Slovenia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Mr Nobody", composed by Matjaž Vlašić, with lyrics by Urša Vlašić, and performed by Anžej Dežan. The Slovene participating broadcaster, Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTVSLO), organised the national final Evrovizijska Melodija 2006 in order to select its entry for the contest. Fourteen entries competed in the national final where "Plan B" performed by Anžej Dežan was selected following the combination of votes from a five-member jury panel and a public televote. The song was later translated from Slovene to English for Eurovision and was titled "Mr Nobody".
| Eurovision Song Contest 2006 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participating broadcaster | Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTVSLO) | |||
| Country |  Slovenia | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Evrovizijska Melodija 2006 | |||
| Selection date(s) | 29 January 2006 | |||
| Selected artist(s) | Anžej Dežan | |||
| Selected song | "Mr Nobody" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Failed to qualify (16th) | |||
| Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Slovenia competed in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 18 May 2006. Performing during the show in position 3, "Mr Nobody" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Slovenia placed sixteenth out of the 23 participating countries in the semi-final with 49 points.
Background
editPrior to the 2006 contest, Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTVSLO) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Slovenia eleven times since its first entry in 1993.[1] SIts highest placing in the contest, to this point, has been seventh place, achieved on two occasions: in 1995 with the song "Prisluhni mi" performed by Darja Švajger, and in 2001 with the song "Energy" performed by Nuša Derenda. Its only other top ten result was achieved in 1997 when "Zbudi se" performed by Tanja Ribič placed tenth. In 2005, "Stop" performed by Omar Naber failed to qualify to the final.
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 2006 contest on 18 September 2005.[2] The broadcaster has traditionally selected its entry through a national final entitled Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA), which has been produced with variable formats. For 2006, RTVSLO opted to organise Evrovizijska Melodija 2006 (EMA 2006) to select its entry.[2]
Before Eurovision
editEvrovizijska Melodija 2006
edit
Evrovizijska Melodija 2006 (EMA 2006) was the 11th edition of the national final format Evrovizijska Melodija, organised by RTVSLO to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The competition took place at the RTVSLO Studio 1 in Ljubljana, hosted by Janez Škof, Aljoša Ternovšek and Boris Koba and was broadcast on TV SLO1, Radio Val 202 and online via the broadcaster's website rtvslo.si.[3][4]
Format
editFourteen songs competed in a televised show where the combination of points from a five-member expert jury and a public televote determined the winner. Viewers were able to vote via telephone, SMS and USSD, and the televote was divided into two groups: votes cast via landline phones and mobile phones (SMS and USSD). The televoting groups and the expert jury each assigned points as follows: 1–8, 10 and 12, with the song that received the highest overall score when the votes were combined being determined the winner.[4]
Competing entries
editArtists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 29 September 2005 and 20 November 2005.[5] 107 entries were received by the broadcaster during the submission period.[6] An expert committee consisting of Jaka Pucihar (composer), Rok Lopatič (music producer), Jernej Vene (music editor for Radio Val 202), Mitja Ciuha (Eurovision expert) and Mario Galunič (television presenter) selected fourteen artists and songs for the competition from the received submissions.[7] The competing artists were announced on 28 November 2005.[8]
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Alenka Godec | "Hočem stran" | Anja Rupel, Alenka Godec, Aleš Klinar |
| Andraž Hribar | "Rapad tepe ipi mapam" | Milan Hribar, Andraž Hriba |
| Anžej Dežan | "Plan B" | Urša Vlašić, Matjaž Vlašić |
| Atomik Harmonik | "Polkaholik" | Dare Kaurič |
| Katrinas | "Najdi me" | Katarina Habe |
| Maja Slatinšek | "Vihar" | Maja Slatinšek, Gregor Sulejmanovič |
| Marijan Novina | "V mojih dlaneh" | Marijan Novina, Bojan Vojnovič |
| Monika Pučelj | "Ostani z mano" | Anja Rupel, Aleš Klinar |
| Natalija Verboten | "SOS" | Urša Vlašič, Matjaž Vlašič |
| Nuška Drašček | "Nora sem, da te ljubim" | Rudolf Gas |
| Rebeka Dremelj and Domen Kumer | "Noro se ujameva" | Natka Geržina, Borut Lipavec |
| Saša Lendero | "Mandoline" | Andrej Babić, Saša Lendero |
| Sergeja | "Tu da du" | Franco Zabukovec |
| Ylenia | "Hokus pokus" | Damjana Kenda-Hussu, Marino Legovič |
Final
editEMA 2006 took place on 29 January 2006. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Alya and Nuša Derenda (who represented Slovenia in 2001) performed as guests. The combination of points from a five-member jury panel (1/3) and a public televote split into votes cast via landline phones (1/3) and mobile phones (1/3) selected "Plan B" performed by Anžej Dežan as the winner.[9] The jury consisted of Martin Žvelc (music producer), Nataša Assejev (editor for RTVSLO), Cole Moretti (who represented Slovenia in 1993 as member of 1X Band), Dragan Trivič (musician and Head of the RTVSLO legal department) and Črt Sojar Voglar (composer).[10]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landlines | Mobiles | ||||||||
| 1 | Nuška Drašček | "Nora sem, da te ljubim" | 8 | 1,326 | 0 | 1,725 | 3 | 11 | 9 |
| 2 | Natalija Verboten | "SOS" | 1 | 5,616 | 6 | 3,794 | 6 | 13 | 6 |
| 3 | Rebeka Dremelj and Domen Kumer | "Noro se ujameva" | 2 | 9,280 | 8 | 8,475 | 8 | 18 | 4 |
| 4 | Sergeja | "Tu da du" | 0 | 600 | 0 | 777 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 5 | Saša Lendero | "Mandoline" | 0 | 12,164 | 12 | 11,567 | 12 | 24 | 2 |
| 6 | Andraž Hribar | "Rapad tepe ipi mapam" | 7 | 702 | 0 | 610 | 0 | 7 | 11 |
| 7 | Marijan Novina | "V mojih dlaneh" | 0 | 720 | 0 | 547 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 8 | Atomik Harmonik | "Polkaholik" | 0 | 9,736 | 10 | 9,688 | 10 | 20 | 3 |
