Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

  No surprise in Slovenia as Klemen wins Ema 2025 with How much time do we have left as script. Klemen Slakonja (39) is a familiar name to Eurovision circuit being an actor, singer, comedian, tv- and radio host and musician who became famous in the fandom for his medley of all Slovenian Eurovision entries when hosting the national final in 2020. It was in the air for some years that he might step on the other side and now he did. And won.  Update: Music video was released March 16: and his parody of Putin  and this fun Eurovision thingy As a warm up he interpret every Eurovision winner from 2000 until... ...he goes all serious and emotional for Eurovision 2025: .. Read more here He reached the super final with July Jones after winning the jury vote round with only one point. Results first round: 1. Klemen - How much time do we have left   51 2. July Jones - New religion  50 3. Astrid and the Scandals - Touche   32 4. Kiki - O-ou!  31 5. Zven - Divja ...

RTVSLO relaunches EMA, the national final for Eurovision song contest for Slovenia after two years of internal selections. Out of 114 submissions 12 songs were selected and announced on December 13, 2024.  The final takes place on February 1, 2025 as one off selection but in two rounds. First five juries of five people each select the top-2 and out of them televoters will eventually pick up the winner who gets the ticket to Basel.The most talked name among the competitor is actor, singer, presenter, comedian Klemen Slakonja , most known abroad for his Putin, Putout thing that went viral presented in EMA 2016 he was hosting. He has hosted EMA in 2011, 2012 and 2020.  Below is as usual my fist time listening ranking and call me a sentimental emotional fool but Klemen did something..... against all odds I must admit. Otherwise as most everywhere this year rather modest and mediocre selection . Anna - Čau  *** Astrid and the Scandals - Touché  * Eva Pavli - Niti  ...

  LPS aka Last Pizza Slice was a surprise winner of Ema 2022 with their song Disko , to the horror of fandom who wanted and hyped another acts beforehand. This blogger is pleased, I kinda liked them from the start. They were jury's runner up and televoters winner.  The band met at school 2018-19 and after a minor change in the line up it is now Filip Vidushin - vocals, Gašper Hlupič - drums, Mark Semeja - electric guitar, Zala Velenšek - bass guitar, tenor and alto saxophone and Žiga Žvižej - electronic keyboards. They have participated in a couple of festivals before and released their debut Live from Šiška in 2021 and their debut singles this year, the other being Silence in my head . They are fresh and retro, let's see how this mix works in Turin! Ema final results:  1. LPS - Disko (jyry 43 + televote 60) 103 2. Batista Cadillac - Mim pravil (50 + 40) 90 3. BQL - Maj (19 + 50) 69 4. Luma - All in (33 + 35) 68 5. July Jones - Girls can do anything (32 + 30) 62 6. Mano...

Italy took its well deserved third victory - finally! - at the Eurovision song contest 2021. Over the years several other Italian entries would have been worthy winners. In this series I will go through all of them from the worst ranking to the winner s. Måneskin or four young kids from the streets of Rome. What can I say? If they thought they had arrived when being the runner ups in X Factor and having a few local hits, touring small clubs in Europe and being cool and credible, they were so wrong. Things were slowing down a little so Sanremo was the logical next step. Zitti e buoni was however all but Sanremo entry in minds of most, including this blogger, and against all odds did win. Things looked good again for the band and the same happened at Eurovision; liked by many but probably too rock, too different to win..... How wrong we were! In less than a year they have won Sanremo, Eurovision, MTV Europe Music award, been nominated to American music award, went viral in Tiktok,...

Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl have won the Slovenian national final 2019 for Eurovision with their song Sebi . They beat Raiven in superfinal with 72,9% against 27,1%

Slovenia's EMA is back. A jury panel will pick up two songs for the superfinal where the televote alone determinates the winner. Raiven is back again, and Ula from Junior Eurovision 2014 debuts among adults. Actually she's one of the very, very few Jesc artists that I actually remember, Nisi sam was great! I think I know who I am supporting, at least until I hear the songs! Fed Horses -  Ti ne poznaš konjev INMATE - Atma Kim - Rhythm back to you Lumberjack - Lepote DNA Okustični -  Metulji plešejo Raiven - Kaos (2nd) Renata Mohorič - Three bridges René -  Ne poveš Ula Ložar - Fridays Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl - Sebi (1st) Snippets

Nika Zorjan didn't even pass the Slovenian semifinal (thanks to the jury) but I took a liking to her song. Uspavanka despite the questionable staging...   

