Slovenian broadcaster RTVSLO has revealed the dates and host for EMA 2018. The songs will be presented on Val 202 radio.

Slovenian broadcaster RTVSLO has announced that Vid Valič will be the solo host of Slovenia’s national selection, Evrovizijska Melodija or EMA 2018.

Vid Valič is a Slovenian actor, comedian and TV-presenter, and it will be the first time that he will host EMA. He is very excited about this task:

My first memories of EMA go back to childhood when Mom said: ‘You should watch this.’ And we did. It seemed interesting to me, what was happening on the stage. I was fascinated by the fact that there were so many musicians and musical styles on one stage.

Known mostly as a stand-up comedian, Vid Valič takes the task of hosting EMA 2018 very seriously and has specific ideas about the job:

The main thing that I found out when I was following the hosts of EMA in the past is that it’s not good if there are more than two together. Because it seems to me that otherwise there is too much interaction. But that’s purely my personal opinion.

Vid Valič has also learned to put the focus on the performers:

They taught me that I have to emphasize the glamour, because it is a very glamourous event. All the musicians present at EMA represent the flower of Slovenian music. In such competitions, you have to be aware that those who came to the competition have done very much to come to this moment so that they can be presented to the whole of Slovenia. Therefore, you must not tease them, humiliate them, but elevate them, because if they were not here, we would have nothing to show.

Dates of EMA 2018

The semi-final of EMA will be held on 17 February, while the grand final is scheduled for 24 February.

In the semi-final, 16 contestants will compete for a place in the final: four will proceed through televoting, while four more will be chosen by a professional jury.

Thus, 8 acts will be present in the grand final, where six extra juries may also cast their vote: music performers, music artists, producers, a radio jury, a Eurovision-fans jury and an international jury.

All songs will be sung in Slovenian.

Presentation of the songs

Between 5 and 8 February, the 16 EMA 2018 songs will be presented on radio station Val 202. Each day, four entries will be featured, at 14:40 local time. The artists will elucidate their entries in short interviews.

The 16 participants of EMA 2018

• Anabel – Pozitiva
  
• BQL – Ptica
  
• Gregor Ravnik – Zdaj je čas
  
• Ina Shai – V nebo
  
• Indigo – Vesna
  
• KiNG FOO – Žive sanje
  
• Lara Kadis – Zdaj sem tu
  
• Lea Sirk – Ne, hvala!
  
• ManuElla – Glas
  
• Marina Martensson – Blizu
  
• MILA – Svoboda
  
• Nika Zorjan – Uspavanka – Lullaby
  
• Nuška Drašček – Ne zapusti me zdaj
  
• Orter – Kraljica
  
• Proper – Ukraden cvet
  
• Tanja Ribič – Ljudje
  

Slovenia was represented at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv, Ukraine, by artist Omar Naber, who previously had participated in Eurovision 2005.

With his entry On my way he unfortunately did not go through to the grand final, placing 17th out of 18 contestants in semi-final 1, with 36 points.