Last month, EMA FREŠ was announced by the Slovene broadcaster RTVSLO. This online competition will act as a pre-selection for EMA 2020. The full line-up comprised of 18 upcoming artists.
In week one, the voting for the first round of EMA FREŠ opened. Each duel went online at 10:00 CET and voting remained open on the RTSVLO website until 20:00 CET, the winner is then announced shortly after. In the first week, Stella won the first duel, duo Younite won the second and Martina won the third. After a final duel, Stella and Younite proceeded to the final.
This week saw the third and final week of duels, with two more acts proceeding to the final and another act proceeding to next week’s “happy losers” round.
This week’s duels
Duel 7: 18th November
- Ljudmila Frelih – Vztrajaj, ker je vredno (Persevere because it’s worth it)
- Saška – Še kar lovim tvoj nasmeh (I’m still chasing your smile) – WINNER
Duel 8: 19th November
- Alfirev – Črno bela lika (Black and white figure)
- Nuša Pliberšek – Življenje je čarovnija (Life is magic) – WINNER
Duel 9: 20th November
- Lana Hrvatin – Dream
- Marmoris – Moj pristan (My haven) – WINNER
In Friday’s round, the three above winners were put to the public and a jury vote. Saška and Marmoris emerged victorious and will proceed to the EMA FREŠ final. It has not been revealed which act one the public or jury vote. Meanwhile, Nuša will join Martina and Petra in the second chance (or “happy losers” round).
To recap, here are the acts who have qualified for the EMA FREŠ final so far:
- Stella
- Younite
- Klarity
- Parvani Violet
- Saška
- Marmoris
What next?
After the first three weeks, six artists have now qualified for the EMA Freš final. The remaining four finalists will now be determined by a “happy losers” round, an additional online vote.
The final 10 will then compete for one of two spots in EMA 2020. One of these will be determined by a public vote, and another by the jury. These acts will compete against established Slovenian artists in the selection for Eurovision 2020! The submissions for EMA 2020 closed on November 18th.
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”. This year, Slovenia qualified for the Grand Final for the second consecutive year with Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl’s “Sebi”. After finishing 6th in the first semi-final, they finished 15th with 105 points overall.
Who is your favourite from EMA FREŠ so far? Are you looking forward to seeing who Slovenia send to Rotterdam? 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!
