Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

Slovenia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. Slovenian broadcaster Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV Slovenija) organized the national selection EMA 2018 in order to select the Slovenian entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. It qualified for the grand final and placed 22nd with 64 points.

Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Country Slovenia
National selection
Selection processEMA 2018
Selection date(s)Semi-final:
17 February 2018
Final:
24 February 2018
Selected entrantLea Sirk
Selected song"Hvala, ne!"
Selected songwriter(s)Lea Sirk
Tomy DeClerque
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (8th place, 132 points)
Final result22nd place, 64 points
Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2017 • 2018 • 2019►

Background
Main article: Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2018 Contest, Slovenia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-three times since its first entry in 1993.[1] Slovenia's highest placing in the contest, to this point, has been seventh place, which the nation achieved on two occasions: in 1995 with the song "Prisluhni mi" performed by Darja Švajger and in 2001 with the song "Energy" performed by Nuša Derenda. The country's only other top ten result was achieved in 1997 when Tanja Ribič performing "Zbudi se" placed tenth. Since the introduction of semi-finals to the format of the contest in 2004, Slovenia had thus far only managed to qualify to the final on four occasions. In 2017, Slovenia was represented by Omar Naber and the song "On My Way", but the country did not qualify for the final.

The Slovenian national broadcaster, Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV Slovenija), broadcasts the event within Slovenia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. The Slovenian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest has traditionally been selected through a national final entitled Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA), which has been produced with variable formats. To this point, the broadcaster has only foregone the use of this national final in 2013 when the Slovenian entry was internally selected. For 2018, the broadcaster opted to organise EMA 2017 to select the Slovenian entry.

Before Eurovision

EMA 2018

EMA 2018 was the 22nd edition of the Slovenian national final format Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA). The competition was used by RTV Slovenija to select Slovenia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The 2018 edition of EMA took place at the RTV Slovenija Studio 1 in Ljubljana, hosted by Vid Valič and Raiven (final-only) and consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final. The competition was broadcast on TV SLO1, Radio Val 202, Radio Koper, Radio Maribor and online via the broadcaster's RTV 4D platform.[2]

Format

Sixteen songs competed in two televised shows consisting of a semi-final on 17 February 2018 and a final on 24 February 2018. Sixteen songs competed in the semi-final with a seven-member expert jury and public televoting selecting eight finalists out of the sixteen songs to proceed to the final. The televote selected the first four finalists and the jury selected the other four finalists. The jury consisted of Maja Keuc (musician, singer and 2011 Slovenian Eurovision entrant), Hannah Mancini (singer-songwriter and 2013 Slovenian Eurovision entrant), Raiven (musician and singer), Robi Pikl (singer and guitarist), Žiga Klančar (music editor for Radio Val 202), Emi Den Baruca (video artist designer) and Mario Galunič (responsible editor of the entertainment program). In the final, the winner was selected by the 50/50 combination of points from six thematical juries and public televoting. Each jury awarded 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 to their top six songs and the televote awarded 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 and 72 points to their top six songs. All competing songs were required to be performed in Slovene during the semi-final portion of the competition, however in the final the song was required to be performed in the language that the artist intended to perform in at the Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon.

Competing entries

Artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 15 September 2017 and 15 November 2017.[3] 108 entries were received by the broadcaster during the submission period. An expert committee consisting of Maja Keuc, Eva Hren (musician and guitar teacher), Jernej Vene (music editor for Radio Val 202) and Tadej Košir (musician, guitarist and songwriter) selected sixteen artists and songs for the competition from the received submissions.[4] The competing artists were announced on 8 December 2017. Among the competing artists were former Slovenian Eurovision contestants Tanja Ribič who represented Slovenia in 1997 and ManuElla who represented Slovenia in 2016.[5]

