Tonight is the night! Slovenians from around the land will gather ’round their tellies to watch and vote in Evrovizijska Melodija 2019 — that’s EMA 2019.
Back on January 31 we asked you which song was your favourite based on the minute-long snippets that featured voiceover from the artists discussing their tracks.
After counting precisely 2,130 votes, the results are in and our readers have a clear favourite. Raiven may sing about chaos, but her track “Kaos” feels rather in order to our readers. It earned a staggering 39% of all votes in our poll, putting her well-ahead of second-favourite Kim.
Raiven’s track has shades of Prodigy, and the title reflects the at times jarring and uncomfortable sounds of the in-your-face track. Yet because of her charisma and ability to reign it in, the song really holds together. It wakes you up and refuses to let you go back to sleep.
EMA 2019: Our readers’ favourites
Kim — “Rhythm Back To You”
“My name is Kim Begovič and I will be performing at EMA 2019. My song carries the title “Rhythm Back To You” and was written by Raay and Marijetka Vovk (Maraaya). I think my song will appeal to the listeners as it is unique, special and something new on the Slovenian music scene. The song is uplifting, happy and creates a good mood. Now, finally, I have the opportunity to show what I know and to live my dream.”
Renata Mohorič — “Three Bridges”
“I’m Renata Mohorič and I’ll be partaking in EMA 2019. My song is called “Three Bridges” and was composed by Grigor Koprov and written by Swedish lyricist Stiko Per Larsson. My song is calm and simple but towards the end it builds and develops more emotions.”
René — “Ne poveš”
“My name’s René, and I will be taking part in EMA 2019. My song is called “Ne poveš” (“You Don’t Say”) and was composed by Jean Markič. The song itself is in a somewhat funk and RnB style and is very much a positive number. Now it’s time that my musical journey begins and that’s why I decided to take part in this year’s EMA.”
Fed Horses — “Ti ne poznaš konjev”
“We are Fed Horses, and we’ll be performing at EMA 2019. Our song is titled “Ti ne poznaš konjev” (“You don’t know the horses”) and was written and composed by yours truly. It is a ballad infused with country elements and is one of the most honest tracks we have ever written and will hopefully reach out to the public. EMA is still one of the biggest televised music festivals in Slovenia and we consider it a wonderful chance to perform to a wide audience.”
Ula Ložar — “Fridays”
“I am Ula Ložar and I will be taking part in EMA 2019. My song carries the title “Fridays” and the authors are Raay, Anej Piletič, as well as Charlie Mason. The song encourages girls that Fridays are for them and to leave the boys behind. Since competing in Junior Eurovision, being able to participate in EMA and Eurovision has been a long-time dream of mine.”
Lumberjack — “Lepote dna”
“Our band’s name is Lumberjack and we will be competing in EMA 2019. Our song is entitled “Lepote dna” (“The beauty below”). We didn’t want to make any complications so we composed a piece for ourselves and that was it. We are going to EMA without any expectations — we’ll show up and see where the road takes us. ”
Okustični — “Metulji plešejo”
“We are Okustični and we’ll be taking part in EMA 2019 with the song “Metulji plešejo” (“The butterflies are dancing”), which was written and composed by Mate Bro. Our song is beautiful, deep and touches upon those moments that we all have in our lives. Why are we going to EMA? Well because it is the widest platform that enables one to spread their song to the entire Slovenian population.”
INMATE — “Atma”
“Our name is INMATE and we’ll be participating in EMA 2019 with the song “Atma” which was written and composed by us. Our song is somewhat different to all that has been performed on EMA as of yet. With the song we are presenting, we aim to rid the stereotypes of metal music in Slovenia and present a different side to it.”
Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl — “Sebi”
“We are Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl and we will be performing at EMA 2019 with the song “Sebi”” (“Oneself”), which we wrote and composed ourselves. We decided to take part in EMA 2019 as we wanted to reach out to listeners who had not come across us on the radio or internet.”
