Slovenian broadcaster RTV SLO have confirmed that Slovenia will take part in next year’s Eurovision and calls for submissions for EMA 2018. The Slovenians will be looking for their first ever Eurovision winner through their national final once again.
Slovenia in the Eurovision
Slovenia has participated in the contest 23 times since debuting in 1993. They only missed out in 1994 and 2000 due to the relegation rules in place back then. It reached the final thirteen times, most recently in 2015 with Maraaya. So far, its best result is a seventh place achieved by both Darja Švajger in 1995 and Nuša Derenda in 2001. Last year, Omar Naber represented Slovenia with On my way but failed to qualify for the final, placing seventeenth with 36 points. It was Omar’s second Eurovision attempt, after also failing to qualify back in 2005 with Stop.
EMA
Slovenia will once again use Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA) to select its entrant. RTV SLO called for interested artists to submit their entries for the national final. As we previously reported, the broadcaster introduced a new language rule for EMA 2018, so the confirmation of participation is not a surprise at all.
Participants may only sing in Slovenian or any language of “an indigenous ethnic community in Slovenia.” However, it is not yet known if the winner will be allowed to sing in English at the contest. The new rule looks like a push for national languages many fans expected after Salvador Sobral and Jamala won the last two contests. Both did so with songs (partially) in their national language.
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