Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011

EMA 2011 was the 16th edition of the Slovenian national final format Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA), used by RTV Slovenija to select Slovenia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. The competition took place at the RTV Slovenija Studio 1 in Ljubljana, hosted by Klemen Slakonja and was broadcast on TV SLO1, Radio Val 202, Radio Maribor and online via the broadcaster's website rtvslo.si as well as the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.[3][4]

Ten songs competed in a televised show where the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a three-member expert jury selected two finalists out of the ten competing songs to proceed to a superfinal. Each member of the expert jury assigned a score of 1 (lowest score) to 5 (highest score) to each song with the top two being determined by the songs that receive the highest overall scores when the jury votes are combined. Ties were broken by giving priority to the song(s) that achieved a higher number of top scores (5), which would be followed by each juror indicating their preferred song should a tie still have persisted. In the superfinal, public televoting exclusively determined the winner. In case of technical problems with the televote, the jury would have voted to determine the winner in a similar process as in the first round of the competition.[5]

An expert committee consisting of editors for the entertainment programme of RTV Slovenija nominated ten artists to be directly invited by the broadcaster for the competition. The artists selected the composers for their entries in consultation with RTV Slovenija.[6] The competing artists were announced on 20 January 2011. Among the competing artists was former Slovenian Eurovision contestant Omar Naber who represented Slovenia in 2005.[7]

EMA 2011 took place on 27 February 2011. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Maestro Dance Crew, 1995 and 1999 Slovenian Eurovision entrant Darja Švajger and 2006 Croatian Eurovision entrant Severina performed as guests.[8] The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a three-member jury panel selected two entries to proceed to the second round. The jury consisted of Švajger, Severina and Mojca Mavec (journalist and television presenter).[9] In the second round, a public televote selected "Vanilija" performed by Maja Keuc as the winner.[10][11]

Following Maja Keuc's win at EMA 2011, the singer revealed that "Vanilija" would likely be translated from Slovene to English for the Eurovision Song Contest.[12] On 9 April, the English version "No One" was presented via the premiere of the official music video, directed by i3 and filmed in the woods in the Ljubljana Zoo, during the TV SLO1 programme Spet doma.[13]

Maja Keuc made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "No One" as the Slovenian Eurovision entry. On 8 April, Maja Keuc performed during the BHT 1 show Konačno petak in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[14] On 9 April, Keuc performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Club Air venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas, Esther Hart and Sascha Korf.[15] Maja Keuc also took part in promotional activities in Greece and Macedonia in late April.[16]

Maja Keuc took in technical rehearsals on 4 and 8 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 11 and 12 May. This included the jury show on 12 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.[19]

The Slovenian performance featured Maja Keuc performing in a black outfit containing real metal together with four backing vocalists. The performance also included Keuc and her backing vocalists performing a choreographed routine. The LED screens displayed rotating flowers that changed colour and shade which remained dark until the chorus of the song.[20] The four backing vocalists that joined Maja Keuc on stage were: Ana Bezjak, Katja Koren, Martina Majerle and Sandra Feketija. Majerle previously represented Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 together with the group Quartissimo where they failed to qualify to the grand final of the contest with the song "Love Symphony".[21]

At the end of the show, Slovenia was announced as having finished in the top ten and subsequently qualifying for the grand final.[22] It was later revealed that the Slovenia placed third in the semi-final, receiving a total of 112 points.[23]

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine the running order of the final. This draw was done in the order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Slovenia was drawn to perform in position 20, following the entry from Azerbaijan and before the entry from Iceland.

Maja Keuc once again took part in dress rehearsals on 13 and 14 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Maja Keuc performed a repeat of her semi-final performance during the final on 14 May. Slovenia placed thirteenth in the final, scoring 96 points.[23][24]

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding points from 1–8, 10 and 12 as determined by a combination of 50% national jury and 50% televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Slovenia and awarded by Slovenia in the second 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.