Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021
| Eurovision Song Contest 2021 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Slovenia | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Artist: Internal selection Song: EMA 2021 | |||
| Selection date(s) | Artist: 18 May 2020 Song: 27 February 2021 | |||
| Selected artist(s) | Ana Soklič | |||
| Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Slovenia will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, having internally selected Ana Soklič as their representative. She was due to compete in the 2020 contest with "Voda" before the event's cancellation.
Background
Prior to the 2021 contest, Slovenia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-six times since its first entry in 1993.[1] Slovenia's highest placing in the contest, to this point, has been seventh place, which the nation achieved on two occasions: in 1995 with the song "Prisluhni mi" performed by Darja Švajger and in 2001 with the song "Energy" performed by Nuša Derenda. The country's only other top ten result was achieved in 1997 when Tanja Ribič performing "Zbudi se" placed tenth. Since the introduction of semi-finals to the format of the contest in 2004, Slovenia had thus far only managed to qualify to the final on six occasions. In 2018, Slovenia was represented by Lea Sirk and the song "Hvala, ne!", which qualified to the final and placed twenty-second. One year later, in 2019, Slovenia qualified for the final again with Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl, finishing in fifteenth place with the song "Sebi".
Before Eurovision
Internal selection
In May 2020, the national broadcaster, Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV), announced its participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, as well as that Soklič would be kept as the nation's representative for the event.[2]
At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. For the 2021 contest, the semi-final allocation draw held for 2020 which was held on 28 January 2020, will be used for 2021 contest. Slovenia was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 18 May 2021, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[3]
References
- ^ "Country Profile: Slovenia". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
- ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (Sergio) (18 May 2020). "Slovenia: RTVSLO confirms Ana Soklič for Eurovision 2021". ESCToday. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
- ^ Groot, Evert (17 November 2020). "2020 Semi-Final line-up to stay for 2021". eurovision.tv. Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.