The semi final of EMA 2010, the Slovenian pre-selection to determine the country's representative at this year's Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Oslo, is about to be held. 14 acts will compete for the seven remaining spots in the national final, to be held tomorrow, on Sunday 21st.

How to watch ?

A webcastwill be made available here. (you will need Octoshape installed to watch the stream).

The participants

1. Sara Kobold – Od tod do vecnosti
2. Brigita Suler – Para me
3. Nina Puslar – Dez
4. Langa – Roko mi daj
5. Sasa Zamernik – Zivim za zdaj
6. Ylenia Zobec – Priznam
7. Vaso & D Plejbeks – Gremo na emo
8. Martina Sraj – Dovolj ljubezni
9. Marko Vozelj – Maj si zrak
10. Petra Pecovnik – Iz nevade
11. Martina Feri – Le en dan
12. Zadnji Taxi – Franjo
13. Manca Spik – Tukaj sem doma
14. Anzambel Roka Zlindere & Kalamari – Narodno zabavni rock

LIVE

The show is underway and after a dancing introduction, the Green room is shown.

1. Sara Kobold – Od tod do vecnosti

The electro pop entry kicks off the second semi final with Sara dressed in a black mini dress. She uncovers two male dancers. The uptempo entry is a strong opening. The song has mediteranean beats and the male dancers have venetian masks as they move in time to the entry.

2. Brigita Suler – Para me

This is Brigita's third consecutive participation in EMA, after 3rd place in 2008 with Samara and last place in 2009 with Druga liga. Brigita aspires to get back to a top placing again this year with the turbo- folk song Para me, written by Miha Hercog and Sasa Lendero. Brigita is dressed in a beautiful blue evening dress and has five backing singer dressed in black at her disposal. The vocals are solid and it will be very certain qualifier, however, Brigita doesn't seem to be as comfortable with the song, as she was with Samrara. But definitely more comfortable than last year.

3. Nina Puslar – Dez

Opening with guitar vocals, Nina is dressed in a white dress with mirrored skin-tight trousers. The flame haired songstress performs a mid-tempo rock song with five backing dancers in dinner suits. Vocally sound, she has one backing vocalist supporting her for the harmonies. The stage flashes with white lights on black and blue images across the stage.

4. Langa – Roko mi daj

After Brigita Suler, Langa are the next ones to participate for the third consecutive time. After a 2nd place and a 5th place in 2008 and 2009 respectively, they're back with Roko mi daj, which definitely is their weakest attempt so far. It's a ballad that doesn't seem to go anywhere and the song seems to have lost it's soul, as it isn't very authentic, like their previous attempts. Given their history, they might fare well with the televoters nevertheless, especially with a certain ethnic minority

5. Sasa Zamernik – Zivim za zdaj

Sasa starts her ballad with four accompanying backing singers. The song starts softly, singing closely into the microphone. The song remains soft and despite a wind machine being turned on, there is little else that changes before the bridge and the big vocals kick in for a big finish.

6. Ylenia Zobec – Priznam

Ylenia performs a traditional Eurovision Song Contest style ballad in a body hugging deep red dress. Alone on stage, the performance is emotional and builds progessively throughout the song, but may not have enough to capture a place in tomorrow's final.

7. Vaso & D Plejbeks – Gremo na emo

This Tom Jones / Right Said Fred style entry a pianist sits with a toy plant pot on his haid and dances like a lunatic. The entry seems to be a little bit of a joke entry but similar things have worked in the last for Lithuania (We are the winners of Eurovision).

8. Martina Sraj – Dovolj ljubezni

Martina enters the stage in a mirrored silver outfit supported by four backing dancers/vocalists and a fifth on piano. The song is a mix of gosple and pop, and the rough vocals add to the power of the song. The song is catchy and sticks in the head, a good sign for a place in tomorrow's final.

9. Marko Vozelj – Maj si zrak

Marko shows off his powerful vocal skills with this ballad with a slight Italian touch. He is dressing in a quite smart way, suiting this song perfectly. Should Slovenia send him to Oslo, no doubt it would be quite an unexpected move since this type of song is not usual in Slovenia's late Eurovision participations.

10. Petra Pecovnik – Iz nevade

Petra takes now the stage. The song could be clearly considered of pop style. She looks quite confident on the EMA stage, though the song lacks some strength in some moments. The last part of Petra's speeds up a bit and makes it more rhythmic and mid-tempo.

11. Martina Feri & Tomaz Nedoh – Le en dan

The tune starts with a clarinet solo, which contributes to create a warm atmosphere. Martina's vocals are perfectly in tune, and she looks very confident on stage. We can fairly say that we are watching one of the most perfectly designed performances tonight. The only con: the song might be too slow and not appeal much to those fans across Europe liking uptempo entries.

12. Zadnji Taxi – Franjo

The leading singer is dressing in a quite eccentric way. Franjo is not exactly what we call a typical Eurovision tune, and could not succeed tonight, but we never know. The song, as well as the vocalists' appearance, remind of the 60s or 70s. Will they be able to break the time barrier? We'll see.

13. Manca Spik – Tukaj sem doma

Manca takes over the stage in a beautiful blue evening gown with a long trail. She is looking stunning and ready to let all her emotions come out on stage. She is performing Tukaj sem doma, a song by two times EMA winner Andrej Babic. The song carries patriotic motives, it's about her love for Slovenia, which is also symbolized at the end of the performance.

14. Anzambel Roka Zlindere & Kalamari – Narodno zabavni rock

A mixture of tradional folk music, typical of Slovenia and Austria, and some rock elements. Good vocal performance and presentation, this kind of music could do very well with the televoters.

This concludes tonight's performances. The results will come out after a number of interval acts.

A recap of all 14 songs is now being shown.

Natalija Verboten is performing a revamped version of Cry on my shoulder, the song that won the televoting at EMA 2004 and got her 4th place overall. After that, she is performing another song, this time in Slovenian.

Another former EMA contestant: Eva Cerne is performing Cuedzi smehljaja, the song that got her 2nd place at EMA 2007 and a new song in Slovenian, written by herself.

Now it's time for a familiar face to take over the sage: Rebeka Dremelj, the 2008 Slovenian Eurovision Song Contest representative, is dressed as a runaway bride, urging the viewers to "come with her", as the ballad version of her 2005 EMA song Pojdi z menoj implies. A very interesting performance. After that, the sexy Rebeka takes over and performs a new song in Slovenian, dressed like somone from Moulin Rouge.

It's time now for Regina, the 2009 Bosnia & Herzegovinan representatives, singing their Eurovision entry Bistra voda.

All 14 acts are now on stage for tonight's verdict. The results are about to be announced.

And the finalists are: Birgita Suler, Nina Pulsar, Langa, Martina Sraj, Marko Vozelj, Manca Spik and Ansambel Roka Zlindre & Kalamari.