| 9 | Maja Slatinšek | "Vihar" | 5 | 1,473 | 1 | 1,551 | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| 10 | Ylenia | "Hokus pokus" | 10 | 1,526 | 2 | 1,084 | 0 | 12 | 7 |
| 11 | Anžej Dežan | "Plan B" | 12 | 6,377 | 7 | 4,474 | 7 | 26 | 1 |
| 12 | Katrinas | "Najdi me" | 4 | 2,509 | 4 | 1,947 | 4 | 12 | 7 |
| 13 | Monika Pučelj | "Ostani z mano" | 6 | 3,849 | 5 | 2,807 | 5 | 16 | 5 |
| 14 | Alenka Godec | "Hočem stran" | 3 | 2,004 | 3 | 1,525 | 1 | 7 | 11 |
Controversy
editThe results of EMA 2006 caused controversy as Saša Lendero who won both televoting groups ultimately placed second due to the jury awarding her zero points, marking the fifth time in six years that the jury expelled the televoting winner from their votes. "Plan B" was also accused of plagiarising the song "Santa Maria" by Austrian singer Simone, however the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) allowed the song to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest as they did not see it as a plagiarism.[11][12] A new version of "Plan B" was later created with the song being translated to English for the contest titled "Mr Nobody".[13]
Promotion
editAnžej Dežan made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Mr Nobody" as the Slovenian Eurovision entry. On 4 February, Dežan performed "Mr Nobody" during the Maltese Eurovision national final Malta Song for Europe 2006.[14] Dežan also performed the song during the third elimination show of the Ukrainian Eurovision national final Ty – Zirka! on 25 February, and during the Serbian-Montenegrin Eurovision national final Evropesma-Europjesma 2006 on 11 March.[15] On 8 April, Dežan appeared in Croatia during the HTV1 show Studio 10.[16] Dežan also completed promotional activities in Macedonia in late April, including a performance during the Sitel TV programme Zvezdena Planeta.[17]
At Eurovision
editAccording to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the ten highest placed finishers in the 2005 contest are required to qualify from the semi-final on 18 May 2006 in order to compete for the final on 20 May 2006; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final. On 21 March 2006, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order for the semi-final and Slovenia was set to perform in position 3, following the entry from Bulgaria and before the entry from Andorra.[18] At the end of the semi-final, Slovenia was not announced among the top 10 entries and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Slovenia placed sixteenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 49 points.[19]
In Slovenia, the semi-final was televised on TV SLO2 and the final was televised on TV SLO1. Both shows featured commentary by Mojca Mavec.[20] RTVSLO appointed Peter Poles as its spokesperson to announce the Slovenian votes during the final.
Voting
editBelow is a breakdown of points awarded to Slovenia and awarded by Slovenia in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the semi-final and the final of the contest.
Points awarded to Slovenia
edit| Score | Country |
|---|---|
| 12 points | |
| 10 points | |
| 8 points | |
| 7 points | |
| 6 points |  Croatia
|
| 5 points |  Malta
|
| 4 points |  Israel
|
| 3 points | |
| 2 points | |
| 1 point |  Finland
|
Points awarded by Slovenia
edit
|
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References
edit- ^ "Slovenia Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
- ^ a b Bakker, Sietse (18 September 2005). "Eurovision 2023 Slovenian 2006 final on 5th February - ESCToday.com". Eurovision News, Polls and Information by ESCToday. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- ^ Busa, Alexandru (29 January 2006). "Slovenia decides tonight". Esctoday. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
- ^ a b "Predstavitev pesmi danes, EMA 2006 to nedeljo!". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). 24 January 2006. Archived from the original on 4 November 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- ^ "EMA 2006 - Razpis". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). 29 September 2005. Archived from the original on 4 November 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- ^ Bakker, Sietse (23 November 2005). "107 songs for Slovenian 2006 selection". Esctoday. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
- ^ "Vrstni red nastopajočih na Emi". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). 5 December 2005. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
- ^ Bakker, Sietse (28 November 2005). "Slovenia: selection participants revealed". Esctoday. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
- ^ Tušek, Boštjan (29 January 2006). "V Atene potuje Anžej". 24ur.com (in Slovenian). Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- ^ "Glasovanje na EMI 2006". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). 30 January 2006. Archived from the original on 4 November 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- ^ Bakker, Sietse (1 February 2006). "Slovenian entry plagiarism". Esctoday. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- ^ "Slowenien: Anžej Dežan". eurovision.de (in German). Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- ^ West-Soley, Richard (13 February 2006). "Anzej sings 'Mr Nobody'". Esctoday. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- ^ "Fabrizio is Malta's choice for Eurovision". Times of Malta. 5 February 2006. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- ^ "2006. - Beograd". eurosong.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- ^ "Naša ekipa nocoj na Hrvaški Televiziji, kate ryan pri mariu". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). 8 April 2006. Archived from the original on 4 November 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- ^ "Vsak dan spoznamo štiri evropopevke". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- ^ Bakker, Sietse (21 March 2006). "Running order decided!". EscToday.
- ^ "Semi-Final of Athens 2006". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
- ^ "Anžej Dežan potuje v Atene". Dnevnik (in Slovenian). 9 May 2006. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ a b "Results of the Semi-Final of Athens 2006". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
- ^ "Results of the Grand Final of Athens 2006". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.