Croatia’s Dora has a winner… and it’s LELEK’s “Andromeda”

After two semi-finals, Croatia has finally stopped flirting with indecision and done the most Croatian thing possible: picked a winner with an astronomical title and a points haul that doesn’t just win, it announces itself. LELEK have conquered the Dora final with “Andromeda”, and now they’re heading for Vienna in May with the sort of momentum that makes group chats suddenly go very quiet, because everyone is recalculating their predictions in real time.

The final played out at HRT’s studios in Zagreb, with 16 acts taking turns to charm, provoke, and occasionally stress-test the nation’s patience, while the hosting line-up of Barbara Kolar, Duško Ćurlić, Iva Šulentić and Ivan Vukušić did that heroic presenter thing where you smile warmly while knowing the televote is about to start a small civil war.

Running order (as performed)

Ananda – “Dora”
Sergej – “Scream”
Noelle – “Uninterrupted”
Alen Đuras – “From Ashes to Flame”
Irma – “Ni traga”
Lana Demarin – “Mantra”
Ema Bubić – “Vrijeme za nas”
Lima Len – “Raketa”
Lana Mandarić – “Tama”
Ritam Noir – “Profumi di mare”
Marko Kutlić – “Neotuđivo”
Devin – “Over Me”
LELEK – “Andromeda”
ToMa – “Ledina” (Meadow)
Stela Rade – “Nema te”
Cold Snap – “Mucho macho”

The voting: juries, televote, and the moment everyone pretends to be calm

Croatia used the familiar three-lane motorway to a result: jury points, televote points, and then the final combined totals. Which is a polite way of saying you get one set of numbers that feels “serious”, one set of numbers that feels “chaotic”, and then a final total that makes at least one fandom stare into the middle distance.

Jury ranking (points)

Ananda – “Dora” 13
Sergej – “Scream” 33
Noelle – “Uninterrupted” 27
Alen Đuras – “From Ashes to Flame” 41
Irma – “Ni traga” 32
Lana Demarin – “Mantra” 22
Ema Bubić – “Vrijeme za nas” 3
Lima Len – “Raketa” 20
Lana Mandarić – “Tama” 21
Ritam Noir – “Profumi di mare” 5
Marko Kutlić – “Neotuđivo” 20
Devin – “Over Me” 22
LELEK – “Andromeda” 77
ToMa – “Ledina” 44
Stela Rade – “Nema te” 46
Cold Snap – “Mucho macho” 38

Televote ranking (points)

Ananda – “Dora” 7
Sergej – “Scream” 9
Noelle – “Uninterrupted” 11
Alen Đuras – “From Ashes to Flame” 15
Irma – “Ni traga” 11
Lana Demarin – “Mantra” 18
Ema Bubić – “Vrijeme za nas” 9
Lima Len – “Raketa” 36
Lana Mandarić – “Tama” 11
Ritam Noir – “Profumi di mare” 35
Marko Kutlić – “Neotuđivo” 22
Devin – “Over Me” 39
LELEK – “Andromeda” 96
ToMa – “Ledina” 27
Stela Rade – “Nema te” 47
Cold Snap – “Mucho macho” 70

Final results (combined points)

Ananda – “Dora” 20
Sergej – “Scream” 42
Noelle – “Uninterrupted” 38
Alen Đuras – “From Ashes to Flame” 56
Irma – “Ni traga” 43
Lana Demarin – “Mantra” 40
Ema Bubić – “Vrijeme za nas” 12
Lima Len – “Raketa” 56
Lana Mandarić – “Tama” 32
Ritam Noir – “Profumi di mare” 40
Marko Kutlić – “Neotuđivo” 42
Devin – “Over Me” 61
LELEK – “Andromeda” 173
ToMa – “Ledina” 71
Stela Rade – “Nema te” 93
Cold Snap – “Mucho macho” 108

So what now: Vienna, Saturday’s final dream, and Croatia’s little redemption arc

The headline here isn’t just that LELEK won. It’s how they won: 77 from the juries, 96 from the public, and a combined 173 that reads less like “narrow victory” and more like “move, please, we’re coming through”. Whatever “Andromeda” is about on paper, on the scoreboard it’s about one thing: control.

And there’s a neat little narrative thread too, because Croatia will be hoping for a cleaner run than last year, when Marko Bošnjak missed out after falling in the first semi-final with “Poison Cake”. This time, the goal is blunt and very Eurovision: get to that Saturday final, look expensive doing it, and make everyone else pretend they always loved the song.