Artist Song (English translation) Composer(s)
Anabel "Pozitiva" (Positivity) Nino Ošlak, Marko Golubović
BQL "Ptica" (Bird) Maraaya, Rok Lunaček, Tina Piš
"Promise" Maraaya, Rok Lunaček, Tina Piš, Charlie Mason, Anej Piletič
Gregor Ravnik "Zdaj je čas" (Now is the time) Marko Hrvatin, Gregor Ravnik, Steffy
Ina Shai "V nebo" (To the sky) Martina Šraj, Hans Kristjan Aljas
"Glow"
Indigo "Vesna" (Spring) Anja Pavlin, Anže Čuček, Maj Valerij
KiNG FOO "Žive sanje" (Living dreams) Rok Golob
Lara Kadis "Zdaj sem tu" (Now I’m here) Lara Kadis
Lea Sirk "Hvala, ne!" (Thanks, no!) Lea Sirk, Tomy DeClerque
ManuElla "Glas" (The voice) Mike Eriksson, Lauren Evans, Leon Oblak
Marina Martensson "Blizu" (Close) Miha Koren, Vanja Papež
MILA "Svoboda" (Freedom) Denis Horvat, Matevž Šalehar
Nika Zorjan "Uspavanka" (Lullaby) Maraaya, Nika Zorjan, Jimmy Jansson, Samuel Waermö, Art Hunter
Nuška Drašček "Ne zapusti me zdaj" (Don’t leave me now) Aleš Klinar, Anja Rupel
Orter "Kraljica" (Queen) Klemen Orter, Martin Bezjak
Proper "Ukraden cvet" (Stolen flower) Nejc Podobnik
Tanja Ribič "Ljudje" (People) Raay, Rok Lunaček

Semi-final

The semi-final of EMA 2018 took place on 17 February 2018. Eight entries proceeded to the final. The sixteen competing entries first faced a public vote where the top four proceeded: "Ptica" performed by BQL, "Zdaj sem tu" performed by Lara Kadis, "Hvala, ne!" performed by Lea Sirk and "Ne zapusti me zdaj" performed by Nuška Drašček. A seven-member jury panel selected an additional four entries out of the remaining twelve to proceed: "Ukraden cvet" performed by Proper, "Blizu" performed by Marina Martensson, "V nebo" performed by Ina Shai and "Vesna" performed by Indigo.

  Public vote qualifier   Jury qualifier

Semi-final – 17 February 2018
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Result
1 Anabel "Pozitiva" 13 489 7 Eliminated
2 Tanja Ribič "Ljudje" 14 313 11 Eliminated
3 KiNG FOO "Žive sanje" 8 151 14 Eliminated
4 Ina Shai "V nebo" 6 206 13 Finalist
5 Indigo "Vesna" 7 452 8 Finalist
6 ManuElla "Glas" 12 268 12 Eliminated
7 MILA "Svoboda" 15 76 16 Eliminated
8 Orter "Kraljica" 16 128 15 Eliminated
9 Lara Kadis "Zdaj sem tu" 2 1,373 2 Finalist
10 BQL "Ptica" 3 1,675 1 Finalist
11 Proper "Ukraden cvet" 4 426 9 Finalist
12 Nika Zorjan "Uspavanka" 9 676 5 Eliminated
13 Marina Martensson "Blizu" 5 398 10 Finalist
14 Nuška Drašček "Ne zapusti me zdaj" 10 799 4 Finalist
15 Gregor Ravnik "Zdaj je čas" 11 506 6 Eliminated
16 Lea Sirk "Hvala, ne!" 1 1,264 3 Finalist

Final

The final of EMA 2018 took place on 24 February 2018. The competing entries in the final were required to be performed in the language intended for the Eurovision Song Contest. Two entries were performed in English: "Promise" performed by BQL and "Glow" performed by Ina Shai, while the remaining six entries were in Slovene. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2005 and 2017 Slovenian Eurovision entrant Omar Naber, 2011 Slovenian Eurovision entrant Amaya and co-host Raiven performed as guests. The combination of points from six thematical juries and a public vote selected "Hvala, ne!" performed by Lea Sirk as the winner.[6] The juries consisted of members from OGAE Slovenia, songwriters, radio personalities, television personalities, music performers and international artists.

