Maja Blagdan, who already represented her country in the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest performing Sveta ljubav, is one of the 24 participants in the two semi finals of Dora 2003, which will take place on March 7 and 8 in the Croatian coastal city Opatija. In addition, four reserve entries have been selected.
Maja Blagdan, who also participated in the Croatian national final of 1997 with the third placed entry Za nas and was the runner up behind Put in 1993 with Jedini moj, is the most prominent name on the list together with Emilia Kokić, who actually was a part of the quintet called Riva who secured the Eurovision victory for Yugoslavia in 1989, for the first and so far last time, by singing Rock me, loved and hated by Eurovision fans. She also took part in 2001, where she ended right behind Vanna by singing Ljepota in a duet with Adalbert Turner-Juci.
Among former participants in the Croatian final Dora, one can find the national final veteran Alen Vitasović, who ended sixth in 2002 with Ja san Istrijan and ninth in 2000 where he sang Ja ne gren. In 1996 he performed Marija. Another frequent participant is Giuliano, who finished third in 2000 with Srna i vuk, sixth in 1999 with Dobro mi dosla ljubavi and fifth in 1996 with Sjaj u ocima otkriva te.
Izabela Martinović, sister of the fan favourite Danijela who represented Croatia twice in Eurovision with the songs Nostalgija and Neka mi ne svane, has also participated in Dora earlier, in 2000 where she performed Sama medu zvijezdama in a duet with Stijene.
The duo Tina & Nik�a performed Ako me ikad pozelis in 1998. Karmen is a very popular group in Croatia and is therefore expected to be one of the favourites to win the event this year.
You can find all the participants and their songs on the Croatia 2003 page, linked down under.
