Slovenia expanded their national selection for the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, as they organized an online competition EMA Fresh, where two newcommers are going to get a chance to compete against well established singers, and gain the right to represent Slovenia in Eurovision. EMA Fresh reached its final stage, where 10 acts are going to compete for the two places in the final – one will be chosen by public, and one by a special jury. These two acts are going to join the 10 already established artists in the Final of EMA 2020, and their names just got published.
A total of 74 songs were submitted for EMA 2020, and a three member jury consisting of Raiven (three-times participant and one-time host of EMA), Mojca Menart (RTVSlo) and Jernej Vene (Music Editor of the radio station Val 202) chose the 10 finalists. They are (in alphabetical order):
- Ana Soklič – Voda
- Božidar Wolfand Wolf – Maybe Someday
- Gaja Prestor – Verjamem vase
- Imset – Femme Fatale
- InMate – The Salt
- Klara Jazbec – Stop The World
- Lina Kuduzović – Man Like U
- Manca Berlec – Večnost
- Simon Vadnjal – Nisi sam
- Tinkara Kovač – Forever
Tinkara Kovač already represented Slovenia in Eurovision back in 2014, with “Spet (Round And Round), and made it to the Grand Final in Copenhagen. Lina Kuduzović represented Slovenia at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Bulgaria, where her entry “Prva ljubezen” reached 3rd place – Slovenia’s best result in the two Contests. InMate have already tried their luck in EMA 2019, when their entry “Atma” finished in 7th place.
Two more acts are going to be chosen through EMA Fresh on the 18th of January, and they will complete the line-up of 12 finalists of EMA 2020. The show will take place on the 22nd of February in RTVSlo’s TV Studio in Ljubljana. After all the songs have been performed, a three member jury are going to select the top two, and then televoters will chose which of the two will be the winner, who will go on to represent Slovenia in Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam.