  Lea Sirk wins Slovenian Eurovision national final with Hvala, ne! BQL won the televote the second year in a row but the jury stopped their way to Eurovision (again). Actually the televoting winner hasn't ever won in Slovenia, has it? Lea Sirk - Hvala, ne! (jury 68 + televote 48) 116 BQL - Promise (34 + 72) 106 Nuska Drascek - Ne zapusti me zdaj  (28 + 60) 88 Lara Kadis - Zdaj sem tu (38 + 36) 74 Proper - Ukraden cvet (30 + 24) 54 Ina Shai - Glow (26 + 12) 38 Indigo - Vesna (18 + 0) 18 Marina Martensson - Blizu (10 + 0) 10

Slovenia had last week its semifinal where half the entries, including Eurovision veterans ManuElla and Tanja Ribič had say sadly goodbye to their comeback to the contest. Apparently some of the songs will be performed in English in the final, BQL and Ina Shai at least....  I'm a bit confused about some of the final choices as all my three faves are out, and I don't really care for any of the finalists even if some are ok. Will this be the usual case when last year's moral winner comes back and wins with an inferior song to make up? BQL- Ptica Ina Shai - V nebo Indigo - Vesna Lara Kadis - Zdaj sem tu Lea Sirk - Ne, hvala! Marina Martensson - Blizu Nuška Drašček - Ne zapusti me zdaj Proper - Ukraden cvet

      Slovenia has its semifinal tonight. The only one instead of the usual two aka the Maltese way. Eight songs will qualify for the final; four my a jury made of OGAE Slovenia members, international juries, people from radio and music business, and another four my the televoters. Hard to judge from the snippets yet properly but it seems there's no outstanding favorite - at least not for me. I'm most curious to hear in full BQL, Manuella, Mila, Nika and Tanja though.  Anabel – Pozitiva BQL – Ptica Gregor Ravnik – Zda j je cas INA SHAI – V nebo Indigo – Vesna KiNG FOO – Zive sanje Lara Kadis – Zdaj sem tu Lea Sirk – Hvala, ne! ManuElla – Glas Marina Martensson – Blizu MILA – Svoboda Nika Zorjan – Uspavanka Nuska Drasck – Ne zapusti me zdaj ORTER – Tisoc let Proper – Ukraden cvet Tanja Ribic – Ljudje

  Slovenia has published snippets of  the competing song in EMA 2018. All the song will be featured in the semifinal on February 17 where eight songs will be selected for the final. There's a jury including fans, music industry people and international panel that will pick up four, while the other four will be televoter's job. All songs will be in Slovenian but the finalist may change the languagee for the final. In final there will be 50-50 televote-expert jury.  No further comment until I hear full songs (and Sanremo is over....) Anabel - Pozitiva Nino Ošlak, Marko Golubović BQL - Ptica Maraaya, Rok Lunaček, Tina Piš Gregor Ravnik - Zdaj je čas Marko Hrvatin, Gregor Ravnik, Steffy Ina Shai - V nebo Martina Šraj, Hans Kristjan Aljas Indigo - Vesna Anja Pavlin, Anže Čuček, Maj Valerij KiNG FOO - Žive sanje Rok Golob Lara Kadis - Zdaj sem tu Lara Kadis Lea Sirk - Ne, hvala! Lea Sirk, Tomy DeClerque ManuElla - Glas Mike Eriksson...

Today's Slovenia's turn to reveal their entries for Eurovision 2018. Their EMA will have a semifinal wherefrom half the songs will qualify for the final: four by a jury, four by televoters. 50-50 jury-televote will reign in the final, too. Two previous winners in the line up. ManuElla (failed to qualify in 2016) and one of this blogger's favorite Slovenian entries, as Tanja Ribič makes a comeback! (with Zubi se,  10th in 1997). Last year's runner up BQL tries again and other familiar names include King Foo, Lea Sirk, Nika Zorjan, Ina Shai and Nuška Drašček, who all took part also last year! The songs were chosen among the 108 submissions Anabel – Pozitiva  BQL – Ptica  Gregor Ravnik – Zdaj je čas  Ina Shai – V nebo  Indigo – Vesna  King Foo – Žive sanje  Lara Kadis – Zdaj sem tu  Lea Sirk – Cirque  ManuElla – Dan Potem  Marina Martensson – Blizu  Mila – Svoboda  Nika Zorjan – Uspavanka...

Hungarian  Joci Papai  follows Origo with  Özönviz . If you loved Origo you will love this one, too. It's made with the same recipe: modern beat, gypsy violin, female dancer, catchy frase repeated so often that you go yodeling long before the song's over..... Love it Slovenian runner ups and elevote winners  BQL  have got around releasing a video for their  Heart of gold  only now. One can only wonder how they would have done in Kyiv.... Finland's runner up  Zühlke  with  Perfect villain  released  Closer  already in April but it's a great track and deserves another change.  Estonia's finest  Ott Lepland  has released  Siin me kokku saime  and here we get it all togerher: his great voice, nice summery rhythm and catchy feel good song. Perfect for lazy summer late afternoons or early evenings.....

