Best of the Bunch: Slovenia

Slovenia began their independent Eurovision journey in 1993, and their first decade of participation was actually quite successful. They received a number of top 10 results, however as soon as 2004 hit, their results became more hit and miss. Today we’re starting our Best of the Bunch journey in 2006, and continuing through to 2015, discussing the highs and lows of the Slovenian entries in Eurovision. After we recap the entries, vote for your Best of the Bunch!

Starting off with 2006, where Anžej Dežan, who represented Slovenia with the song Mr Nobody. Unfortunately, the song was a bit of a ‘nobody’ in the voting, as it reached 16^th in the semi-final with 49 points.

The following year, Alenka Gotar performed the song Cvet z Juga totally in Slovene. The song was a hit with Europe, and after 3 years of absence in the Eurovision final, Slovenia was once again back in to the final, where they ultimately ended up in 15^th spot.

In 2008, Slovenia once again sent a song that was in Slovene language, this time, performed by Rebeka Dremelj. The upbeat pop song Vrag naj Vzame only just missed out on the final, finishing 11^th in the semi-final with 36 points.

The next year, Slovenia was fronted by a familiar face to Eurovision. Martina Majerle has been a backing singer many times over the years, however finally in 2009 she performed as the main performer, as backed by Quartissimo. The song Love Symphony, despite Martina’s Eurovision experience, failed to make it to the final once again, this time finishing in 16^th place in the semi-final.

In 2010, Slovenia took an interesting approach to Eurovision by choosing Ansambel Žlindra and Kalamari, a mix of rock and folk in the song Narodnozabavni rock, all performed in Slovene. Points for consistency, as Slovenia once again ended up in 16^th spot in the semi-final.

The following year, the Slovenian queen arrived at Eurovision. Maja Keuc has a voice like Christina Aguilera, and a sassy stage presence like Beyoncé, which was a combination in the song No One that brought Slovenia their best result since 2002, where Sestre also finished in 13^th place in the final!

In 2012, Slovenia continued with girl power, after choosing Eva Boto as their representative. The song Verjamem was once again in national language, but unfortunately it just didn’t reach the heights of Maja’s results. The song finished in 17^th place with 31 points in the semi-final.

The following year, Hannah Mancini continued the girl power streak, this time with the song Straight Into Love. Unfortunately, another streak continued, that being their non-qualifying streak. The song unfortunately came last in the semi-final, finishing with 8 points.

In 2014, Tinkara Kovač was selected to represent Slovenia with the song Round and Round, which was a bilingual song featuring both Slovene and English. The song scraped into the final in 10^th place, then finished in 25^th position in the final with 9 points.

We finish our journey in 2015, where the duo Maraaya were chosen through a national final to represent Slovenia. The song was called Here for You, and Europe was indeed there for Slovenia. Qualifying in 5^th place into the final, the duo finished in the final at 14^th place, their best since Maja Keuc back in 2011.

And there we have it! Although Slovenia have had mixed results over the years, some of their best songs have come from this period. Make sure to vote for your Best of the Bunch down below!