EMA 2009 was the 14th edition of the Slovenian national final format Evrovizijska Melodija . The competition was used by RTV Slovenija to select Slovenia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009.
Format
For the first time since 2002, EMA 2009 consisted of a semi final on 31 January 2009 and a final on 1 February 2009. Twenty artists in total competed in EMA 2009, with 14 songs in the semi-final alongside with 6 pre-qualified songs. In the semi-final, 8 songs qualified to the final. The voting process was also revamped with the combination of points from a public vote and a jury panel determining the results of both the semi-final and the final.
Competing entries
Artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between until 28 November2008. 113 entries were received by the broadcaster during the submission period, 6 of them being submitted by foreign composers. An expert committee consisting ofDarja Švajger, Jernej Vene and Mojca Menart selected fourteen artists and songs for the semi-final of the competition from the received submissions. The six pre-qualified songs were written by composers who RTV Slovenija invited for the competition based on their success on EMA in recent years and their performance in the Slovenian charts. The composers both created the song and selected the performer for their entry. The invited composers were:
The competing artists were announced on 3 December 2008. The titles of the competing songs were announced on 29 December 2008.
Semi-final
The semi-final of EMA 2009 took place on 31 January 2009 at the RTV Slovenija studios in Ljubljana, hosted by Peter Poles and Maja Martina Merljak. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 1995 and 1999 Slovenian entrant Darja Švajger and 2007 Slovenian entrantAlenka Gotar performed as guests. Eight acts qualified for the final on 1 February 2009 based on the combination of points from a public vote and a jury panel.
Final
The final of EMA 2009 took place on 1 February 2009 at the RTV Slovenija studios in Ljubljana, hosted by Peter Poles and Maja Martina Merljak. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Natalija Verboten, Helena Blagne, 2008 Slovenian entrantRebeka Dremelj and Eurovision 2008 winner Dima Bilan performed as guests. Fourteen songs consisting of the eight semi-final qualifiers alongside the six pre-qualified songs competed and the combination of points from a public vote and a jury panel selected "Love Symphony" performed by Quartissimo feat. Martina Majerle as the winner. The winner of the public vote was "Zaigraj muzikant" performed by Skupina Langa & Manca Spik, however only came fifth overall.
Promotion
Before competing at Eurovision, Quartissimo and Martina conducted a large promotion tour to promote "Love Symphony". The group performed at the Bosnia and Herzegovina song presentation on 1 March, performing in Slovene, as well as the semi-final of Serbia's Beovizija 2009 on 7 March. The group performed at the Eurovision Promo Concert on 18 April in Amsterdam.
At Eurovision
Slovenia competed in the second semi-final after Rebeka Dremelj came 11th in the 2008 semi-final. Slovenia performed tenth in the running order of the semi-final, following Denmark and preceding Hungary, where Quartissimo and Martina failed to qualify to the final on 16 May.
