Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

Prior to the 2018 contest, Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTVSLO) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Slovenia twenty-three times since its first entry in 1993.^[1] Its highest placing in the contest, to this point, has been seventh place, 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 four occasions. In 2017, "On My Way" performed by Omar Naber failed to qualify to the final.

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, RTVSLO organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster confirmed its participation in the 2018 contest on 15 September 2017.^[2] RTVSLO has traditionally selected its entry through a national final entitled Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA), which has been produced with variable formats. To this point, the broadcaster has only foregone the use of this national final in 2013 when the entry was internally selected. For 2018, the broadcaster opted to organise Evrovizijska Melodija 2018 (EMA 2018) to select its entry.^[2]

EMA 2018 was the 22nd edition of the Slovenian national final format Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA). The competition was used by RTV Slovenija to select Slovenia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, and consisted of two shows on 17 and 24 February 2018. Both shows of the competition took place at the RTV Slovenija Studio 1 in Ljubljana and were broadcast on TV SLO 1, Radio Val 202, Radio Koper, Radio Maribor and online via the broadcaster's RTV 4D platform.^[3]

The format of the competition consisted of two televised shows: a semi-final held on 17 February 2018 and a final held on 24 February 2018. Sixteen songs competed in the semi-final where a public televote first selected the top four entries to proceed to the final. An expert jury then selected an additional four finalists out of the fourteen remaining songs. Eight songs competed in the final where the winner was selected following the 50/50 combination of points from six thematical juries and a public televote. Each jury assigned points as follows: 1–8, 10 and 12, while the televote assigned points that had a weighting equal to the votes of six jury groups. The song that received the highest overall score when the votes were combined was determined the winner.^[4]

Artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 15 September 2017 and 15 November 2017.^[5] 108 entries were received by the broadcaster during the submission period. An expert committee consisting of Maja Keuc, Eva Hren (musician and guitar teacher), Jernej Vene (music editor for Radio Val 202) and Tadej Košir (musician, guitarist and songwriter) selected sixteen artists and songs for the competition from the received submissions.^[6] The competing artists were announced on 8 December 2017. Among the competing artists were former Slovenian Eurovision contestants Tanja Ribič who represented Slovenia in 1997 and ManuElla who represented Slovenia in 2016.^[7]

The semi-final of EMA 2018 took place on 17 February 2018, hosted by Vid Valič. The sixteen competing entries first faced a public televote where the top four proceeded to the final; an additional four qualifiers were then selected out of the remaining six entries by a seven-member jury panel.^[8] The jury consisted of Maja Keuc (2011 Slovenian Eurovision entrant), Hannah Mancini (2013 Slovenian Eurovision entrant), Raiven (singer, harpist and songwriter), Robi Pikl (guitarist, singer and songwriter), Žiga Klančar (music editor for Radio Val 202), Emi Den Baruca (video content designer) and Mario Galunič (responsible editor for the entertainment programme of RTV Slovenija).^[9]

The final of EMA 2018 took place on 24 February 2018, hosted by Vid Valič and Raiven. All competing songs were required to be performed in Slovene during the semi-final of the competition, while in the final the song was required to be performed in the language that the artist intended to perform in at the Eurovision Song Contest. Two of the entries competed in English ("Promise" performed by BQL and "Glow" performed by Ina Shai), while the other six entries remained in Slovene.^[10] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Jernej Kozan, 2005 and 2017 Slovenian Eurovision entrant Omar Naber, 2011 Slovenian Eurovision entrant Amaya performed as guests. The combination of points from six thematical juries and a public televote selected "Hvala, ne!" performed by Lea Sirk as the winner.^[11] The juries consisted of representatives of OGAE Slovenia, songwriters, radio personalities, television personalities, music performers and international artists.^[12]

Lea Sirk made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Hvala, ne!" as the Slovenian Eurovision entry. Between 8 and 11 April, Lea Sirk took part in promotional activities in Tel Aviv, Israel and performed during the Israel Calling event held at the Rabin Square.^[13] On 14 April, Sirk performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the AFAS Live venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Edsilia Rombley and Cornald Maas.^[14] On 21 April, Sirk performed during the ESPreParty event which was held at the Sala La Riviera venue in Madrid, Spain and hosted by Soraya Arnelas.^[15]