A month after the Slovenian duo performed to 200 million people at the Grand Final of Eurovision 2019, they have released a new single. Following the release of their EP Štiri, “Come to Me” is their release to be sung entirely in English. The release also marks their first as ‘zalagasper’.
Speaking to ESCXTRA via our press centre live stream, Zala and Gašper told us that they were working on material in English. This was a response to the question of why the duo decided to keep their entry “Sebi” in Slovene. In addition, Gašper informed us that they were working on making their name more easy to pronounce for non-Slovene speakers. The fruits of both of these is “Come to Me”, the duo’s first single to be sung in English and under the name ‘zalagasper’.
You can watch the visualiser for the song below:
The song is also available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music and other services.
Who are Zala Kralj and Gašper Šantl?
Zala Kralj and Gašper Šantl are a couple (if you didn’t already notice), and have been performing together since 2017. The pair met after Zala began providing the vocals for some of Gašper’s songs, having both previously been solo artists. Earlier this year, they released their first EP, Štiri, which features four songs. Sebi, along with all their other released songs, were written by the duo.
They scored an unexpected landslide victory in the EMA superfinal against Raiven’s “Kaos”, earning almost 73% of the televote! In Tel Aviv, they qualified for the Grand Final after finishing 6th in the first semi-final. In the Grand Final, they finished 15th with 105 points. During the contest, their demeanour in interviews was met with scrutiny, to which they apologised and clarified their intentions.
Slovenia at the Eurovision Song Contest
Slovenia has competed 24 times as an independent nation. Previously, they have competed as Yugoslavia alongside: Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. As Yugoslavia, only four of the 27 entries were from Slovenia.
Slovenia officially debuted in 1993, where they won the right to compete after winning Kvalifikacija za Millstreet. They qualified along with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, who finished second and third respectively. Slovenia were represented in 1993 by 1X Band who sang “Tih deževen dan”. They finished in 22nd with Nine points.
Slovenia’s best ever finish at Eurovision is Seventh Place, which they have achieved twice. The first of those came in 1995, when Darja Švajger sang “Prisluhni mi”. Likewise the second of those came in 2001, when Nuša Derenda sang “Energy”.
What do you think of “Come to Me”? Are you looking forward to hearing more of the duo’s upcoming material? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! We’ll also be posting plenty of content on our YouTube in the run up to Tel Aviv!
