Slovenia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Verjamem" written by Vladimir Graić, Hari Mata Hari, and Igor Pirkovič, and performed by Eva Boto. The Slovene participating broadcaster, (RTVSLO), organised the national final Misija EMA 2012 in order to select its entry for the contest. 32 performers competed in the first stage of the national final, Misija Evrovizija, from which two artists qualified to compete in Misija EMA 2012 following a five-month-long competition. In Misija EMA 2012, the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, each artist performed three songs and one song were selected for each performer following the combination of votes from a four-member jury panel and a public televote. In the second round, "Verjamem" performed by Eva Boto was selected as the winner entirely by a public televote. Songwriter Hari Mata Hari represented with the song "Lejla" where he placed third in the grand final of the competition.
Slovenia was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 24 May 2012. Performing during the show in position 9, "Verjamem" 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 seventeenth out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 31 points.
Background
Prior to the 2012 contest, (RTVSLO) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Slovenia seventeen times since its first entry . Its highest placing in the contest, to this point, has been seventh place, achieved on two occasions: with the song "Prisluhni mi" performed by Darja Švajger and with the song "Energy" performed by Nuša Derenda. The country's only other top ten result was achieved when Tanja Ribič performing "Zbudi se" placed tenth. Since the introduction of semi-finals to the format of the contest in 2004, Slovenia had thus far only managed to qualify to the final on two occasions. In 2011, "No One" performed by Maja Keuc qualified to the final and placed thirteenth.
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, RTVSLO organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster confirmed its participation in the 2012 contest on 24 June 2011. RTVSLO has traditionally selected its entry through a national final entitled (EMA), which has been produced with variable formats. For 2012, the broadcaster opted to organise EMA 2012 and launched the newly-created talent selection Misija Evrovizija that acted as a preselector for EMA itself.
Before Eurovision Misija Evrovizija Misija Evrovizija was first phase of the 17th edition of the Slovenian national final format Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA), used by RTV Slovenija to select Slovenia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. The competition involved a five-month-long process that commenced on 26 August 2011 and concluded on 8 January 2012. All shows in the competition took place at the RTV Slovenija Studio 1 in Ljubljana, hosted by Klemen Slakonja and 2011 Slovenian Eurovision entrant Maja Keuc and was broadcast on TV SLO 1 and online via the broadcaster's website rtvslo.si.
Format The format of the competition consisted of two stages. The first stage was the auditions which took place in various cities across Slovenia. Thirty-two contestants were selected and proceeded to the second stage, the twelve live shows held between 2 October 2011 and 8 January 2012. Each of the first four live shows featured eight contestants and public televoting exclusively determined two of the performers to remain in the competition. An additional two contestants were saved by a four-member judging panel out of the remaining six performers; the bottom four contestants were eliminated. The fifth and sixth shows each featured eight of the sixteen remaining contestants and four were selected to proceed in the competition in a similar process as in the first four shows. In each of the seventh to tenth shows, the judges selected two contestants to be up for eviction and public televoting exclusively determined the one who would be eliminated from the competition. The remaining four contestants proceeded to the eleventh show, the semi-final, where a public televote selected two contestants to be up for eviction and the judges determined the one who would be eliminated from the competition. Three candidates competed in the twelfth show, the final, where a public televote first selected one contestant to proceed to Misija EMA 2012. The judges then selected an additional qualifier for Misija EMA 2012 out of the two remaining contestants.
Judges A four-member judging panel determined the contestants that would advance to the live shows, commented on the contestants' performances during the live shows and selected those who would be exempt for elimination. The judging panel consisted of: Darja Švajger – 1995 and 1999 Slovenian Eurovision entrant Jonas Žnidaršič – Television personality Raay – Singer-songwriter Tina Marinšek – Singer
Contestants Performers were able submit their applications to the broadcaster between 26 August 2011 and 30 August 2011 by submitting an online submission form or attending auditions that took place between 26 and 30 August 2011 in the following cities and locations:
26 August 2011: Celje (Celje National Hall) 27 August 2011: Novo Mesto (Janez Trdina Cultural Centre) 28 August 2011: Koper (Koper Theatre) 29 August 2011: Maribor (Maribor Town Hall) 30 August 2011: Ljubljana (Ljubljana Festival Hall)
350 applications were received by the broadcaster and the competition producers shortlisted 130 candidates for the judges' auditions that took place between 10 and 12 September 2011 at the Radio Slovenija Studio 26 in Ljubljana. Following the judges' auditions, thirty-two contestants were selected for the live shows.
