Slovenia definitely aren’t the most successful nation at Eurovision, with only a handful of qualifications in recent years, but despite that, the nation is certainly good at giving us something different every year. After two years of non-qualification, it’s about time we see Slovenia return to the final, and this year it’s up to Lea Sirk to bring success back to Slovenia. She will be bringing her Slovene language song Hvala, Ne to Eurovision this year, but is it strong enough to reach the final, or will audiences be saying no thanks?
In amongst the 16 long list of national finalists in Slovenia this year was former Eurovision artist, Manuella, and national final favourites BQL, but in the end, Lea Sirk rose to the top. Although BQL topped the televote, there was strong jury support for Lea, and it’s easy to see why. She’s a confident artist with an upbeat song which is not like any other this year.
This is definitely one of the most energetic performances this year, but beyond that it’s probably one of those songs that will divide viewers. This song definitely feels lyric heavy, with what feels like quite a simple backing beat, which isn’t a bad thing, but it can feel a bit like lyric overload at times because it’s just so intense. At times it’s also hard to follow the melody other than in the chorus part of the song, and for that reason I’ve found it quite hard to connect to this song.
What I do like about this song is that it is a bit more contemporary to what we have seen from Slovenia in recent years, so that’s definitely a step in the right direction. I think having the national final featuring only national language was also a win, as at least the language gives this song a strong identity. I think my favourite points in the song all fall within the last minute, both the bridge, where the melody slows down, even just for a few seconds, and I also like the final notes of the song as it’s such an unexpected way to end the song.
I also really like the potential for this song to be staged. I think Lea oozes energy and confidence, and she is a pleasure to watch. This is also one of those songs that really benefits from having backing dancers, and I think that was clear in the national final. The performance of this in the national final also mirrored how contemporary this song is, and as a viewer it was quite memorable as a performance as a whole, even if the song wasn’t love at first listen.
All aboard… the pink hair, don’t care train!
I think this probably could have done with a revamp for Eurovision (and at this stage we don’t have one, so I’m assuming the current version is also the final one), at least to improve the backing music to make it a bit more three-dimensional, but what we hear is what we get. I think being in semi-final two, I don’t want to rule this out since it’s towards the end of the running order, but at the same time, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see this be another non-qualification.
Our rating: 6/10
If you support Slovenia at Eurovision, make sure to vote for Lea in our poll! Watch their official video below, and follow our Eurovision 2018 playlist on Spotify.
