The Wiwi Jury — our in-house team of music unprofessionals — is reviewing and rating the 37 competing songs in Eurovision 2024. Next we review Slovenia, who have chosen Raiven with “Veronika”.
Has the songstress cast a spell over us? Read on to find out!
Raiven – “Veronika” (Slovenia Eurovision 2024)
Review: Raiven – “Veronika”
Tomas: Raiven is finally coming to Eurovision!! This year, Slovenia has everything it needs to succeed. Raiven is one of the most talented Slovenian artists, her stage presence is undoubtedly captivating. The song is mysterious and grabs your attention more due to it being in Slovenian. And despite the lack of native Slovenian speakers in Europe, a lot of the viewers will certainly be humming “Jaz sem, Ti si, Veronika!”
Score: 8
Antranig: I have been waiting for Slovenia to send Raiven to Eurovision for many years so I’m slightly underwhelmed that they haven’t sent her with a better song. “Veronika” has potential, with an instantly memorable chorus, but the rest of the song is rather tame. However, this is where staging can come in to take “Veronika” to the next level. I’m cautiously optimistic about this entry and I’m looking forward to seeing if they are able to elevate from a solid foundation.
Score: 5.5
Scarlett: “Veronika” has a strong artistic vision, even if it is not everyone’s cup of tea. Raiven’s opera training really shines and allows her to deliver these soaring, otherworldly vocals that hold their own against the song’s fierce electro-orchestral production. The moments of silence that bookend the song and are sprinkled throughout make it that much more powerful. The lyrics, inspired by a Slovenian legend, are poetic. It may take a few listens to fully appreciate “Veronika”, but kudos to Raiven for bringing a song that is out of the ordinary.
Score: 8
Lucy: Fans have been waiting for Raiven to be at Eurovision for years, and here she finally is – and if you’re a fan of hers then you are going to love “Veronika”. It is very true to her brand of edginess, and this time she is telling a real story and relating it back to feminism. It is an effective song doing this. Sadly, it just isn’t my kind of vibe particularly, and I find myself very bored in the verses. The choruses pack a mild punch but I find myself uninterested in the story by the end.
Score: 4
Slovenia Eurovision 2024 ranking
In the Eurovision 2024 Wiwi Jury, we have 17 jurors but only have room for four reviews. The remaining scores are below:
|
Cinan: 9.5 Deban: 6 Georgia: 2.5 Jonathan: 7 Pablo: 6.5 Ron: 6.5 Ruxandra: 9.5 |
Sebastian: 7 Simon: 4 Suzanne: 7 Tom: 7.5 William: 7 Youyou: 4 |
We have removed the highest and lowest scores prior to calculating the average. This is to remove outliers and potential bias. We have removed a low of 2.5 and a high of 9.5.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 6.50/10
What do you think of Slovenia’s Eurovision 2024 entry? Share your own score and review for Raiven’s “Veronika” below!
What I really like about Veronika is that this song and the music video as well, really manage to tell a story, and even when it’s performed in a language I couldn’t possibly hope to comprehend, it still manages to captivate me and keeps me hooked from start to finish. Knowing it’s Slovenia however, I’m already braced for the fact this will get a result much lower than it deserves, but despite me not being into Raiven’s past EMA entries, this is easily the best I’ve heard from her. I for one really hope this qualifies and gets a good… Read more »
It’s authentic and that triggers me the most. I like almost everything in this record and presence. Hope it will take what it deserves.
It’s good that Slovenia isn’t putting Raiven at risk of any further national selection heartache and just sending her. It’s been a longtime coming and she definitely deserves the opportunity. “Veronika” feels incredibly authentic to Raiven, and centring the lyrics of the song around a well-known feminist figure of Slovenian folklore is on-character for what you’d expect of her. This is one of the most emotive instrumentals of the year and is incredibly successful in what it sets out to do. The verses are bleak and reflective, and I love that they’re using almost a clock ticking sound as the… Read more »
SLOVENIA – Raiven deserved to finally represent Slovenia, as she’s such an interesting artist. I love her flawless operatic vocal, as well as her impeccable taste of building the atmosphere. All of these elements are present in Veronika. I am enchanted by the piercing image of the sea nymph who stands proud for all the wronged women. Veronika is based on the historic woman who was wrongly accused of witchcraft, and subsequently drowned under uncertain circumstances. The song uses her as a symbol of how women are treated even to this day. Sadly, this topic is always relevant. The ambient… Read more »
*EDIT*
RATING: 8/10
Good one
Another song overhyped as good by wiwi but will struggle to qualify.
The live performance will either kill it or make it. With the right decisions this could be quite captivating and epic. The production value is high.
6.75/10
1. United Kingdom (7/10)
2. Australia (6.75/10)
3. Greece (6.75/10)
4. Azerbaijan (6.75/10)
5. Armenia (6.75/10)
6. Slovenia (6.75/10)
7. Serbia (6.5/10)
8. Portugal (6.25/10)
9. Georgia (6/10)
10. Israel (6/10)
11. Malta (4.25/10)
12. Luxembourg (4/10)
13. Cyprus (4/10)
14. Albania (3.75/10)
I expected a lower rate from wiwi. That’s a pleasant surprise.
