Dora 2026 Semi 2: Eight Through, Four Out, and Zagreb Absolutely Loved the Drama

Darlings, Croatia didn’t “select” tonight, it survived! If Dora’s first semi-final felt like Croatia warming up its Eurovision engine, tonight was the moment it properly slammed the accelerator. Semi-Final 2 rolled into Zagreb with that specific national final energy where everyone’s smiling, everyone’s sweating, and the televote is sitting there like a judge who doesn’t do sympathy.

The show was steered by Barbara Kolar alongside Duško Ćurlić, Iva Šulentić and Ivan Vukušić, keeping things slick enough to move at pace but still human enough to feel like, yes, this is Dora and not a corporate product launch with better lighting.

And because Croatia understands the value of a palate cleanser, Luka Nižetić popped up as the guest performer with a medley of his hits, which is always the nicest reminder that, actually, some people have been doing this for years and still make it look suspiciously easy.

The running order: twelve acts, one stage, and a televote with zero mercy

Here’s how the night unfolded, exactly as Croatia served it, in the order that inevitably becomes the source of at least three group chat arguments:

Ritam Noir – “Profumi di mare”
Irma – “Ni traga”
Gabrijel Ivić – “Light up”
Zevin – “My Mind”
Ivan Sever – “Crying Eyes”
Lana Mandarić – “Tama”
Stela Rade – “Nema te”
Devin – “Over Me”
Kandžija – “3 ujutro”
Marko Kutlić – “Neotuđivo”
Sergej – “Scream”
Lara Demarin – “Mantra”

Twelve names, twelve chances, and the same brutal maths Dora always loves: eight tickets to Sunday, and four doors closing with no soft landing.

The qualifiers: the televote made its choices, loudly

When the moment arrived and Zagreb collectively leaned toward the screen, the public televote picked the eight actsmoving on to the final. No jury gymnastics, no decoding required, just a straight list you can copy into your notes, your posts, and your “how did THAT miss out?” spiral:

Sergej – “Scream”
Devin – “Over Me”
Stela Rade – “Nema te”
Marko Kutlić – “Neotuđivo”
Irma – “Ni traga”
Lara Demarin – “Mantra”
Ritam Noir – “Profumi di mare”
Lana Mandarić – “Tama”

And with that, Dora’s final line-up is now properly taking shape. These eight will join the qualifiers from the first semi-final for Sunday’s final, where Croatia will try to do the one thing every national selection claims to want: find the act that can walk into Vienna and make Europe pay attention.

Sunday is where Croatia stops flirting and commits

Semi-finals are for first impressions and early favourites. The final is where everything gets sharper: the staging choices become bolder, the fan narratives get louder, and the televote suddenly feels like a national personality test.

Tonight didn’t give us a “perfect” story. It gave us something better: a real Dora night, with clear winners, real stakes, and just enough salt in the comments to keep the whole thing delicious until Sunday.