The third busy weekend in the Eurovision boubble. As usual I will gather and update here the information and the results as they happen ( so the links are being constantly updated ). Enjoy! Friday February 24 SLOVENIA FINAL Moldova Saturday February 25 DENMARK FINAL  and HERE UKRAINE FINAL  and HERE MOLDOVA FINAL  and HERE Iceland Sweden Lithuania Sunday February 26 LATVIA FINAL  and HERE Portugal Romania

Omar Naber has won the Slovenian national final Ema 2017 with On my way. He's indeed on his way back to Kyiv where he already competed back in 2005 with Stop and stop he did failing to reach the final. Let's see how it will go with his power ballad. 

After two semifinals it's time for the final in Slovenia. I don't really have any superfavorite here, but I'm content if the winner is one of these: Nika, Omar, Raiven, BQL or Tim. Surprisingly I might like the most Omar's old fashioned ballad while Raiven would be interesting but a bit demanding maybe for European televoters? Somehow Ema isn't anymore the kitchiest, funniest national final around it used to be years ago.... In a way it's a shame. Watch here from 20.00 CET Sell Out -  Ni panike Nuška Drašček -  Flower in the snow Tim Kores -  Open fire Nika Zorjan -  Fse King Foo - Wild ride Omar Naber - On my way BQL -  Heart of gold Raiven -  Zažarim Jury votes Televotes: 12 Nuska, 24 Sell Out, 36 Nika, 48 Raiven, 60 Omar and 72 BQL Final results

Another busy weekend ahead: three national finals (Hungary, Malta and Poland), Slovenia has its two semifinals, Latvia its semifinal, Portugal starts, Estonia, Ukraine, Sweden and Lithuania continue.... I will update  all the results here once they happen so check in here for easy access.... To be updated... Friday February 17, 2017 Slovenia Saturday February 18, 2017 MALTA FINAL POLAND FINAL HUNGARY FINAL Slovenia Estonia Ukraine Sweden Lithuania Sunday February 19, 2017 Latvia Portugal

Slovenia has its second semifinal tonight as just like last night first the televoters will send two songs to the final, and then the jury two additional ones from the leftovers.  Watch here 20.00 CET 1. CLEMENS – “TOK TI SEDE” (Klemen Mramor) 2. RAIVEN – “ZAŽARIM” (Jernej Kržic, Tadej Košir, Sara Briški Cirman) 3. KATAYA & DUNCAN KAMAKANA – “ARE YOU THERE” (Tim Žibrat/Tim Žibrat, Duncan Kamakana, Kataya) 4. BQL – “HEART OF GOLD” (Maraaya/Anej Piletic) 5. INA SHAI – “COLOUR ME” (Martina Šraj) 6. UNITED PANDAZ & ARSELLO FEAT. ALEX VOLASKO – “HEART TO HEART” (Gorazd Hižak (aka Arsello), Alex Volasko/Alex Volasko) 7. TIM KORES – “OPEN FIRE” (Jeff Lewis, Drew Lawrence) 8. NUŠKA DRAŠCEK – “FLOWER IN THE SNOW” (Pele Loriano, Lina Button/Lina Button, Brendan Wade)

Slovenia starts its search for the Eurovision entry that would bring them the very first victory. Eight entries tonight. The televoters will send their two favorites to the final, the jury will choose additional two from the remaining ones.  Previous winner Omar Naber is once again trying to make a bis.  Raay or Maraaya have written four of the 16 semifinalist, three of them in this first semifinal, and one more in tomorrow's.... Watch here 20.00 1. KING FOO – “WILD RIDE” (Raay/Rok Lunacek, Tina Pirš) 2. NIKA ZORJAN – “FSE” (Maraaya/Nika Zorjan) 3. TOSCA BEAT – “FREE WORLD” (Andraž Kržic,Tosca Beat/Andraž Kržic, Peter Penko) 4. LEA SIRK – “FREEDOM” (Lea Sirk, Gaber Radojevic/Lea Sirk) 5. SELL OUT – “NI PANIKE” (Miha Gorše, Uroš Obranovic/Tina Muc) 6. ZALA – “LALALATINO” (Zala) 7. ALYA – “HALO” (Raay/Rok Lunacek and Tina Pirš) 8. OMAR NABER – “ON MY WAY” (Omar Naber) U pdate: I'm glad I didn't even try to predict ...

No much awaited and welcomed come back for Maja Keuc or Amaya as she likes to be known nowadays articly. She has withdrawn from the Slovenian national selection process EMA2017.  "I was very pleased for EMA. I would appreciate again to go home  for it, but everything happens for a reason and the path is not only one. Following recent events, me and my agents we have chosen a different approach to my career. I do not exclude the possibility for EMA in the future, but my universe at this time is devoted to something else, I feel I have to follow this other path " Keuc explains. She's currently working and recording between Sweden and South Korea her debut album. She's recently signed some major contracts and the Eurovision song contest holabaloo would just not fit into her timetables this spring. Slovenian tv regrets her decision but fully understands and supports it and think she did the right decision for her career. They still have other entries to choos...