one dancer she delighted the audience in the hall and was greeted with applause.

The Dora 2022 finalists competed in the following order:

1. Mila Elegovic - Ljubav
2. Mia Negovetic - Forgive Me (Oprosti)
3. Marko Bosnjak - Moli za nas
4. Jessa - My Next Mistake
5. Zdenka Kovacicek - Stay On The Bright Side
6. Tina Vukov - Hideout
7. Roko Vušković - A little later
8. Bernarda - Here For Love
9. Eric Vidović - I Found You
10. ToMa - In The Darkness
11. Elis Lovrić - No War
12. Ella Orešković - If You Go Away
13. Tia - Voli me do neba
14. Mia Dimšić - Guilty Pleasure

In the end, Mia Dimšić was chosen as the winner of this year's Dora with the votes of the audience and the jury and will represent Croatia at Eurovision 2022 in Turin, Italy. 

Some accuse Mia of plagiarizing Taylor Swift

Reactions on social media were mixed. While many liked the song, in addition to congratulating Mia Dimšić and wishing her good luck at Eurovision 2022, others expressed her dissatisfaction and for more than one reason.

Some users believe that both Marko Bosnjak and Mia Negovetic deserved more and to be representatives of Croatia in Eurovision 2022 ahead of Mia Dimšić.

However, the most serious accusation was probably that a large number of users pointed out the more than suspicious resemblance between the Croatian artist's song and the song "Willow" by American star Taylor Swift. Some even believe that Mia plagiarized Swift and that a lawsuit could follow. Mia Dimšić has not commented on these accusations.

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September 19, 2021 - HRT confirms Croatia's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. The selection of Croatia's entry for Italy will once again be crowned through the Dora competition.

Croatia is again getting ready for the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest and is undeniably in high spirits. As HRT recently posted, “The beautiful September weather only contributes to the preparations for Dora and Eurovision 2022, which are in full swing! The Croatian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest will begin soon, so stay with us for more information.”

Since the country's debut in 1993, Dora has been used to select Croatia's entry for Eurovision except between 2012 to 2018 when Croatia had undergone a series of internal selections and withdrawals. In 2019, Dora returned and has been used ever since. 

According to Eurovoix, Dora 2022 is expected to take place in Opatija. The city has hosted all editions of the show except in 2011. Opatija and HRT signed a three-year deal to host Glazbeni Dani Hrvatske Radiotelevizije, which Dora is a part of.

Last year, Albina was chosen to represent Croatia in the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Tick-Tock". With the votes of the jury and public, the song made it in the top ten but landed 11th in the semi-final and did not qualify for the finals.

This year's Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Italy on May 22 following their victory with Maneskin's "Zitti e buoni" at the 2021 Eurovision contest. 

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October 10, 2020 - As Jutarnji list unofficially finds out, the selection for the Croatian Eurovision Song Contest "Dora" will be held on February 13, 2021, and the competition for new songs starts soon.

Croatian Radio Television (HRT) has decided that Croatia will choose its representative for Eurosong 2021 through the "Dora" competition and that this year's winner Damir Kedžo will not represent Croatia next year.

Recall that after the Eurosong 2020 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, was postponed to next year due to the coronavirus pandemic, HRT decided in June to continue its tradition and that Dora will be held next year as planned, in February 2021, and accordingly Croatia will be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 by the one who wins then.

In an official statement for the media, HRT thanked Damir Kedžo for the excellent cooperation after the victory at Dora 2020, as well as the authors of the song “Divlji vjetre“ (“Wild wind“) Ante Pecotić and Bojan Šalamon Shalla.

This year's winner of Dora, Damir Kedžo, announced:

“This whole Dora 2020 experience was full circle. From happiness to sadness, from victory to the cancellation of Eurovision due to Covid-19, to the cancellation of me as a representative for Rotterdam 2021. Thank you to everyone, my band, the girls who shared the stage with me in Opatija, as well as this virtual one while we were singing 'Divlji vjetre' to people across Europe and the world online.