Raiven — “Kaos”
“I am Raiven and I will be taking part in the 2019 edition of EMA. The title of my song is “Kaos” (“Chaos”) and was written and composed by myself along with July Jones, Lazy Joe and Peter Khoo. The song was created entirely as an experiment and we initially thought that not much would come out of it. It isn’t pretentious; when we created the song, we didn’t think about whether it would be published on the radio or not. Therefore, I had to be a little bit encouraged to sign up to EMA with the song. I signed up for the Slovenian national selection as I wanted to have the best opportunity to promote my new upcoming album.”
What can we expect from the show itself?
Even if the broadcaster skipped the semi-finals, they still know how to build excitement. In the final there will be two voting rounds. After all 10 acts give their best on stage in Ljubljana, the best two songs will be decided by a jury vote alone. The top two acts will then compete in the super final. Only one of them gets the crown, and that’s decided by 100% televoting. Does that sound familiar to you? The method was used in 2016 when ManuElla won EMA but then crashed out of the semis in Stockholm. We hope that’s not a bad omen…
Who do you think will take the crown tonight in Slovenia? Let us know down below!
Well, guess we’ll have to wait for 2020 if we want Raiven. Although if I was her I’d stop participating. No matter how good the song, the country doesn’t seem to want to send her no matter how hyped up she is online in Eurovision rings. They simply don’t care. This is very biased as someone who is into music like “Kaos” but I also really likes slower songs as well, that isn’t something that makes me avert a song, but I feel like the winner just… Goes in from one ear and immediately goes out the other. It leaves… Read more »
Zala & Gasper won! I predict sour comments here… I liked both entries, so I’m happy anyway. Though strategically I think sending Raiven would be a better choice.
Owh wow, what a result! Landslide victory for Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl! Huge congratulations. What a wonderful surprise. 🙂
If Lea Sirk always performs concerts with those shirtless male dancers, then I’m totally on her fan club list. 😀
Off: There’s a sausage fest going on in Eesti Laul’s superfinal: Victor x Stefan x Uku.
Snippets can be deceiving, but my first impression was confirmed by the performances tonight. My favorites are Raiven (the right one for standing out in Eurovision) and Zala & Casper (the right one for my playlists). It was a very good final, practically without a weak link. Great job, Slovenia!
Yep, totally agreed. Slovenia has a very strong thing going with EMA. Excellent choreography throughout, and some good music too.
My musical-arty side says song 9 should win. But my professional “song for Eurovision” side says it’s song 10. But there are plenty of dark horses too. And I really want René’s outfit! (And his number. :P)
Well, they were the ones selected to the superfinal, so you, me and Slovenia are on the same page. 🙂 I’ll be happy anyway. Not sure about René’s outift though! haha
10. Raiven – Kaos
Nice choreo lighting at the start. And then… we enter a different world. The backing dancers are on point and so hot – it won’t pass the China censors, that’s for sure. 😀
And then rapping. And then some very unusual harmonies. There is a lot packed into this, and I have admiration for it. As a performance it stands out, and Eurovision would love it. I think this might be the winner. But all that depends on Slovenia. Congratulations on a fantastic EMA19.
Hahaha, I guess the Chinese censors have all the reasons to be worried, because I think she will win. It would be the perfect follow-up to “Hvala, ne”.
9. Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl — “Sebi”
Oh, this is haunting. The way he reacts to her singing says it all. Arty in the best way possible. Despite the slow tempo, I was left wanting more. Very well done.
I said it before and I’ll repeat it: I could listen to this one for hours.
8. Inmate – Atma
Metal. Heavy. One word: Energetic. There is good music here too. The lead singer has a difficult task keeping this in the higher octave, but he does it through lots of kinetic energy. It looks well-rehearsed, and expert. Yep, this is very good indeed. It could do well.
7. Okusticni — “Metulji plešejo”
Nice duet, but too slow. It felt like the energy had left the audience all of a sudden. But by all means, release the song, just to a different audience. 🙂
Her voice is so beautiful. But yeah, if they decide to go with something slow, they have Fed Horses and Zala & Casper with much better entries.
