Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Dora 2008 was the sixteenth edition of the Croatian national selection Dora which selected Croatia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. The competition consisted of a semi-final and a final on 22 and 23 February 2008, respectively, both taking place at the Hotel Kvarner in Opatija. The semi-final was broadcast on HTV 2 and HRT Radio 2, while the final was broadcast on HTV 1 and HRT Radio 2 as well as online via the broadcaster's website hrt.hr.

Dora 2008 consisted of two shows: a semi-final on 22 February 2008 and a final on 23 February 2008. Fourteen songs selected from an open call for submissions competed in the semi-final and six proceeded to the final as determined by a public televote. The six songs that qualified from the semi-final were joined by an additional ten songs written by composers directly invited by HRT in the final and the winner was selected by a 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and a public televote.

On 3 December 2007, HRT opened a submission period where artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster with the deadline on 18 December 2007.[1] 200 entries were received by the broadcaster during the submission period. An expert committee reviewed the received submissions and selected fourteen artists and songs for the competition. HRT announced the competing entries in the semi-final on 2 January 2008 and among the competing artists, Emilija Kokić was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1989 as part of Riva.[2]

On 30 December 2007, HRT announced the names of the nine composers that were invited to participate. The invited composers were:[3]

The pre-qualified finalist entries were announced on 9 January 2009 and among the competing artists, Maja Blagdan represented Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996.[4] Two preview shows, Ususret dori, were broadcast on 5 and 6 February 2008 on HRT 1 where the competing entries were presented.[1]

The semi-final took place on 22 February 2008, hosted by Duško Ćurlić, Nikolina Pišek and Lana Jurčević. The six qualifiers, "Tvoje oko ka' more duboko" performed by Bonaca & Nera, "Gdje je srce tu je dom" performed by Antonija Šola, "Sanjam" performed by Ivo Gamulin Gianni, "Romanca" performed by Kraljevi Ulice & 75 cents, "Lako zaljubljiva" performed by Maja Šuput and "Anđeo" performed by Emilija Kokić, were determined exclusively by a public televote.[5]

The final took place on 23 February 2008, hosted by Duško Ćurlić, Mirko Fodor, Nikolina Pišek and Lana Jurčević. The six semi-final qualifiers and the ten pre-qualified entries competed and the winner, "Romanca" performed by Kraljevi Ulice & 75 cents, was determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from a five-member jury panel and a public televote. Ties were decided in favour of the entry ranked higher by the jury. On 21 February 2008, "Milina" performed by Dino Dvornik & Bane was disqualified due to not attending rehearsals and their votes weren't counted.[6]