Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

Slovenia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Here for You", written by Raay, Marjetka Vovk and Charlie Mason. The song was performed by Maraaya, which was composed of Raay and Marjetka Vovk. Slovenian broadcaster Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTVSLO) organised the national final EMA 2015 in order to select the Slovenian entry for the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. After a jury reduced eight competing songs to two superfinalists, a public televote selected "Here For You" performed by Maraaya as the winner of the national final. In the second of the Eurovision semi-finals "Here For You" placed fifth out of the 17 participating countries, securing its place among the 27 other songs in the final. In Slovenia's twenty-first Eurovision appearance on 23 May, "Here For You" finished in fourteenth place, receiving 39 points.

Eurovision Song Contest 2015
Country Slovenia
National selection
Selection processEMA 2015
Selection date(s)28 February 2015
Selected entrantMaraaya
Selected song"Here for You"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (5th, 92 points)
Final result14th, 39 points
Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2014 • 2015 • 2016►

Background
Main article: Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2015 Contest, Slovenia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty times since its first entry in 1993.[1] Its 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 three occasions, which included their entry in 2014 when Tinkara Kovač and the song "Round and Round" managed to place 25th in the final.

Slovenian broadcaster RTVSLO confirmed on 10 October 2014 that Slovenia would participate in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest.[2] RTVSLO announced in October 2014 that the Slovenian entry for the contest would be selected through the national final EMA 2015.[3]

Before Eurovision

EMA 2015

EMA 2015 was the 19th 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 2015 and was broadcast on TV SLO1 and online via the broadcaster's website rtvslo.si.[3][4]

Format

Eight songs competed in a televised show where the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a three-member expert jury selected two finalists out of the eight competing songs to proceed to a superfinal. Each member of the expert jury assigned a score of 1 (lowest score) to 5 (highest score) to each song with the top two being determined by the songs that receive the highest overall scores when the jury votes are combined. Ties were broken by giving priority to the song(s) that achieved a higher number of top scores (5), which would be followed by each juror indicating their preferred song should a tie still have persisted. In the superfinal, public televoting exclusively determined the winner. In case of technical problems with the televote, the jury would have voted to determine the winner in a similar process as in the first round of the competition.[5][6]

Competing entries

Artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 24 November 2014 and 21 December 2014.[5] 145 entries were received by the broadcaster during the submission period.[7] An expert committee consisting of Darja Švajger (singer, vocal coach and 1995 and 1999 Slovenian Eurovision entrant), Matej Wolf (musician, instrumentalist, arranger, producer and music teacher), Aleksander Radić (Head of the Slovenian delegation at the Eurovision Song Contest) and Jernej Vene (music editor for Radio Val 202) selected eight artists and songs for the competition from the received submissions. The competing artists were announced on 5 January 2016. Among the competing artists was former Slovenian Eurovision contestant Martina Majerle who represented Slovenia in 2009 alongside Quartissimo.[8]

Final

EMA 2015 took place on 28 February 2015 at the RTV Slovenija Studio 1 in Ljubljana, hosted by Nejc Šmit and former Slovenian Eurovision entrants Darja Švajger (1995, 1999), Maja Keuc (2011) and Tinkara Kovač (2014).[9][10] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Nadiya Bichkova, Brigita Vrhovnik Dorič, Maestro, Darja Švajger, Maja Keuc and Tinkara Kovač performed as guests. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a three-member jury panel selected two entries to proceed to the second round: "Here for You" performed by Maraaya and "Šaltinka" performed by Rudi Bučar En Figoni. The jury consisted of the three female hosts: Darja Švajger, Maja Keuc and Tinkara Kovač. In the second round, a public vote selected "Here for You" performed by Maraaya as the winner.[11]

Final – 28 February 2015
Draw Artist Song (English translation) Composer(s) Result
1 Alya & Neno Belan "Misunderstandings" Neno Belan, Zvonimir Zrilić, Tonči Pajkin Eliminated
2 Tim Kores "Once Too Many Times" Tim Kores, Dejan Radičevič Eliminated
3 Jana Šušteršič "Glas srca" (Voice of the heart) Aleš Klinar, Tina Muc Eliminated
4 I.C.E. "Vse mogoče" (Everything is possible) Jalen Štremfelj, Renata Mohorič, Matej Sušnik, Blaž Sotošek, Tine Janžek Eliminated
5 Clemens "Mava to" (We have this) Klemen Mramor, Tina Muc Eliminated
6 Maraaya "Here for You" Raay, Marjetka Vovk, Charlie Mason Advanced
7 Rudi Bučar En Figoni "Šaltinka" (A šaltin girl) Rudi Bučar Advanced
8 Martina Majerle "Alive" Andrej Babić Eliminated
Superfinal – 28 February 2015
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 Maraaya "Here for You" 7,311 (57%) 1
2 Rudi Bučar En Figoni "Šaltinka" 5,449 (43%) 2

