The Croatian public broadcaster held a press conference today where the 24 acts competing in the 2011 running of Dora, the country's selection for Eurovision, have been announced. There are also 2 substitutes to be added to the line-up in case one of the current contestants drops out the competition.

150 singers have applied to become the next Croatian representative in the Eurovision Song Contest. The jury have selected the following 24, plus two reserves:

• Diana Herakovi?�?�?
• Mirko Svenda-Ziga
• Jelena Vanjek
• Mijo Lesina
• Marija Rub?�?�i?�?�?
• Valentina Briski
• Damir Ked?�??o
• Doris Teur
• Dora Benc
• Artemija Stanic
• Ivana Brkaši?�?�?
• Katica Marinovic
• Miro Tomi?�?�?
• Renata Holi
• Sasa Lozar
• Ana Eškinja
• Jacques Houdek
• Daria Kinzer
• Tina Vukov
• Mila Soldati?�?�?
• Mario Sambrailo
• Filip Dizdar
• Manuela Svorcan
• Sabrina Hebiri

Reserves: Maksim Hozi?�?�? andMarina Djurovic.

As expected, many of the applicants are newcomers, however there are also some big names, such as the 2004 runner-up Jacques Houdek and the 2006 third placed Tina Vukov, as well as Sasa Loncar and Helena Bastaic, who are well-known in Croatia. Sasa took part in Dora in 2005 as part of the boy-band Sasa, Tin and Kedzo.

As already reported by esctoday.com,Dora 2011 will consist of seven programmes on which contestants will perform live. In the first two shows, 12 acts will compete, and six of them will be eliminated. In the third programme, the twelve acts who got the most votes in the first two programmes will compete, and six of them will be eliminated.In the fourth programme, 6 acts will compete, two of thembeing disqualified. In both the fifth and sixth programmes,one act will say goodbye to Dora.

The results of the first six programmes will be decided by televoting alone. The competition starts on 22nd January, with the big final on 5th March.

In the final, two acts will compete, singing three songs decided by HRT and famous Croatian songwriters. The result will be decided by jury and televote ata 50/50 split.