6. Lumberjack – Lepote DNA
Rock, rock and more rock. And “just left school” rock at that. Lots of fun. Brings back good memories. Not sure it fits 2019, but I would be happy for Slovenia if they chose rock. Good times.
5. Ula Ložar – Fridays
Ahh, hahaha. It’s light, and a little bit naughty. Great choreo – Slovenia is evidently one of the best at choreo. Saxophone moment, duh. And pa pa bad-ah bahh etc. This is clever. Not entirely original, but very entertaining. 🙂
4. Fed Horses
Ooo the country vibe, excellent. Beautiful voice of the lead singer. This is lovely: I can’t believe this was only 9th in the poll! Yes it’s slow, I will admit that, and the harmony is repetitive. But this was 10/10 on performance. Well done.
3. René – Ne Poveš
Ooo – racy outfit. Digging the purple sparkles! Can I buy that?! 🙂
He’s sweet, and the choreo is spot on. But the song does plod on a bit. Having said that, fans of dancers will love this, and the audience certainly did. Bravo.
Is your streaming glitching too, Mask?
Yes it is. It is a minor glitch at their end. Nothing I can do about it. 🙁
I guess we’ll have to deal with that then. Loved Fed Horses. Weird name for a band, but I dig their sound.
2. Renata – Three Bridges.
Her voice was very off key at the start. But, being a very good performer, she really came alive in the 2nd and 3rd minutes. This could have saved it. The song got better as it went along as well. Nice.
1. Kim – Rhythm Back To You.
This was fun. A good opener with the typical Eurovision pair of male drummers in the background. It’s an okay track.
So I’m about to watch this final without having heard any of the material, read any of the background notes, or seen any of the rehearsal footage. I’m at the deep end here. 😀
Oh please Fridays
You werr my absolute favorite from all those snippets
Gotta have something swingy jazzy on the stage
Kaos is a risk for them, it can go either way depending on the staging. But the most probable winner is rhythm back to you.
rhythm back to you, fridays, kaos, or sebi. what a strong national final slovenia! congrats!!
We’re proud of them <3
Kim would be my new #1 if she wins depending on what happens in Estonia
I really like both Raiven and Kim. But that Sebi song is just so beautiful. I won’t be surprised if Slovenians choose that. It can do very well in Eurovision.
Yes! One of the best national selections this year. I hope Kaos or Sebi wins.
I am Always rooting for Raiven to win, she never wins.
This year I truly dislike her song, so she will win.
Honestly, why is this a favourite?? It’s just a bunch of noise to me.
There are so many great songs in this selection so I would be happy with a lot of them, however I fear that the jury will kill raiven’s chances 🙁
Honestly, RTVSLO asked her to host EMA last year, she’s already been second and third back then… I’m sure she’ll be in the final, I’m more afraid she’s too indie for Slovenian listeners :/
Maybe RTVSLO will send someone weak in the final together with her to make sure she wins, as they did with Maraaya (they would never go to ESC, if RTVSLO wouldn’t *help* them)
Anyways, let’s hope for the best
Yeah maybe you’ re right, at this point all we can do is wait and hope slovenia makes the “right” decision.
But hey most of the songs in EMA are already better than what semi final 1 has to offer at this point, so hopes are up^^
I didn’t put in order or rated the snippets from Slovenia, Croatia or Melodifestivalen. It’s just not enough there for a fully developed opinion. However, from that tiny bit we did hear, Raiven’s song really stands out and potentially could turn out to be outstanding.
Raiven better snatch that crown!
I think Raiven’s song is not a song that Eslovenia would send. In my opinion they will send Kim, both of the entries would do it well in Tel Aviv. Good luck Slovenija!!
I’ll be cheering for “Sebi” tonight.
Such a great song!
They are signed to Universal
You can listen to the full songs here:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=1GNs0JHRd7lcn0XPwAHi7InJL3K24Ax5h
Doing the Lords work
Queen Elctro pop Raiven this night your in ema Kaos