On 28 December 2002, HRT opened a submission period where artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster with the deadline on 20 January 2003. Songs submitted were required to be in Croatian. 270 entries were received by the broadcaster during the submission period. A twelve-member expert committee consisting of Damir Matković, Aleksandar Kostadinov, Željko Mesar as well as representatives of HDS, HGU, HDU and record companies Croatia Records, Dallas Records, Dancing Bear, Aquarius Records, Menart and Orfej reviewed the received submissions and selected twenty-four artists and songs for the competition. HRT announced the competing entries on 30 January 2003 and among the competing artists, Maja Blagdan represented Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996, while Emilija Kokić was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1989 for Yugoslavia as part of the group Riva.