Today, Slovenia’s national broadcaster RTVSLO has announced that 127 songs have been submitted to take part in their 2022 Eurovision selection competition EMA and it’s pre-selection competition EMA FREŠ.
A decline in interest
Following Ana Soklič’s internal selection in 2021 following the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2020, EMA will be returning after a one year absence. In 2020, 191 songs were submitted to the competition. Therefore, there has been a decline in interest for the 2022 edition.
A jury will now select a number of entries that will go onto compete in EMA FREŠ and EMA. RTVSLO also has the opportunity to directly invite artists to participate who did not go through the standard submissions process. The line-ups of both EMA FREŠ and EMA will be announced no later than Monday, December 20th.
EMA FREŠ to select four EMA semi-finalists
As a reminder, EMA FREŠ will take place prior to the main EMA competition and is an opportunity for new artists to the music scene to participate. In January, following a series of online duels, two televised EMA FREŠ shows will take place in which two entries from each show will win a spot in the main EMA competition, likely to take place in February. In each show, one entry will be selected by televising and the other by jury voting.
EMA 2022 will then consist of two ten-act semi-finals and a twelve-act final. This is a change from EMA 2020 when only a final took place. In the semi-finals, both the televote and jury vote will choose three qualifiers each. In the final, a combination of five jury groups and televising will each have a 50% say in determining the Slovene entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy.
Can Slovenia return to the final in Turin?
Slovenia will be hoping to make a return to the Eurovision final after Ana Soklič’s “Amen” failed to qualify in Rotterdam earlier this year. Slovenia’s most recent appearance in the final came in 2019 courtesy of Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl’s “Sebi” which placed 15th with 105 points. The nation’s best Eurovision placing remains 7th, achieved in both 1995 and 2001 courtesy of Darja Švajger and Nuša Derenda respectively.
Are you looking forward to the return of EMA? Let us know in the comments below!