Today is finally the release day for the songs competing in Dora 2025 — Croatia’s selection show for the upcoming Eurovision this May!

To mark the occasion, we are thrilled to release an interview we did with Dora hopeful Luka Nižetić, a 41 year-old Croatian singer from Split who is back in his country’s national final for the fifth time, having previously taken part in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2019!

Luka is well-known to Croatian music fans. In fact, Dora 2005 put him on the map when his self-written entry Proljeće finished in 6th place, and went on to be a hit. His closest chance to winning Dora came in 2019 when Brutalero placed third.

In February, Luka will compete in Dora 2025 with another self-written song, Južina. On behalf of all of our readers who do not speak any Balkan languages, Dave asked Luka what this meant, and the inspiration behind his Dora 2025 entry:

“My song for this Dora is influenced [by] Dalmatia, but a specific thing. It’s a wind, which blows in Dalmatia, a southern wind. We call it Južina, and that wind is very, very, very, very specific. It’s not just a wind and meteorological phenomena. It’s a feeling, it’s a state of mind. It makes people crazy.”

— Luka Nižetić

With time ticking down until we see the performances live on stage, Luka had this to say about we can expect from the staging of Južina:

“I have such a good team, with whom I feel very secure. We already made some very good scratches. I’m really satisfied with it now. And yeah, I feel very excited, I want to present that Južina state of mind as close as possible to the audience through the music and through the visuals. But I just can’t wait to [get on] the stage. But I can’t tell anything anymore because it’s top secret, of course.”

— Luka Nižetić

Luka will perform Južina live in the Dora Semis on either the 27th or 28th of February, as he battles for one of just twelve spots in the Dora 2025 Grand Final!

Until then, be sure and check out the full interview with Luka Nižetić (above) to learn more about his entry Južina, what inspired him to take part in Dora again this year, and find out about his favourite Eurovision memories! The episode is available now wherever you get your favourite Eurovision podcasts!

You can also check out Luka’s best Dora result below, from his performance of Brutalero in 2019!

We wish Luka the best of luck at his fifth Dora! Let us know in the comments and on our social media profiles @buildingbridgespod what you thought of the interview!