Previewing the Entrants of Eurovision 2019 – Part Thirty-Seven: Slovenia

Hello everyone and welcome to another article on The Blogging DJ, where we will continue to look in-depth at each of the forty-one entrants competing in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. Today we are off to Ljubljana, to look in depth at the Slovenian entry, who this year are Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl and their song “Sebi” (“Oneself”). Can they make an impact in Tel Aviv with their minimalist song?

Selection Process

With the exception of 2013, Slovenia have always opted for a national final to pick their entry for Eurovision. This year, their broadcaster RTV SLO opted to continue using the competition EMA for their selection process. Artists and songwriters could submit their entries between the 9th of November and 14th of December 2018 and, on the 27th of December, the ten entries were revealed to the public. The Final of EMA took place on the 16th of February 2019. “Sebi” won the head-to-head Superfinal against Raiven and “Kaos” to win the ticket to Tel Aviv. It has also been announced that Slovenia will perform relatively early on in semi-final one, in position number five.

Music Video

The Blogging DJ’s Review

Quite often, when I am stressed or I need to get a lot of writing done, I use a Spotify playlist called “Maximum Focus” to get my head into the right place. From the minimalist yet meaningful lyrics (look up the English translation of this song – it is lovely), to the futuristic beats echoing in the track, this is one of the most genuinely 2019 tracks in the competition. Hearing the studio cut is intimate and intense, though there isn’t much of a traditional build. Sadly, that intensity is lost when performed in a live situation. When they get to Tel Aviv, the Slovenian broadcaster need to make sure that the camera shots are as close to the artists as possible, as the magic is immediately lost when you can see the whole stage, or even the backdrop. But overall, it is a good song with a deeper meaning than most this year, just lacks the bite to draw you in completely when performed live. 7

Live Performance Video

Odds

According to Oddschecker, you can currently get odds ranging from 33/1 to 80/1 on Slovenia winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, as well as odds of up to 11/4 on them reaching the top ten. This suggests that bookmakers see this entry as qualifying for the Grand Final, so might be worth a punt for top ten success if you believe in the entry a lot.

Record at Eurovision

Slovenia have competed in the Eurovision Song Contest on twenty-four occasions since making their debut in 1993, performing in the Grand Final in fourteen of those years. Their best result came in 1995, where Darja Švajger, on the first of her two appearances for Slovenia in the contest, finished in seventh place with “Prisluhni mi”. This was later matched in 2001 with Nuša Derenda and her English spoken song “Energy”. Last year, a staged technical fault and some slick choreography helped Lea Sirk to reach the Grand Final, finishing in twenty-second position overall.

So what do you make of Slovenia’s entry for Eurovision 2019? Does their modern sounding song make the cut, or make you snooze? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below and don’t forget to like and subscribe to get notified about when new articles get published. With many Eurovision preview articles planned in the weeks leading up to the contest, stay tuned for those!