The Dora 2025 songs are in, and so are The Euro Yard’s rankings of all 24 contenders. Today, we provide you with our pre-show top ten.
We will be tracking all 24 songs to see where the final product at Dora lines up with our expectations going into the contest. Those expectations were formulated today.
So, When Is Dora 2025?
There will be two semifinals prior to the big finale. The first semifinal will take place on Thursday, 27 February, while the second is going to be on Friday, 28 February. Dora’s final will be held on Sunday, 2 March. Its winner will represent Croatia in the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest. All the national final schedules can be found here.
What Happened in Croatia Last Year? (As If You Don’t Already Know)
The Dora 2024 winner was “Rim Tim Tagi Dim” by Baby Lasagna. It won the national final in a landslide and went on to Croatia’s best-ever Eurovision result as an independent country. Marko/Baby Lasagna finished in second place behind winning Switzerland.
Dora 2025 Entries
| Song | Performer(s) |
|---|---|
| “AaAaA” | Magazin |
| “Animal” | Supersonic Trio |
| “Aurora” | Teenah |
| “Bye, Bye, Bye” | EoT |
| “Daj, daj” | Ogenj |
| “Dom si srcu mom” | Natalli |
| “Enigma” | Irma |
| “Extra” | Fenksta |
| “Ful Kul” | Swingers |
| “Gorjelo je” | Marin Jurić Čivro |
| “Južina” | Luka Nižetić |
| “Kraj” | Petar Brkljačić |
| “Lies Lay Cold” | Ananda |
| “Monopol” | IVXN |
| “NPC” | Laurakojapjeva |
| “Poison Cake” | Marko Bošnjak |
| “Running to the Light” | Martha May |
| “Salut!” | Jelena Radan |
| “Šta da boga molim ja” | Marko Škugor |
| “Strong” | Filomena |
| “The Soul of My Soul” | Lelek |
| “Through the Dark” | Marko Tolja |
| “Welcome to the Circus” | Matt Shaft |
| “Znak” | Nipplepeople |
General Impression
This was a very diverse range of songs on display from Croatia’s national final. Some out there complained that there were too many ballads, but a not-insignificant number of songs were what I would consider strange, and all of them were different shades of strange. Not everything here was a slow ballad; let’s get real for a second. However, I found too many of said ballads were fairly pretty but otherwise unremarkable.
There is no clear frontrunner in this group, therefore it will not turn out like last year where Marko’s win was an assured outcome. A few songs stood out slightly more than others, and a few lagged more than others, but overall, our range of final scores was not that big compared to some other national finals. There was a little something for everyone here.
Dora 2025 Song Rankings: Top Ten
10. “The Soul of My Soul” (Lelek)
She has a nice singing voice but this song should have been done in Croatian. There were some syntax issues in the English lyrics that took away from what seemed like it wasn’t a bad entry.
9. “Lies Lay Cold” (Ananda)
This song got better as it went on, but the first minute or so was pretty dull. It could have made our top five if it revved up a little sooner.
8. “Poison Cake” (Marko Bošnjak)
Like several other songs on the full list, it was a wild ride. This was the most original entry we rated on our scorecard, and one of the most interesting. Where it lacked was that the vocals were – well, let’s just say the vocals were not what you were supposed to focus on in this performance.
7. “Daj, daj” (Ogenj)
This turned out to be very rustic, Croatian, and a little bit fun. With better vocals, this could have really scored big with us.
6. “Dom si srcu mom” (Natalli)
One of the better vocalists we encountered in this Dora 2025 lineup. Unfortunately, what held it back is that it was a bit dull.
5. “Kraj” (Petar Brkljačić)
He was another one of the better vocalists we got to hear. Again, it did not soar because it was only somewhat more interesting than the song behind it.
4. “Salut!” (Jelena Radan)
I’ll take your hate mail for this one. It’s not even that I loved it: I was impressed that someone had the chops to sing a song completely in French for a Croatian song contest, capturing a grandiloquent French lounge singer air in the process. Did not hurt that she was a decent vocalist.
3. “Enigma” (Irma)
I can record the same criticisms I’ve had of other ballads on this list, but Irma did get our highest vocal score out of this group.
2. “AaAaA” (Magazin)
At first, I could not take this song seriously because of its title, but it was an interesting composition and the lyrics were far from the cliché nonsense you would see in an average, cookie-cutter song. This tracked a little above average in all metrics, which was good enough to get it second place.
1. “Znak” (Nipplepeople)
In no way did I expect a song by a band called “Nipplepeople” to be my number one in anything this year. Nevertheless, here we are. It had a unique beat, the singing was fine, and it was kind of catchy. Unlike most of the other songs, which had at least one thing holding it back, this didn’t really have anything in that department. I feel like this is going to be a real wild card on stage: Depending on what the full presentation looks like at Dora, this can either soar or sink.
Also, do not watch the lyric video if you are photosensitive or epileptic.
