Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012


Slovenia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Slovenian entry was selected through two national selections: Misija Evrovizija, a talent selection used to find two finalist singers and EMA 2012, a national final that selected both the singer and the song, both organised by the Slovenian broadcaster Radiotelevizija Slovenija. Eva Boto represented Slovenia with the song "Verjamem", which failed to qualify from the second semi-final, achieving 17th place with 31 points.

Before Eurovision

On 22 June, RTVSLO announced their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, held in Baku, Azerbaijan. The selection took place in two stages: the first to select two finalists during the three-month-long selection process Misija Evrovizija and the second to select the Slovene entrant at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 during EMA 2012. Both events took place at the RTV Slovenija studios in Ljubljana, hosted by Klemen Slakonja.

''Misija Evrovizija''

Misija Evrovizija consisted of three phases:
  1. Regional auditions – Auditions were held across Slovenia where interested singers aged over 16 could apply to participate. The auditions took place in five cities: Celje, Novo Mesto, Koper, Maribor and Ljubljana, where the show's producers assessed the auditioning acts and selected 130 contestants to progress to the jury auditions.
  2. Judges auditions – The 130 contestants auditioned in front of a three-member jury panel. Thirty-two were selected to compete in the live shows of Misija Evrovizija.
  3. Live shows - The 32 contestants competed at the live shows starting on 2 October 2011, which was eventually reduced to the final two on 8 January 2012. The 2 remaining contestants were selected to compete in EMA 2012 on 26 February 2012.
During the live shows, a judging panel consisting of four judges, responsible for selecting the acts to advance as well as to select the contestants who would be exempt for elimination, were announced on 8 September 2011. The judging panel consisted of:

Round 1

The 32 contestants competed in the first round of Misija Evrovizija over four shows, with 8 contestants in each. 4 contestants from each advanced in the competition as two were saved by the public vote and the other two were saved by the judges.

Show 1 (2 October 2011)

Show 2 (9 October 2011)

Show 3 (16 October 2011)

Show 4 (23 October 2011)

Round 2

The remaining 16 contestants competed in the second round of Misija Evrovizija over two shows, with 8 contestants in each. 4 contestants advanced in the competition as two were saved by the public vote and the other two were saved by the judges.

Show 5 (30 October 2011)

Show 6 (6 November 2011)

Round 3

The remaining 8 contestants competed in the third round of Misija Evrovizija over four elimination shows. The judges selected 2 contestants up for eviction, with one being saved by the public vote.

Show 7 (13 November 2011)

Show 8 (20 November 2011)

Show 9 (27 November 2011)

Show 10 (11 December 2011)

Due to the Slovenian parliamentary election being held on 4 December 2011, the tenth show was postponed until 11 December 2011.
DrawArtistSong PointsResult
1Flora Ema Lotrič"I Love Rock 'n' Roll" 9Bottom two
2Manuela Brečko"It's My Life" 13Safe
3Eva Boto"Whataya Want from Me" 14Safe
4Nika Zorjan"Sweet Child o' Mine" 10Bottom two
5Eva & Nika Prusnik"It's My Life" 14Safe

Semi-final (18 December 2011)

The remaining 4 contestants competed in the semi-final of Misija Evrovizija. A public vote selected 2 contestants up for eviction, with one being saved by the judges.
DrawArtistSong 1 Song 2 TelevoteResult
1Nika Zorjan"My Life Would Suck Without You" "Unfaithful" 6,101Safe
2Eva & Nika Prusnik"Bubbly" "Forget You" 1,739Bottom two
3Manuela Brečko"Hey, Soul Sister" "Someone Like You" 1,995Bottom two
4Eva Boto"Use Somebody" "Flashdance... What a Feeling" 7,024Safe

Final (8 January 2012)

The remaining 3 contestants competed in the final of Misija Evrovizija over five elimination shows. 2 were selected to compete in EMA 2012 as one was selected by the public vote and another by the judges.

''EMA 2012''

EMA 2012 was the 17th 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 2012.

Competing entries

52 entries were received by the broadcaster during a submission period. An expert committee consisting of Darja Švajger, Mojca Menart and Aleksander Radić selected six songs for the competition from the received submissions, which were allocated to the two finalists of Misija Evrovizija: Eva Boto and Nika & Eva Prusnik. The song titles and their composers were announced on 16 February 2012, and the songs were presented on Radio Val 202 on 17 February 2012.

Final

EMA 2012 took place on 26 February 2012 at the RTV Slovenija studios in Ljubljana, hosted by Klemen Slakonja and Maja Keuc. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the combination of points from a public vote and a four-member jury panel selected one song per artist to advance to the superfinal: "Konichiwa" for Nika & Eva Prusnik and "Verjamem" for Eva Boto. The jury consisted of the judges from Misija Evrovizija: Darja Švajger, Jonas Žnidaršič, Raay and Tina Marinšek. In the superfinal, a public vote selected "Verjamem" performed by Eva Boto as the winner.

Misija 2012

On 31 December 2011, RTVSLO aired a special recorded show for New Year of Misija Evrovizija. All the top eight competitors of Misija Evrovizija performed, and were joined by former contestants of EMA, hosts Klemen Slakonja, Maja Keuc and Zlatko, and many others.

At Eurovision

Slovenia competed in the second half of the second semi-final on 24 May, but did not qualify for the final. Slovenia ended up 17th out of 18 songs with 31 points. In the split results, Slovenia gained 40 points from the jury, but only 27 points in public voting.

Points awarded to Slovenia

Points awarded from Slovenia

Semi-final 2

Final

Jury points awarded by Slovenia

Semi-final 2

Jury points awarded in second semi-final:
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 points
2 points
1 point

Final

Jury points awarded in the final:
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 points
2 points
1 point