Croatia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "Tick-Tock" written by Branimir Mihaljević, Max Cinnamon and Tihana Buklijaš Bakić. The song was performed by Albina. The Croatian broadcaster Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) organised the national final Dora 2021 to select the Croatian entry for the 2021 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Fourteen entries competed in the national final on 13 February 2021 and "Tick-Tock" performed by Albina was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from ten regional juries and a public televote.

Ukraine participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "Shum" written by Kateryna Pavlenko, Taras Shevchenko and Ihor Didenchuk. The song was performed by the band Go_A, which were announced by the Ukrainian broadcaster Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC) as the Ukrainian representative for the 2021 contest on 18 March 2020 after they were due to compete in the 2020 contest with "Solovey" before the event's cancellation. The song "Shum" was selected as the Ukrainian entry on 1 February 2021 and announced on 4 February 2021.