The Slovenian channel RTVSLO announced the finalist for EMA Freš 2022 finals after a month of heats and a second chance round. The remaining finalists have a chance to make it to the EMA 2022 final, where they join 16 other acts and compete to represent Slovenia in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Turin! A total of 127 songs were submitted for EMA and EMA Freš.
Who will go to Turin?
The Slovenian public and a jury vote decided the fourteen finalists for the upcoming televised EMA Freš finals. A total of twelve duels and five second-chance rounds took place to select the line-up! The following acts made it to the TV show EMA Freš 2022:
- Katja Kos – Deadly Flower
- Stela Sofia – Tu in zdaj (Here and now)
- LPS – Disko (Disco)
- Jon Vitezič – Jesus Style
- Emma – Moja sreča (My happiness)
- Anja Vodošek – Maniac
- Mia Vučković – Telenovela
- Nika S. – Počakaj me (Wait for me)
- Leya Leanne – Naked
- De Liri – Obstajam (I exist)
- Marijan Novak and Špela Velikanje – I Am So in Love
- Ina – Moj dopamin (My dopamine)
- Jaka Hliš – Svoje sreče krojač (Your luck tailor)
- LUMA – All In
Below is how each finalist was selected in the past weeks:
Next month two shows will take place with seven songs in each show. In each show, one song will be selected by the public and one by a jury to join sixteen songs in EMA 2022 and make the final lineup in the national selection.
The dates and who participates in what show of the EMA Freš 2022 finals will be announced in the new year.
Slovenia at Eurovision 2021
After winning EMA 2020, Ana Soklič was set to represent Slovenia in Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song “Voda”. However, as the contest was cancelled due the COVID-19 pandemic, the Slovenian broadcaster RTV Slovenija internally selected Ana to represent the country in 2021.
Initially, it was announced that EMA 2021 would go ahead, albeit as a selection purely for Ana Soklič’s entry for Rotterdam. However, due to the state of the pandemic, the show became purely a song presentation show for “Amen”, her 2021 entry. The entry was selected from a field of 191 songs, and was co-written by Charlie Mason, who has worked with the likes of Miley Cyrus and Conchita.
In Rotterdam, she finished 13th in semi-final one with 44 points, marking Slovenia’s first non-qualification since 2017.
Who would you like to see represent Slovenia next? 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! Also, be sure to follow us on Spotify and YouTube to see our reactions to the news in the run up to the 2022 national final season!