THIS YEAR'S ENTRY
Following its
independence from Yugoslavia, Slovenia took the
first opportunity to take part in the Eurovision
Song Contest, in Milstreet in 1993. Despite
having a thriving music industy, Slovenia hasn't
done exceptionally well in the contest and is
still waiting for its first Top 5 result.
In 2007, Slovenia qualified from the semi-final
after three previous failures.
For Eurovision
2008, Slovenian broadcaster RTVSLO once again
opted for the same selection formula as in
recent years. The Slovene Final (the EMA) was
held on February 3rd at the RTVSLO TV Studios in
Ljubljana, following two semi-finals on the
previous evenings. The winner was chosen over
two rounds of televoting - the first to select
the top two and the second to select the winning
entry which represents Slovenia in Belgrade.
"Vrag naj
vzame" (To Hell With It) sung by Rebeka
Dremelj, was comprehensivly beaten into second
place in the first round of voting, but in the
second it won by less than 400 of the 113,000
televotes cast, in one of the closest selections
in this year's calendar.
Singer Rebeka
Dremelj was born July 25th, 1980 in Brežice,
Slovenia (then Yugoslavia) and she originally
came to fame when she won Miss Slovenia 2001,
and went on to represent the country at Miss
World. It was in the
beauty pagent that Rebeka's singing talent was
demonstrated to a World audience and she was
subsequently signed up for a recording contract
by Sony Records.
Rebeka soon
emerged as one of Slovenia's most popular
recording stars and her Eurovision entry is the
latest of many hit singles which also include
favourites such as "Ko Ugasnejo Luči",
"Keš bejba ", "Prvi Korak",
"Fever", Slovenski Superboy",
"Pojdi z Menoj". Rebeka has also
released three successful albums with a fourth
album "Drugo" which features her
Eurovision entry, recently released.
This is
Rebeka's fourth attempt to perform in the
Eurovision Song Contest; having finished 10th in
2004 with "Ne Boš Se Igral" (You
Won't Play) ansd a year later she won the
original public vote in the Slovenian final with
"Pojdi Z Menoj" (Come With Me), but
lost out to Omar Naber and "Stop" in
the Super-final. In 2006 she teamed up with
Domen Kumer for the duet "Noro Se
Ujameva" (We Get On Like Crazy) and they
finished 4th. After taking a break in 2007,
Rebeka finally gets her chance in Belgrade in
2008.
Rebeka has
developed her career, away from the music
industry and has starred into two movies,
playing Vesna in the 2002 film "Na Svoji
Vesni" and playing a minor role in the 2003
movie "Hey DJ", filmed on location in
Ibiza. She has also appeared in serveral
television series on Slovenian television.
Rebeka has also been a television presenter and
showing that she is far from being just a pretty
face, Rebeka also owns her own underwear label
called Rebeka's Dream.
Rebeka is one
of the few Slovenian Eurovision singers to be
known throughout all of former Yugoslavia and has regularly appeared on
television in the other former Yugoslav
republics. Last year she performed at the
tribute show for the late Macedonian singer Toše
Proeski (Eurovision 2004). Rebeka has also been
romantically linked with Serbian singer and
songwriter Željko Joksimovic, the presenter of
this year's Eurovision Song Contest, although
the pair have stated that they are just good
friends.
Slovenia's
entry ""Vrag Naj Vzame"
(literally "Let The Devil Take It" but
translated as "To Hell With It") has
also been recorded under the English title of
"Heavy Weather" and it is believed
that the song will be performed by Rebeka in a
bi-lingual version in Belgrade, with the last
verse and chorus being sung in English, for the
international audience.
Slovenia is in
contention for a place in the final, according
to bookmakers, and would safely make it through
to the final if internet fan polls were to be
believed. However neither bookmakers or fan
polls suggest a Top 10 finish for Slovenia.