Results summary Colour key – Contestant was eliminated – Contestant was in the bottom two Contestant Show 1 Show 2 Show 3 Show 4 Show 5 Show 6 Show 7 Show 8 Show 9 Show 10 Show 11(Semi-final) Show 12(Final) Eva Boto rowspan=5 Safe rowspan=8 Safe rowspan=2 1st 1st 2nd 1st 1st Safe Eva and Nika Prusnik rowspan=3 Safe Safe 2nd 2nd 1st 1st 3rd Safe Nika Zorjan Safe rowspan=2 Safe 3rd 3rd 4th 4th 2nd 3rd Manuela Brečko Safe Safe 4th 3rd 3rd 3rd 4th Eliminated(Show 11) Flora Ema Lotrič Safe rowspan=11 Safe 7th 5th 5th 5th Eliminated(Show 10) Brina Vidic Safe rowspan=2 rowspan=2 Safe 5th 6th 6th Eliminated(Show 9) Nadja Irgolič Safe Safe 6th 7th Eliminated(Show 8) Gašper Rifelj rowspan=2 Safe Safe 8th Eliminated(Show 7) David Matići rowspan=2 Safe rowspan=4 Out Eliminated(Show 6) Klemen Orter Safe rowspan=2 Out Eliminated(Show 6) Nastja Gabor rowspan=2 Safe Out Eliminated(Show 6) Sara Jagrič rowspan=13 Safe Out Eliminated(Show 6) Aljoša Keber Safe Out Eliminated(Show 5) Barbara Vauda rowspan=15 Safe Out Eliminated(Show 5) Maja Založnik Safe Out Eliminated(Show 5) Sarah Senica Safe Out Eliminated(Show 5) Alino Juhart rowspan=4 Out Eliminated(Show 4) Maks Verderber Out Eliminated(Show 4) Me 4 Out Eliminated(Show 4) Tanja Srednik Out Eliminated(Show 4) Adrijana Lorber Out Eliminated(Show 3) Alex Volasko Out Eliminated(Show 3) Klemen Mramor Out Eliminated(Show 3) Nina Bauman Out Eliminated(Show 3) Domonik Vodopivec Out Eliminated(Show 2) Leaparfume Out Eliminated(Show 2) Sara Špelec Out Eliminated(Show 2) Ž-Lajf Out Eliminated(Show 2) Biba & Bibitas Out Eliminated(Show 1) Janja Kobale Out Eliminated(Show 1) Sylvo Out Eliminated(Show 1) Tamara Goričanec Out Eliminated(Show 1)
Shows
Elimination shows The ten elimination shows of Misija Evrovizija took place between 2 October 2011 and 11 December 2011. In each of the first sixth shows, the contestants first faced a public televote where the top two proceeded in the competition. An additional two qualifiers were then selected by the judges out of the remaining contestants. In each of the seventh to tenth shows, the judges selected two contestants up for eviction, with one of them being saved by a public televote.
