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.

Format

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.

Competing entries

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. 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.

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

• Ante Pecotić
• Denis Dumančić
• Hari Rončević
• Husein Hasanefendić
• Miro Buljan
• Miroslav Škoro
• Nenad Ninčević
• Rajko Dujmić
• Tamara Obrovac

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. Two preview shows, Ususret dori, were broadcast on 5 and 6 February 2008 on HRT 1 where the competing entries were presented.

Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)
Alen Islamović	„Mirno spava kosa plava“	Rajko Dujmić, Nenad Ninčević
Antonija Šola	„Gdje je srce tu je dom“	Antonija Šola, Silvio Pasarić
Bonaca and Nera	„Tvoje oko ka‘ more duboko“	Ivo Mikulčin
Ðani Stipanicev	„Ja san umra za ljubav“	Miro Buljan, Nenad Ninčević
Danijela Pintarić	„Dotakni zvijezdu“	Zoran Jeager, Srđan Sekulović
Dino Dvornik and Bane	„Milina“	Željko Banić
Dye and the Colors	„Zažmirim i putujem“	Husein Hasanefendić
Emilija Kokić	„Anđeo“	Emilija Kokić
Giuliano	„Plava vještica“	Miro Buljan, Nenad Ninčević
Hari Rončević	„Ležim na suncu“	Hari Rončević
Ibrica Jusić	„Iskoci sa mnom iz jureceg vlaka“	Marko Tomasović, Mario Vukelić
Ivana Banfić	„Mir“	Ante Pecotić
Ivana Radovniković	„Kakav tužan kraj“	Ivana Radovniković, Stjepan Marković
Ivo Gamulin Gianni	„Sanjam“	Andrej Baša, Fayo
Kraljevi ulice and 75 Cents	„Romanca“	Miran Hadži Veljković
Maja Blagdan	„Zvala sam ga Anđele“	Miro Buljan, Nenad Ninčević
Maja Šuput	„Lako zaljubljiva“	Denis Dumančić, Fayo
Martina	„Idi ledja mi okreni“	Marino Mahić, Darus Despot
Mor Roll	„Ne razumijemo se“	Vedran Šilipetar
Pero Galić	„Otvori mi oči“	Denis Dumančić, Fayo
Prva Liga and Druge	„Vila“	Miroslav Škoro, Željko Barba
Tamara Obrovac	„Amor“	Tamara Obrovac, Anja Gasparini
Vlatka Grakalić	„Kaži mi“	Fedor Boić
Zorica Kondža	„Za tobom luda“	Joško Banov, Nenad Ninčević

Semi-final

The semi-final took place on 22 February 2008, hosted by Duško Ćurlić, Nikolina Pišek and Lana Jurčević. The six qualifiers were determined exclusively by a public televote.

Semi-final – 22 February 2008

Draw	Artist	Song	Televote	Place	Result
1	Bonaca and Nera	„Tvoje oko ka‘ more duboko“	1,253	6	Qualified
2	Antonija Šola	„Gdje je srce tu je dom“	1,531	4	Qualified
3	Ivo Gamulin Gianni	„Sanjam“	1,533	3	Qualified
4	Ibrica Jusić	„Iskoci sa mnom iz jureceg vlaka“	103	14	–
5	Martina	„Idi ledja mi okreni“	657	10	–
6	Zorica Kondža	„Za tobom luda“	382	11	–
7	Vlatka Grakalić	„Kaži mi“	680	9	–
8	Ivana Radovniković	„Kakav tužan kraj“	322	-13	–
9	Mor Roll	„Ne razumijemo se“	325	12	–
10	Danijela Pintarić	„Dotakni zvijezdu“	957	8	–
11	Ðani Stipanicev	„Ja san umra za ljubav“	1,058	7	–
12	Kraljevi ulice and 75 Cents	„Romanca“	3,77	1	Qualified
13	Maja Šuput	„Lako zaljubljiva“	1,613	2	Qualified
14	Emilija Kokić	„Anđeo“	1,439	5	Qualified

Final

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 and 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 and Bane was disqualified due to not attending rehearsals and their votes weren’t counted.

Final – 23 February 2008

Draw	Artist	Song	Jury	Jury	Televote	Televote	Total	Place
			Votes	Points	Votes	Points
1	Dye and the Colors	„Zažmirim i putujem“	36	4	496	8	12	12
2	Hari Rončević	„Ležim na suncu“	32	2	229	4	6	15
3	Emilija Kokić	„Anđeo“	38	8	1,554	12	20	7
4	Prva Liga and Druge	„Vila“	37	6	2,571	14	20	8
5	Tamara Obrovac	„Amor“	44	14	279	6	20	6
6	Pero Galić	„Otvori mi oči“	37	6	690	9	15	10
7	Antonija Šola	„Gdje je srce tu je dom“	45	15	4,119	16	31	2
8	Ivo Gamulin Gianni	„Sanjam“	42	12	1,858	13	25	3
9	Alen Islamović	„Mirno spava kosa plava“	38	8	193	3	11	13
10	Maja Blagdan	„Zvala sam ga Anđele“	36	4	247	5	9	14
11	Giuliano	„Plava vještica“	42	12	117	2	14	11
12	Maja Šuput	„Lako zaljubljiva“	42	12	835	10	22	5
13	Kraljevi ulice and 75 Cents	„Romanca“	50	16	3,882	15	31	1
14	Bonaca and Nera	„Tvoje oko ka‘ more duboko“	43	11	1,246	13	24	4
15	Ivana Banfić	„Mir“	41	9	358	7	16	9
16	Dino Dvornik and Bane	„Milina“	0	1	0	1	2	16

Kraljevi Ulice previously came 2nd in the 2006 & 2007 Croatian Finals. At the ESC, they were 21st. Emilija Kokic won ESC 1989 for Yugoslavia as lead singer of the group Riva while Maja Blagdan represented Croatia in ESC 1996.