At Eurovision
Maraaya at a press meet and greet

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. In the 2015 contest, Australia also competed directly in the final as an invited guest nation.[12] The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into five different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.[13] On 26 January 2015, 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 21 May 2015, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[14]

Once all the competing songs for the 2015 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 16, following the entry from Cyprus and before the entry from Poland.[15]

In Slovenia, the semi-finals were televised on RTV SLO2 and the final was televised on RTV SLO1 with commentary by Andrej Hofer. The second semi-final and final were also broadcast via radio on Radio Val 202.[16] The Slovenian spokesperson, who announced the Slovenian votes during the final, was 2014 Eurovision entrant Tinkara Kovač.[17]

Semi-final
Marjetka Vovk with backing dancer at a dress rehearsal for the second semi-final

Maraaya took part in technical rehearsals on 14 and 16 May,[18][19] followed by dress rehearsals on 20 and 21 May. This included the jury final where professional juries of each country, responsible for 50 percent of each country's vote, watched and voted on the competing entries.[20]

The stage show featured the members of Maraaya dressed in outfits designed by Vesna Mirtelj: Marjetka Vovk wore a long white dress while Raay wore a casual black outfit. Marjetka also wore Sennheiser brand headphones, which was part of the performer's stage image. In regards to the headphones, Marjetka stated: "To be honest, some years ago I was afraid to be on the stage. I always felt more comfortable in a studio. I've asked Raay if it would be okay to perform with the headphones on and that's how this idea was born." Marjetka performed the song at the centre of the stage, while Raay was on the side playing a piano. The duo were joined by a backing dancer, Lara Balodis Slekovec, dressed in black with glowing elements on her sleeve, simulating the playing of a violin. The performance did not make use of the background LED screens and instead used bronze and blue stage lighting as a prominent feature. Three off-stage backing vocalists were also present: Manca Špik, Nika Zorjan and Karin Zemljič.[18][19][21]

At the end of the show, Slovenia was announced as having finished in the top ten and subsequently qualifying for the grand final.[22] It was later revealed that the Slovenia placed fifth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 92 points.[23]

Final

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winner's press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries were announced during the semi-final. Slovenia was drawn to compete in the first half.[24] Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Slovenia was subsequently placed to open the show and perform in position 1, before the entry from France.[25]

Maraaya once again took part in dress rehearsals on 22 and 23 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show.[26] Maraaya performed a repeat of their semi-final performance during the final on 23 May. At the conclusion of the voting, Slovenia placed fourteenth with 39 points.[27][28]

Voting

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant 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 could 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 were released shortly after the grand final.[29]

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Slovenia had placed nineteenth with the public televote and fifteenth with the jury vote in the final. In the public vote, Slovenia scored 27 points, while with the jury vote, Slovenia scored 36 points.[30] In the second semi-final, Slovenia placed seventh with the public televote with 95 points and sixth with the jury vote, scoring 84 points.[31]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Slovenia and awarded by Slovenia in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:[23][28][32][33]

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

Points awarded by Slovenia

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Slovenian jury:[29]

  • Tinkara Kovač – Chairperson – singer, musician, composer, lyricist, represented Slovenia in the 2014 contest
  • Miha Gorše – musician, producer, composer
  • Sandra Feketija – singer
  • Alex Volasko – singer, composer, producer
  • Andrej Šifrer – singer, composer, lyricist
Split voting results from Slovenia (Semi-final 2)
Draw Country T. Kovač M. Gorše S. Feketija A. Volasko A. Šifrer Average Jury Rank Televote Rank Combined Rank Scoreboard (Points)
01  Lithuania 16 6 15 13 11 14 9 11
02  Ireland 5 10 14 7 5 7 14 10 1
03  San Marino 14 16 16 15 16 16 15 16
04  Montenegro 11 8 5 8 4 6 1 2 10
05  Malta 8 15 6 2 13 8 16 14
06  Norway 4 3 3 6 2 3 6 5 6
07  Portugal 3 9 8 4 6 4 11 7 4
08  Czech Republic 6 11 5 14 12 11 7 8 3
09  Israel 7 7 10 16 7 9 4 6 5
10  Latvia 2 2 2 5 1 2 5 3 8
11  Azerbaijan 9 5 9 9 15 10 13 13
12  Iceland 15 13 12 11 14 15 12 15
13  Sweden 1 1 1 3 3 1 2 1 12
14   Switzerland 13 14 11 12 9 13 10 12
15  Cyprus 10 4 7 1 8 5 3 4 7
16  Slovenia
17  Poland 12 12 13 10 10 12 8 9 2
Split voting results from Slovenia (final)
Draw Country T. Kovač M. Gorše S. Feketija A. Volasko A. Šifrer Average Jury Rank Televote Rank Combined Rank Scoreboard (Points)
01  Slovenia
02  France 20 21 10 18 20 20 24 24
03  Israel 15 10 15 21 8 14 9 12
04  Estonia 11 18 22 12 10 15 8 11
05  United Kingdom 12 20 11 13 2 10 21 16
06  Armenia 18 26 24 24 24 25 26 26
07  Lithuania 19 17 21 15 11 18 19 19
08  Serbia 24 11 14 10 9 12 1 5 6
09  Norway 8 5 9 2 3 3 12 7 4
10  Sweden 3 2 2 6 6 2 5 1 12
11  Cyprus 13 4 3 1 7 4 15 10 1
12  Australia 7 13 6 5 4 6 11 9 2
13  Belgium 1 8 5 19 19 9 7 8 3
14  Austria 23 12 12 9 12 13 16 14
15  Greece 10 24 19 23 21 21 25 25
16  Montenegro 9 6 4 8 5 5 3 2 10
17  Germany 16 16 16 16 16 17 20 20
18  Poland 22 22 23 20 15 22 22 23
19  Latvia 2 1 1 3 1 1 10 4 7
20  Romania 14 15 20 14 23 19 18 18
21  Spain 25 14 18 22 25 23 17 22
22  Hungary 17 23 25 25 14 24 13 17
23  Georgia 6 19 13 17 22 16 23 21
24  Azerbaijan 21 9 8 11 17 11 14 13
25  Russia 4 3 17 4 18 8 6 6 5
26  Albania 26 25 26 26 26 26 4 15
27  Italy 5 7 7 7 13 7 2 3 8