+ Show 12 October 2011 Artist Song Jury Televote Result Votes Rank Votes Rank 1 Janja Kobale "Rolling in the Deep" 11 6 400 4 Eliminated 2 Sylvo "Tainted Love" 14 5 111 8 Eliminated 3 Klemen Orter "Over the Rainbow" 29 1 282 5 Safe 4 Tamara Goričanec "Ključ do srca" 11 6 182 7 Eliminated 5 Biba and Bibitas "Moon River" 5 8 169 6 Eliminated 6 Nadja Irgolič "The Climb" 21 4 628 1 Safe 7 Aljoša Keber "Grenade" 27 2 422 3 Safe 8 Brina Vidic "You Know I'm No Good" 26 3 506 2 Safe
+ Show 29 October 2011 Artist Song Jury Televote Result Votes Rank Votes Rank 1 Gašper Rifelj "Bed of Roses" 18 5 1,114 2 Safe 2 Flora Ema Lotrič "Stuck" 23 2 962 3 Safe 3 Ž-Lajf "Sex Bomb" 14 6 607 5 Eliminated 4 Leaparfume "Hvala za vijolice" 21 4 646 4 Eliminated 5 Nastja Gabor "Molitva" 21 3 583 6 Safe 6 Sara Špelec "The Show Must Go On" 7 8 99 8 Eliminated 7 Domonik Vodopivec "Plan B" 11 7 396 7 Eliminated 8 Eva Boto "Because of You" 29 1 1,306 1 Safe
+ Show 316 October 2011 Artist Song Jury Televote Result Votes Rank Votes Rank 1 Manuela Brečko "Something in the Water" 23 2 737 3 Safe 2 Alex Volasko "Stop" 11 6 282 8 Eliminated 3 Adrijana Lorber "Price Tag" 15 5 320 6 Eliminated 4 Nina Bauman "Superwoman" 10 7 305 7 Eliminated 5 Sarah Senica "Veter z juga" 19 4 876 2 Safe 6 Eva and Nika Prusnik "Je veux" 30 1 658 4 Safe 7 Klemen Mramor "Use Somebody" 8 8 525 5 Eliminated 8 Nika Zorjan "Listen" 28 3 1,579 1 Safe
+ Show 423 October 2011 Artist Song Jury Televote Result Votes Rank Votes Rank 1 Maja Založnik "Love You I Do" 25 1 621 5 Safe 2 Alino Juhart "Valerie" 15 6 409 7 Eliminated 3 Tanja Srednik "Blues in the Night" 12 7 226 8 Eliminated 4 Me 4 "Mercy" 22 2 682 4 Eliminated 5 Barbara Vauda "Saving All My Love for You" 19 5 906 2 Safe 6 David Matiči "Let Me Entertain You" 22 2 789 3 Safe 7 Maks Verderber "Somewhere There's a Someone" 9 8 418 6 Eliminated 8 Sara Jagrič "Hallelujah" 20 4 929 1 Safe
+ Show 530 October 2011 Artist Song Jury Televote Result Votes Rank Votes Rank 1 Aljoša Keber "Born This Way" 21 3 313 8 Eliminated 2 Maja Založnik "V meni je moč" 14 5 333 7 Eliminated 3 Sarah Senica "Can I Walk with You" 12 6 940 5 Eliminated 4 Gašper Rifelj "Insieme: 1992" 7 8 1,246 2 Safe 5 Eva Boto "Hero" 27 2 1,051 4 Safe 6 Flora Ema Lotrič "A Night like This" 20 4 1,963 1 Safe 7 Barbara Vauda "California King Bed" 11 7 915 6 Eliminated 8 Eva and Nika Prusnik "Satellite" 32 1 1,054 3 Safe
+ Show 66 November 2011 Artist Song Jury Televote Result Votes Rank Votes Rank 1 Brina Vidic "I'm Like a Bird" 24 2 363 7 Safe 2 Manuela Brečko "Fuckin' Perfect" 28 1 690 4 Safe 3 Klemen Orter "Empire State of Mind" 17 6 271 8 Eliminated 4 Sara Jagrič "There You'll Be" 24 3 378 6 Eliminated 5 Nastja Gabor "It's Raining Men" 13 7 732 5 Eliminated 6 David Matići "Moja" 6 8 915 3 Eliminated 7 Nadja Irgolič "This Is Me" 12 5 1,189 2 Safe 8 Nika Zorjan "My Heart Will Go On" 20 4 1,443 1 Safe
+ Show 713 November 2011 Artist Song Points Place Result 1 Manuela Brečko "Like a Prayer" 20 4 Safe 2 Flora Ema Lotrič "Think Twice" 8 7 Bottom two 3 Gašper Rifelj "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You" 4 8 Bottom two 4 Eva and Nika Prusnik "Gangsta's Paradise" 26 2 Safe 5 Nika Zorjan "Would I Lie to You?" 24 3 Safe 6 Nadja Irgolič "Ironic" 15 6 Safe 7 Brina Vidic "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" 18 5 Safe 8 Eva Boto "Any Man of Mine" 29 1 Safe
+ Show 7Final Showdown Artist Song Televote Result 1 Flora Ema Lotrič "Stuck" 5,158 Saved 2 Gašper Rifelj "Bed of Roses" 2,671 Eliminated