In mid-July, Slovenian broadcaster RTV SLO opened submissions to find a song for Ana Soklič to take to Eurovision 2021. Now the broadcaster has revealed that 191 song submissions have been received from hopeful songwriters.
The broadcaster shared the news on social media, writing “A record 191 entries were received for the invitation for songs for @AnaSoklich for @Eurovision 2021!”
Back in May, Slovenian broadcaster RTV SLO confirmed that Ana Soklič had been internally selected to represent Slovenia at Eurovision 2021. The EMA 2020 winner had earned a return ticket to Rotterdam.
In July, Ana and the broadcaster launched an open call for her song to take to Eurovision 2021. While “Voda” — Ana’s intended song for Eurovision 2020 — was a tender ballad, Ana was clear that she wasn’t specifically looking for a ballad for 2021 and encouraged songwriters to ‘go a little crazy’.
How will Ana Soklič’s song for Eurovision 2021 be selected?
The 191 song submissions will be reviewed by an expert jury of at least three people. They will shortlist a number of songs that will be published by the end of the year at the very latest.
While RTV SLO still hasn’t confirmed exactly how Ana’s song for Rotterdam will be selected, the broadcaster will reveal the song selection rules and voting process at a later date.
This seems to confirm that the song won’t be internally selected and that there still be some sort of public vote. This suggests that RTV SLO may hold so EMA-replacement show, with Ana performing the shortlisted songs — similar to Eden and Roxane’s song selection shows earlier this year.
Or perhaps Slovenia will scale things back and use an online vote, similar to the EMA FREŠ online wildcard contest.
Ana Soklič’s journey to Rotterdam
Ana had competed at EMA twice before, using the stage name Diona Dim in 2004 and 2007. But she finally got her chance earlier this year when Ana won EMA 2020 under her own name. However, as the contest was cancelled in March, Soklič was not able to sing for the Balkan nation in 2020.
In May — as part of Slovenia’s Eurovision replacement show — RTV SLO confirmed that Ana had been internally selected to represent her country at Eurovision 2021 in Rotterdam.
What do you think? What kind of song should Ana take to Eurovision 2021? How should her song be selected? Tell us your ideas below!
Read more Slovenia Eurovision news here
Image: @emaevrovizija
I hope her 2021 entry will be a jazz/blues song – I have listened to her whole discography and imo, these genres show the best all the sides, colours and nuances of her tremendous voice.
She needs to have input into the song and have a say in the production or even adjusting the composition if need be. All the winners since Mans have either written their own songs or have songs written for them by songwriters who clearly accounted for their artistic sensibilities. Authenticity is increasingly becoming the special ingredient to push you from silver towards gold.
I’m super excited by this. I liked Voda, but I think we can all agree the song wasn’t a safe bet for qualification. Ana’s voice, however, is arguably one of the best in the group of 2020 artists (did you hear that cover of Suus?) so if she gets a song that has even slightly more mass appeal it could be amazing. I’m sure there’s at least 1 in 191. It’s cool to see she is open to songwriters “going crazy” too. I’m hopeful.
Literally anything would be better than “Voda”.
I hope for a song that will be so beautiful as “Voda”.
The revamp of Voda was beautiful so I wouldn’t mind another ballad. However didn’t Ana write Voda herself? If that was so, it seems odd that she’d embrace not having creative involvement in her 2021 song
I wonder how this will turn out… Ana is an amazing singer but is she made for something other than ballads? She probably is and I support her! The most dramatic ballad singers, Natalia Gordeinko from Moldova and Ana Soklic from Slovenia might have upbeat songs! who would have guessed? Good Luck Ana!
Seems like a lot of the returning artists want to come back with a totally different song. I encourage this! Show a different side and be veratile, take risks
its exactly what I was hoping for from the returning artists, especially those whose songs were either panned or really low in the betting odds. more of this from the rest of the returnees pls
Wow! That is incredible. Well done songwriters. Ana has a fantastic voice; she must be such a dream to write for. Ana could even win in 2021.
I wish for the majority of these songs to be created by upcoming or established Slovenian musicians. Hopefully no songs from the Milanov, Barker, G:son or Kontopoulos song factories…
I don’t think it is even remotely fair to say that Milanov, Barker, G:son or Kontopoulos aren’t real or authentic or courageous. That is a complete f you to the effort they put in to make songs. As generic as some of them can be, I doubt you or I have the ability to create songs at the level that they can.
Unless my command of English is far worse than I thought despite being a native speaker, I believe I read right. You did not specifically say that the songwriters mentioned are not real, authentic, or courageous, but one doesn’t need to be a master of syntax to understand that it was heavily implied. So please stop attempting to insult me simply because you did not get whatever your point was across. #stopusinghashtagsitsannoyingandfranklyobnoxious
I think what many fans do is mixing up “authenticity” with “alternative songs and genre variety”.
Just the fact that a composer is working for many countries or selections / produces a “normal” popsong etc. does not mean that his/her songs are not “real”. Why you need to sing a “special” song to be “real”? It’s the wish of many fans to have variety in the contest, but that has nothing to do with “authenticity”…
Authenticity in this context means how organic the song feels in relation to the artist. Arcade for example is mainstream pop but it sounded like Duncan poured his soul into it, whilst Fuego was authentic because it fully reflected Eleni as a performer and showcased her talents and personality in the best way possible, even though that’s the definition of commercial pop. Authenticity doesn’t refer to how much work is put into a song, but whether or not you can imagine another artist singing that song as well. Duncan is Arcade and Eleni is Fuego.