In the final, "Lijepa Tena" performed by Igor Cukrov was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a six-member jury panel and a public televote.

It was later revealed that Croatia had been selected by back-up juries to qualify after placing thirteenth out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 33 points.

[2] Since 1993, HRT organised the national final Dora in order to select the Croatian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, a method that was continued for their 2009 participation.

[2][5][6] On 26 October 2008, HRT opened a submission period where artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster with the deadline on 12 December 2008.

[7] A six-member expert committee consisting of Silvije Glojnarić (HRT), Robert Urlić (HR), Mirko Fodor (HTV), Željen Klašterka (HTV), Aleksandar Kostadinov (HTV) and Đurđica Ivanković (HR) reviewed the received submissions and selected fourteen artists and songs for the semi-final of the competition, while the ten pre-qualifying songs for the final were written by composers invited by HRT in consultation with the Croatian Composers' Society (HDS).

[15] On 2 February 2009, Goran Karan withdrew his song "Adam i Eva" from the semi-final and replaced with "Ma gdje bila" performed by Mario Battifiaca.

[23][24] Igor Cukrov and Andrea made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Lijepa Tena" as the Croatian Eurovision entry.

On 7 March, Igor Cukrov and Andrea performed "Lijepa Tena" during the semi-final of the Serbian Eurovision national final Beovizija 2009.

[26] On 24 April, Igor Cukrov and Andrea performed during the BHT 1 show Konačno petak in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

[27] According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top nine songs from each semi-final as determined by televoting progress to the final, and a tenth was determined by back-up juries.

[28] The running order for the semi-finals was decided through another draw on 16 March 2009 and Croatia was set to open the show and perform in position 1, before the entry from Ireland.

[34][35] Cukrov and Andrea were joined on stage by four backing vocalists dressed in black: Ivana Čabraja, Jelena Majić, Karmen Matković and Sanja Jukić.

It was later revealed that Croatia was selected as the back-up jury qualifier after placing thirteenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 33 points.

This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.

In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.