Rijeka musician Žanil Tataj – Žak has shot a video for the song At The End Of Time, which was submitted for Dora 2026 but didn’t make the cut.
The song was written back in 2013 and, in its new musical arrangement, is sung in English and trimmed down to under three minutes. Neon wrote the music and lyrics, and the recording featured Darko Terlević on guitars, keyboards, programming, arrangement and mixing, Neon on guitars, keyboards, programming and arrangement, and Žak on vocals and bass.
It’s a powerful rock ballad with a chorus that slips easily into your ear and the potential to rise above current trends.
Interestingly, Žak is the only (would-be) Dora 2026 participant who already has Eurovision experience. Back in 2023 he took the stage in Liverpool in the United Kingdom with the Rijeka band Let 3, and Let 3’s selection at the time hinted that Dora might “air itself out” and open the door to some slightly different music.
Even though the song wasn’t picked for Dora, they decided to shoot a decent video anyway and remind the audience that rock is still alive. The invitation was answered by well-known stage, TV and film actor Alen Liverić and the multi-talented Rijeka native Sandra Polić Živković. A lesser-known fact about Alen is that he used to be into music and was the vocalist in the first lineup of the Rijeka band Laufer, which he also gave its name. Sandra writes poetry and short stories, dances on silks and does photography.
The video was shot and edited by Neon, who has worked with Žak on plenty of other songs and videos so far, such as Novi svijet, Buđenje, Da li ti je dosta, Ispočetka, Na putu za raj… The video’s budget, a few tens of euros, mostly went on a cake and on the AI used to create photos of younger versions of Alen and Sandra, as well as for the special effects and shots of meteors falling on various locations around the world.
The idea for the video came about together, in a positive atmosphere. It says that in the end, at the very end, despite everything that’s going on – only love remains. Everyone will understand the song’s message in their own way – which is the only right way.
