Slovenia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song „Love Symphony“ written by Andrej Babić and Aleksandar Valenčić. The song was performed by Quartissimo feat. Martina. Slovenian broadcaster Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV Slovenija) organised the national final EMA 2009 in order to select the Slovenian entry for the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia. The national final consisted of a semi-final and a final where „Love Symphony“ performed by Quartissimo feat. Martina was eventually selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a three-member jury panel and a public vote.

Slovenia was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 14 May 2009. Performing during the show in position 10, „Love Symphony“ was not announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Slovenia placed sixteenth out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 14 points.

EMA 2009

EMA 2009 was the 14th 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 2009. The 2009 edition of EMA took place at the RTV Slovenija Studio 1 in Ljubljana, hosted by Peter Poles and Maja Martina Merljak and consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final. The competition was broadcast on TV SLO1 and online via the broadcaster’s website rtvslo.si.

Format

A total of twenty-one songs competed in two televised shows consisting of a semi-final on 31 January 2009 and a final on 1 February 2009. Fourteen of the songs were selected from open submissions and competed in the semi-final with the 50/50 combination of points from an expert jury and public televoting selecting eight finalists out of the fourteen songs to proceed to the final. In the final, the eight qualifying songs in the semi-final alongside an additional six pre-qualified songs written by composers directly invited by RTV Slovenija for the competition competed and the winner was selected by the 50/50 combination of points from an expert jury and public televoting.

Competing entries

Artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 11 October 2008 and 28 November 2008. 113 entries were received by the broadcaster during the submission period. An expert committee consisting of Darja Švajger (singer, vocal coach and 1995 and 1999 Slovenian Eurovision entrant), Jernej Vene (music editor for Radia Slovenija) and Mojca Menart (Head of the publishing business of ZKP RTV SLO) selected fourteen artists and songs for the semi-final of the competition from the received submissions, while the six songs pre-qualifying songs for the final of the competition were written by composers directly invited by RTV Slovenija based on their success on EMA in recent years and their performance in the Slovenian charts: Aleš Klinar, Boštjan Grabnar, Jan Plestenjak, Jože Potrebuješ, Matjaž Vlašič and Omar Naber. The composers also selected the performer for their entry. The competing artists were announced on 3 December 2008. Among the competing artists was former Slovenian Eurovision contestant Karmen Stavec who represented Slovenia in 2003.

Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)
Alya and Rudi	„Zadnji dan“	Jan Plestenjak
Aynee	„Zdaj vem“	Simona Černetič, Miha Gorše
Bjonde	„Blond Power“	Gorazd Sedmak, Gaber Radojevič
Brigita Šuler	„Druga liga“	Boštjan Groznik, Werner Brozovič
Čuki	„Mal‘ naprej pa mal‘ nazaj“	Jože Potrebuješ, Marino Marcela
Eva Černe	„Vse“	Boštjan Grabnar, Damjana Kenda Hussu
Gianni Rijavec	„Gloria“	Leon Oblak, Gianni Rijavec
Karmen Stavec	„A si želiš“	Rafael Artesero, Gregor Bezenšek
Krema	„Ob meni si“	Janko Marinč, Roman Milavec, Dejan Markič
Lea Sirk	„Znamenje iz sanj“	Patrik Greblo, Damjana Kenda Hussu, Sašo Fajon
Mitja	„Mission“	Aleš Berkopec, Primož Velikonja, Damjan Berkopec, Mitja Šedlbauer, Nejc Viher
Ne me jugat and Slavko Ivančič	„Kaj me briga“	Enkrat Se Živi, Mitja Kodarin, Gaber Radojevič
Nexys	„Vsaj za en dan“	Anton Valenčak, Ines Mohorko, Anton Valenčak
Nuška Drašček	„Kako lepo“	Duško Rapotec, Rok Terkaj, Ivan Popeskič
Omar Naber	„I Still Carry On“	Omar Naber, Miha Gorše, Rok Golob
Petra Slapar	„Skrivnost“	Daniela Bervar, Žiga Pirnat
Quartissimo feat. Martina Majerle	„Love Symphony“	Andrej Babić, Aleksandar Valenčić
Samuel Lucas	„Vse bi zate dal“	Anja Rupel, Aleš Klinar, Franci Zabukovec
Skupina Langa and Manca Spik	„Zaigraj muzikant“	Urša Vlašič, Matjaž Vlašič, Boštjan Grabnar
Tadeja Molan and Retro Beat	„Sanje“	Tadeja Molan, Retro Beat