Thank you all for your support now that we know that HRT has decided to have a new competition and that we are not directly represented in Rotterdam 2021. It is not easy to endure this 'rollercoaster' of emotions and changes, so thank you all once again and I can't wait to go through everything that the future will bring us," said Kedžo, who has not yet decided with his team whether he will appear as a competitor again on Dora 2021.

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March 1, 2020 - The Dora was held in Opatija on Saturday night to crown the best song to represent Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam. Of the sixteen singers that competed, Damir Kedzo was named the winner with his song "Wild Wind".

HRT reports that with the song "Wild Winds" ("Divlji vjetre"), Damir Kedzo will represent Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam in May! The Omišalj singer won Saturday night’s Dora competition in Opatija and thus fulfilled his childhood dream.

The winner of the 26th Dora was decided by the audience and an expert jury from five HRT centers. In the tense final, Rijeka singer Mia Negovetic and Damir Kedzo had an equal number of points, and since the song with more audience points won, Kedzo was crowned the winner.

The 65th Anniversary Eurovision Song Contest will be held from May 12 to May 16, and Damir will compete in the first semi-final night to enter the grand finale.

This was Kedzo’s third appearance at Dora and, apparently, the time was a charm. The song "Wild Winds” is written by his permanent collaborator Ante Pecotic, along with composers Bojan Salamon Shalla and Matija Rodic-Matroda, the only Croatian to be on the list of the world's best DJs and producers.

"When I got off the stage, I said, 'this was really good, I can stand behind this'," said the winner of this year's Dora in his first public address at a press conference.

Kedzo was accompanied by five excellent singers - four Rijeka singers Anja Stanic, Ana Kabalin, Medea Market Sindik and Gina Skulic and Opatija's Mateja Majerle who wore traditional Croatian jewelry from each region.

Kedzo was handed the Dora statue, created by artist Ivica Propadal, by the Director-General of Croatian Radio and Television Kazimir Bacic. The Dutch Ambassador HE Mr Hendrik Jan Voskamp wished him good luck at this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam.

Second place went to Mia Negovetic with the song "When It Comes to You", while the third place went to Indira Levak with the song "You Will Never Break My Heart".

The full list of performers who fought for a spot in the Netherlands on Saturday were Elis Lovric, Bojan Jambrosic, Edi Abazi, Zdenka Kovacicek, Alen Vitasovic & Bozidarka-Matija Cerin, Djana, Akle Neon, Nikola Marjanovic, Lorenzo feat Dino Puric & Rapper from the Room, Marin Juric- Chivro, Lorena Bucan, Indira, Jure Brkljaca, Colonia, Mia Negovetic and Damir Kedzo.

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Split-native Roko Blažević will represent Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv this year!

After several years of making the decision on who's representing Croatia at The Eurovision Song Contest, often called the Eurosong in various behind-the-scenes, not public and not show-worthy ways, Croatian Television has decided to bring back Dora! Dora is the national competition held to determine the Croatian candidate, traditionally held in Opatija, where songs are performed before a live audience and broadcast nation-wide on Croatian Television.

16 songs were selected and will be performed this Saturday, February 16th at 8 pm. Many of those will be performed by established Croatian music stars, such as Luka Nižetić and Lidija Bačić Lille, some of them will bring to the stage younger singers that have performed in the hit shows on Croatian Television, The Voice and A-side, such as Jure Brkljača and Ema Gagro, and many of the hopefuls for the Eurosong spot are relative new-comers to the Croatian music scene, that we yet need to get to know.

The winner will be selected by the combination of the votes by the professional juries and televoting votes (by phone calls and SMS), similar to the format of the actual Eurosong competition.

During the break for the voting procedure to be held, a show programme will be performed at the stage in the Marino Cvetković Sports Hall in Opatija. Franka Batelić, last year's Croatian representative at the Eurosong, Vanna, who represented Croatia several years ago, Dino Jelusić and Mia Negovetić (who's making a name for herself in the US) Sudar Percussion bans will be performing in the show.

The evening will be hosted by the Croatian television veteran Mirko Fodor and Iva Šulentić and Jelena Glišić.

The winner of the Dora competition will be representing Croatia in Eurovision Song Contest 2019, which will be held in Tel Aviv in May, as an Israeli singer Netta Barzilai won in 2018.