Raiven we love you <3
Whoever hired Lucy needs to fire himself (and obviously take Lucy with him). I heard Euromix have vacancies.
Slovenia 11/12
Slovenia is my number 4 this year. This song is stunning! It’s easily my favourite ever Slovenia entry, without question. Every note of this song is super-expressive. F minor, the key of grim, is a perfect choice. The bass line immediately dips down to a deep D-flat, so we know we’re sinking deep into the water with this song. The first Verse is quiet, as Raiven sinks into the spirit world. But the words end with “let the light take me.” And then: Forte! The brassy sound frighteningly kicks in, and Raiven sighs a beautiful melody over the top of… Read more »
Veronika decides to die is a stunning book.
I would like to add a 9.5 again. Didnt like her formeren attempts to represent Slovenia but this song really love.
The song is quite forgettable but I have feeling this will have some great staging to help it into the final
If she bring the ballet dancer on stage who was there in Spanish and Amsterdam preparties, you are Lucky. Because that really adds to the lyrics
She is bringing 5 dancers and stunning visuals
18TH PLACE: SLOVENIA: I have mixed feelings about this one. There’s no denying that there’s artistry here, and there are certainly some parts of the song I find really intriguing, especially the verses and some of the melodical twists in the pre-chorus. Raiven also seems to be a pretty great performer. On the contrary, some parts of the song seem disjointed and some others take me out of the mood of the song. The final result still is to my liking as the pros overcome the cons and I must objectively reward the artistry and the fact that many good… Read more »
24. Slovenia – Veronica – Raiven – 6/10 – there is an hinted at darkness and mysterious quality to this track, although it does end up veering too much to the safe side of town. It is a bit too plodding in the verses and therefore for me takes too long to get going, and at the end point, I am left wondering if it was worth the wait. Raiven however has exemplary stage presence, so I am expecting to experience a good show in Malmo.
15th place – Slovenia
One of my most favourite songs this year! I have so many favourites that it’s difficult to rank them at this point lol.
But Raiven is fantastic, her visuals and vocals, like she’s the whole package for me. I think she will deliver very well and I’m crossing my fingers she will qualify for the final because she truly deserves it!
I’m also curious to see what they will do with the staging
Wiwi Jury Ranking
Portugal 11,5/12
Slovenia 11/12
Armenia 9,5/12
Greece 8,5/12
Azerbaijan 8,5/12
Luxembourg 8/12
Serbia 7/12
UK 6,5/12
Australia 5,5/12
Israel 5/12
Geprgia 4,5/12
Albania 3/12
Cyprus 3/12
Malta 2,5/12
Worse then Cyprus… Kudos for saying that, for spilling… ig.. girl c’mon
One of the early releases. And sometimes that can play against you for become over played and a bit boring, but not this! I love this as much as the first listen. I enjoy songs with a bit of drama and this delivers. Edgy and dramatic. Real good contender this year!
Score 9/10
Silver star.
it’s okay, but very by-the-numbers. almost feels crafted for the eurovision stage, but at the same time it’s not original enough to stand out that much.
this is a top notch entry and it SHOULD qualify for the sake of this being called a “song contest”, but then latvia 2023 happened, so who knows…
artsy balkan ballad, very modern yet very ethnic with a little oldschool sauce
have no doubts about Raiven’s live vocal capabilities she is a queen, and in the weak semi 1 i have no doubts she’ll qualify pretty easily
Slovenia are on a strong form recently, keep it up guys!!!!! Hvala
I´ll call for her from Germany
This is one of the better entries in Eurovision ever. Music meets history meets legend meets women’s plight throughout history until nowadays.
As for women’s plight it feels universal and old and contemporaneous at the same time. Raven’s voice promises real quality. The music is complex, the whole concept is unique. Slovenia deserves to do well, hopefully their entry will be appreciated <3
Ugly singer and boring song, 3/10.
i guess your brain got exposed just like your avatar
He has no brain!
Wiwibloggs community is the most toxic community ever.
The song has been consistently in my top 10 throughout the season. The song is really great imo. Having said that, I worry about this qualifying. I fear that with Portugal and Serbia in the semi one of them won’t make it and it seems to me it could be Slovenia. For me the issue has been that especially in the pre-parties the buildup to Raiven’s vocal moments is too repetitive and I kinda seem to lose interest. As far as I know, there might be a revamp and, judging by the music video, they also have a vision, I’m… Read more »
10) Slovenia – I’m very happy to see Raiven finally representing Slovenia in Eurovision! I’m not the biggest fan of her past attempts, but this one really caught my attention the minute I heard it. Her voice is what sells the song in my opinion, but the song is really great and so is the story. Can’t wait to hear those high notes live. 8/10
My 2nd favourite song this year!
So magical, so striking, so fantastic.
So amazing that I am really lost for words with this one.
RAIVEN, YOU GO GIRL!
It’s good, but not that good
So underrated 🙁