Semi-final

The semi-final of EMA 2009 took place on 31 January 2009. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Darja Švajger and 2007 Slovenian Eurovision entrant Alenka Gotar performed as guests. The combination of points from a three-member jury panel and a public vote selected eight entries to proceed to the final. The jury consisted of Urška Čop (music editor for Radio Maribor), Andrea Zuppini (Italian composer and arranger) and Anja Rogljić (Head of the Serbian delegation at the Eurovision Song Contest).

Semi-final – 31 January 2009

Draw	Artist	Song	Jury	Televote	Televote	Total	Place
				Votes	Points
1	Nexys	„Vsaj za en dan“	3	1,566	5	8	8
2	Petra Slapar	„Skrivnost“	0	1,054	1	1	13
3	Lea Sirk	„Znamenje iz sanj“	10	835	0	10	5
4	Brigita Šuler	„Druga liga“	0	3,074	10	10	6
5	Ne me jugat and Slavko Ivančič	„Kaj me briga“	5	2,922	8	13	4
6	Gianni Rijavec	„Gloria“	0	1,333	4	4	11
7	Aynee	„Zdaj vem“	0	896	0	0	14
8	Krema	„Ob meni si“	4	1,023	0	4	9
9	Quartissimo feat. Martina Majerle	„Love Symphony“	12	3,372	12	24	1
10	Tadeja Molan and Retro Beat	„Sanje“	1	893	0	1	12
11	Bjonde	„Blond Power“	6	1,312	3	9	7
12	Karmen Stavec	„A si želiš“	7	2,466	7	14	3
13	Nuška Drašček	„Kako lepo“	8	2,023	6	14	2
14	Mitja	„Mission“	2	1,144	2	4	10

Final

The final of EMA 2009 took place on 1 February 2009. The eight entries that qualified from the semi-final alongside the six pre-qualified entries competed. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2008 Slovenian Eurovision entrant Rebeka Dremelj, 2008 Eurovision winner Dima Bilan, Natalija Verboten and Helena Blagne performed as guests. The combination of points from a three-member jury panel and a public vote selected „Love Symphony“ performed by Quartissimo feat. Martina Majerle as the winner. The jury consisted of Urška Čop (music editor for Radio Maribor), Andrea Zuppini (Italian composer and arranger) and Anja Rogljić (Head of the Serbian delegation at the Eurovision Song Contest).

Final – 1 February 2009

Draw	Artist	Song	Jury	Televote	Televote	Total	Place
				Votes	Points
1	Lea Sirk	„Znamenje iz sanj“	5	1,048	0	5	9
2	Čuki	„Mal‘ naprej pa mal‘ nazaj“	0	8,411	10	10	7
3	Quartissimo feat. Martina Majerle	„Love Symphony“	12	5,089	7	19	1
4	Omar Naber	„I Still Carry On“	8	7,4	8	16	2
5	Brigita Šuler	„Druga liga“	0	2,301	0	0	13
6	Ne me jugat and Slavko Ivančič	„Kaj me briga“	6	3,24	4	10	6
7	Eva Černe	„Vse“	1	2,996	2	3	11
8	Karmen Stavec	„A si želiš“	4	2,815	1	5	10
9	Alya and Rudi	„Zadnji dan“	7	4,366	6	13	4
10	Bjonde	„Blond Power“	2	1,762	0	2	12
11	Samuel Lucas	„Vse bi zate dal“	10	3,037	3	13	3
12	Nexys	„Vsaj za en dan“	0	2,448	0	0	13
13	Skupina Langa and Manca Spik	„Zaigraj muzikant“	0	22,294	12	12	5
14	Nuška Drašček	„Kako lepo“	3	3,551	5	8	8

Gallery

photo: RTVSlo, Zaklop