Final – 24 February 2018
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
1 Lea Sirk "Hvala, ne!" 68 2,556 48 116 1
2 Indigo "Vesna" 18 678 0 18 7
3 Ina Shai "Glow" 26 709 12 38 6
4 BQL "Promise" 34 4,734 72 106 2
5 Marina Martensson "Blizu" 10 647 0 10 8
6 Lara Kadis "Zdaj sem tu" 38 1,788 36 74 4
7 Proper "Ukraden cvet" 30 1,283 24 54 5
8 Nuška Drašček "Ne zapusti me zdaj" 28 3,069 60 88 3

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 29 January 2018, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Slovenia was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2018, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[8]

Once all the competing songs for the 2018 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Slovenia was set to perform in position 17, following the entry from Montenegro and preceding the entry from Ukraine.[9]

Semi-final

Slovenia performed seventeenth in the second semi-final, following Montenegro and preceding Ukraine. At the end, Slovenia was announced as one of the ten countries who had qualified for the grand final, making it their first qualification since 2015 and making them one of two former Yugoslav countries to qualify (the other being Serbia with "Nova deca"). Subsequently, Lea Sirk joined the other semi-final two winners in a press conference where they drew which half of the final they would participate in. Slovenia was drawn to compete in the first half of the grand final.

Final

Slovenia performed third in the grand final, following Spain and preceding Lithuania.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. 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. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

Points awarded to Slovenia
Points awarded to Slovenia (Semi-final 2)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Points awarded to Slovenia (final)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
  •  Macedonia
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Slovenia

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Slovene jury: [10]

  • Sara Briški Cirman (Raiven) – Chairperson – singer, musician, harpist
  • Martin Štibernik (Mistermarsh) – composer, singer, producer
  • Nikola Sekulovič – musician
  • Mitja Bobič – musician, singer, producer
  • Alenka Godec – singer
Split voting results from Slovenia (Semi-final 2)
Draw Country Jury Televote
Raiven Mistermarsh N. Sekulovič M. Bobič A. Godec Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Norway8463247210
02 Romania2511755616
03 Serbia5999874112
04 San Marino15111516161617
05 Denmark1412711141238
06 Russia16101417151511
07 Moldova973566556
08 Netherlands42423210101
09 Australia68171079274
10 Georgia12131013101414
11 Poland17171615171715
12 Malta332643812
13 Hungary71658138365
14 Latvia1061214111113
15 Sweden1111111292
16 Montenegro1314134910147
17 Slovenia
18 Ukraine1115812121383
Split voting results from Slovenia (final)
Draw Country Jury Televote
Raiven Mistermarsh N. Sekulovič M. Bobič A. Godec Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Ukraine24202425242413
02 Spain21131322182021
03 Slovenia
04 Lithuania1611111571224
05 Austria2381221092
06 Estonia31255226516
07 Norway1814181281765
08 Portugal25212523232525
09 United Kingdom22191510101823
10 Serbia9169171315112
11 Germany1117191851474
12 Albania81067474101
13 France571013169211
14 Czech Republic7822938338
15 Denmark20231424252247
16 Australia19182320212314
17 Finland4152119171322
18 Bulgaria1792016151920
19 Moldova12536125615
20 Sweden1212111219
21 Hungary15241721202183
22 Israel23222111910112
23 Netherlands647364718
24 Ireland1425168111617
25 Cyprus1014493856
26 Italy13612141411210

References
  1. "Slovenia Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  2. Knoops, Roy (9 February 2018). "Slovenia: EMA 2018 snippets and semi-final running order revealed". Esctoday. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  3. Jiandani, Sanjay (15 September 2017). "Slovenia: RTVSLO confirms participation in Eurovision 2018". Esctoday. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  4. "Video: Znanih je 16 nastopajočih na Emi 2018". RTVSLO. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  5. "Voditelj Eme bo prvič Vid Valič". RTVSLO. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  6. "Lea Sirk wins EMA 2018, will represent Slovenia in Lisbon". The official website of the Eurovision Song Contest. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  7. https://esckaz.com/2018/slo.htm. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. Jordan, Paul (29 January 2018). "Which countries will perform in which Semi-Final at Eurovision 2018?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  9. "Running order for Eurovision 2018 Semi-Finals revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  10. Groot, Evert (30 April 2018). "Exclusive: They are the expert jurors for Eurovision 2018". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
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