See also

References
  1. "Slovenia Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  2. Jiandani, Sanjay (10 October 2014). "Slovenia: RTVSLO confirms participation in Eurovision 2015". ESCToday. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  3. Jiandani, Sanjay (17 October 2014). "Slovenia: RTVSLO opts for national selection for Eurovision 2015". ESCToday. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  4. Weaver, Jessica (28 February 2015). "Watch now: EMA 2015 in Slovenia". Esctoday. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  5. Jiandani, Sanjay (24 November 2014). "Slovenia: EMA 2015 rules revealed; call for songs". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  6. "Pavilnik Izbiranja Skladb Za Sodelovanje Na Izboru Predstavnika/-Ce/-Ov RTV Slovenija Na 60. Tekmovanju Za Pesem Evrovizije 2015, EMA 2015 in Načina Glasovanja Na Izboru Predstavnika/-Ce/-Ov RTV Slovenija Na 60. Tekmovanju Za Pesem Evrovizije 2015, EMA 2015" (PDF) (in Slovenian). RTVSLO. 24 November 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  7. Juhász, Ervin (23 December 2014). "145 songs received for EMA 2015". ESC Bubble. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  8. "EMA 2015: Znana imena nastopajočih!" (in Slovenian). RTVSLO. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  9. Juhász, Ervin (28 December 2014). "EMA on the 28th of February". ESC Bubble. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  10. Lewis, Pete (10 February 2015). "Slovenia: Quartet of hosts for EMA 2015". ESCToday. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  11. Leon, Jakov I. (30 December 2015). "Maraaya wins EMA2015!". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  12. Siim, Jarmo (10 February 2015). "Australia to compete in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  13. Brey, Marco (25 January 2015). "Tomorrow: The semi-final allocation draw". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  14. Escudero, Victor M. (26 January 2015). "Allocation Draw results: Who's in which Semi-Final?". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  15. Siim, Jarmo (23 March 2015). "Running order of Semi-Finals revealed". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  16. "Evrovizijsko obarvan program Televizije Slovenija" (in Slovenian). Radiotelevizija Slovenija. 6 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  17. Roxburgh, Gordon (23 May 2015). ""Good evening Vienna" - Voting order revealed". eurovision.tv. EBU. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  18. Leon, Jakov I. (14 May 2015). "When you're down down low, Maraaya will be there for you!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  19. Omelyanchuk, Olena (16 May 2015). "Slovenia brings a recipe for friendship". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  20. Roxburgh, Gordon (20 May 2015). "Time for the juries to make up their minds". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  21. "Maraaya: Here for you". eurovisionartists.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  22. Roxburgh, Gordon (21 May 2015). "Line-up is now complete for the Grand Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  23. "Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Second Semi-Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  24. Brey, Marco; Escudero, Victor M. (21 May 2015). "The second Semi-Final winners' press conference". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  25. Storvik-Green, Simon (22 May 2015). "Running order for Grand Final revealed!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  26. Roxburgh, Gordon (22 May 2015). "Decision night for the 40 juries around Europe...and beyond". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  27. Storvik-Green, Simon; Roxburgh, Gordon (24 May 2015). "Sweden wins 2015 Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  28. "Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Grand Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  29. Bakker, Sietse (1 May 2015). "Exclusive: Here are this year's national juries!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  30. Quinn, Angus (24 May 2015). "Eurovision 2015 Split Results: Who Did the Jury Hurt?". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  31. Adams, Willy Lee (25 May 2015). "Semi final split results: Who the jury hurt at Eurovision 2015". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  32. "Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Second Semi-Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  33. "Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Grand Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
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