Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1997 The Eurovision Song Contest 1997 was the 42nd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held on 3 May 1997 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (RTÉ) and prese ...

with the song "Zbudi se" written by

Saša Lošić Saša Lošić "Loša" (; born 19 July 1964) is a Bosnian recording artist. He initially rose to prominence as the lead vocalist of the Bosnian-based music act Plavi orkestar, which is one of the most popular music bands of the former Yugoslav Pop ...

and

Zoran Predin Zoran Predin (born 16 June 1958) is a Slovenian singer-songwriter from Maribor. In the 1980s, he was the front man of the new wave rock band ''Lačni Franz''. He also writes music for film, television, and theatre. In the late 1990s and early 20 ...

. The song was performed by

Tanja Ribič Tanja Ribič (born 28 June 1968) is a Slovenian actress and singer. Biography Ribič graduated from the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television in Ljubljana. She has been a member of Ljubljana City Theatre since 1992. She represented ...

. Slovenian broadcaster

Radiotelevizija Slovenija Radiotelevizija Slovenija ( en, Radio-Television of Slovenia) – usually abbreviated to RTV Slovenija (or simply RTV within Slovenia) – is Slovenia's national public broadcasting organization. Based in Ljubljana, it has regional broadcastin ...

(RTV Slovenija) organised the national final ''EMA 1997'' in order to select the Slovenian entry for the 1997 contest in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland. 13 entries competed in the national final where "Zbudi se" performed by Tanja Ribič was selected as the winner entirely by a public televote. Slovenia competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 3 May 1997. Performing during the show in position 6, Slovenia placed tenth out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 60 points.

Background

Prior to the 1997 contest, Slovenia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest three times since its first entry in . Slovenia's highest placing in the contest, to this point, has been seventh place, which the nation achieved in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

with the song "Prisluhni mi" performed by

Darja Švajger Darja Švajger (born 16 June 1965 in Maribor, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia) is one of Slovenia's most popular singers, perhaps best known internationally for having represented her country in the Eurovision Song Contest on two occasions. Early l ...

. In

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, "Dan najlepših sanj" performed by Regina placed twenty-first. The Slovenian national broadcaster,

(RTV Slovenija), broadcasts the event within Slovenia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. The Slovenian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest has traditionally been selected through a national final entitled '' Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA)'', which has been produced with variable formats. For 1997, the broadcaster opted to organise ''EMA 1997'' to select the Slovenian entry.

Before Eurovision

EMA 1997

''EMA 1997'' was the third 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 1997 and took place on 22 February 1997 at the

RTV Slovenija Radiotelevizija Slovenija ( en, Radio-Television of Slovenia) – usually abbreviated to RTV Slovenija (or simply RTV within Slovenia) – is Slovenia's national public broadcasting organization. Based in Ljubljana, it has regional broadcastin ...

Studio 1 in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

. The show was hosted by Mojca Mavec and was broadcast on TV SLO1.

Competing entries

An expert committee consisting of music editors for

Radio Slovenija Radiotelevizija Slovenija ( en, Radio-Television of Slovenia) – usually abbreviated to RTV Slovenija (or simply RTV within Slovenia) – is Slovenia's national public broadcasting organization. Based in Ljubljana, it has regional broadcastin ...

as well as representatives of ZKP RTV Slovenija and the Union of the Slovenian Musicians nominated 19 composers. Each member of the expert committee assigned a score of 1 (lowest score) to 7 (highest score) to their seven preferred composers with the top eight that received the highest overall scores when the votes were combined being directly invited by the broadcaster to submit up to two entries (one upbeat song and/or one ballad) by 20 December 1996. The invited composers were: Matjaž Vlašič, Aleš Klinar,

, Danilo Kocjančič, Veno Dolenc, Primož Peterca, Sašo Fajon and

Slavko Avsenik Jr Slavko () is a Slavic masculine given name. Notable holders of the name include: Arts * Slavko Avsenik, Slovenian musician * Slavko Avsenik, Jr., Slovenian musician * Slavko Brankov, Croatian actor * Slavko Brill, Croatian Jewish sculptor * Slavk ...

. A total of thirteen songs were created and selected for the competition and among the competing artists was former Slovenian Eurovision contestant

who represented Slovenia in

Final

EMA 1997 took place on 22 February 1997. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Norina Radovan performed as a guest. A public televote selected "Zbudi se" performed by

as the winner.

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, the twenty-four countries which had obtained the highest average number of points over the last four contests competed in the final on 3 May 1997. On 28 November 1996, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Slovenia was set to perform in position 6, following the entry from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and before the entry from

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. The day before the contest, Slovenia was considered by

bookmakers A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookma ...

to be the tenth most likely country to win the competition. The Slovenian conductor at the contest was

Mojmir Sepe Mojmir Sepe (11 July 1930 – 24 December 2020), nicknamed ''Mojzes'', was a Slovenian composer, conductor, arranger and trumpeter. Career In 1949, he graduated from Celje First Grammar School ( gymnasium) in Celje. Later he studied piano ...

, and Slovenia finished in tenth place with 60 points. The show was televised in Slovenia on RTV SLO1. The Slovenian spokesperson, who announced the Slovenian votes during the show, was Mojca Mavec.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Slovenia and awarded by Slovenia in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Russia in the contest.ESC History - Netherlands 1997
/ref>

References

External links

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1997

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...