In a few minutes Slovenia will conclude EMA 2008, the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest with the grand final. Ten acts will be fighting it out tonight having qualified from the two semi finals held yesterday and on Friday.
The show
Bernarda �arn and Mario Galunic will be the hosts of the final, which will start at 19:55 CET. Ten songs will be presented and the winner will be chosen in two rounds of televoting with the first one selecting the top two.
Webcast
A webcast will be provided on the RTVSLO homepage here.
Live coverage by Stella Floras and Dragan Cooler
The show has just started with last year's Slovenian representative Alenka Gotar who performs Cvet z juga. Dressed in a long golden gown Alenka looks superb. The crowds cheers wildly and "Bravo Alenka" is heard all over the studio.
1. Manca Spik – Se vedno nekaj cutim
Manca looks exactly like she looked in the semi final and that is stunning in her white, mini dress. She is rather too tall for her accompanying dancers and would look probably better in the company of tall male dancers. The vocals have improved a lot since the semi final, a whole lot as Manca seems more confident performing her uptempo pop song. She is warmly received by the audience. The webcast seems to be holding on pretty nicely, which is a relief.
The two presenters are taking us to Belgrade and are giving us a crash course in everyday Serbian. "Kuku, lele" an exclamation as if you are suffering and "hajde bre" which means "C'mon bro".
2. Eva Cerne – Dovolj
Some lovely acrobatics now by the Catwomen accompanying Eva on stage. The singer herself is very sexily dressed in a golden black catsuit that we can say makes her legs look longer. Eva's song is uptempo and rhytmic and has an ethnic touch added by the use of a local string instrument.
Zeljiko Joksimovic is interviewed now. He says that organising the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest is an opportunity to show the world all that Serbia has. He thinks Lane Moje was a great song and says that entering the Eurovision Song Contest is a kind of addiction.
3. Skupina Langa – Za svobodo divjega srca
A song that could easily make the soundtrack of a Kusturica film. Ethnic sounds from Skupina langa reminiscent of Bregovic and Ogi Radivojevic music. The song is typically Balkan, and could appeal to the entire area. A good energetic performance and the crowd loves it. "Bravo, bravo" again.
Now people are interviewed in the streets of Belgrade and asked to sing a Slovenian song if they know one. People sing songs they used to learn in primary school back before the split of Yugoslavia.
4. 4Play – DJ
A slovenian version of Alcazar now. A well practised performance by 4Play as all six members of the band (2 male, 4 female) dance and sing at the same time. Fast dance beat with an electronic flavour, sounds Balkan enough.
5. Johnny Bravo – Butn … Butn!!!
Here come the drums! Hoarse vocals and rockabily elements. There is something covered on the right of the stage on which some band members bang, looks like a piano and so far we fail to understand its purpose. The song is pleasant if a tad repetitive.
Now the hosts are trying to find out whether Serbians understand Slovenian.
6. Tiana – Povej!
A dramatic drop in tempo now. A lovely, rhytmic ballad by Tiana who is wearing an elegant, long, white evening gown. This song reminds us of many a 90's Eurovision entries with the four backing vocalists doing the traditional arm waving. Possibly the best vocals of the evening so far as Tiana nails it.
Here is a glimpse of the Beogratska Arena, the venue of the 2008 eurovision Song Contest. The hosts tell us that the Serbians are proud of the Arena , a huge and functional building.
7. Cole in Predsednik – Dober planet
Country sounds from Slovenia now. Soft pop with the country touch added by the addition of a harmonica. A good overall performance by the five member band received lukewarmly by the audience.
Now the hosts roam the streets of Belgrade asking people "When are you going to give Slovenian 12 points?", the people explain that they always vote for Slovenia but no 12 points. " Send something cheerful, happy not sad and then we will give you 12 points" a woman says. "we'll give you 12 points and you take us in the European Union" another says.
8. Rebeka Dremelj – Vrag naj vzame
Another rhytmic song, possibly the catchiest tune of the night so far by Rebekka. One female and one male dancer plus three backing vocalists complete the act. Rebekka dominates the stage and her performance is flawless.
9. Turbo Angels – Zabava
Not much colour variation tonight. Two male, two female singers/dancers all in white with the odd splash of pink and black here and there. Schlagerish sound and look in this bubble gum pop song. It is pleasant, fun and rhythmic but so "done before" in Eurovision.
An introduction to Serbian food now (those coming in May take notes:-) cevapcici, prebranac, raznjici. And on to the last song for tonight.
10. Brigita Suler – Samara
Brigita in white, violin player in black and the backing singers in black and white. An interesting entry, powewrful and melodic with a slight Gothic touch. Brigita's vocals are perfect and the crowd seems to appreciate it. This could possibly be a very strong candidate for Belgrade.
The recap of all the songs is going to follow now and right afterwards the first round of voting will start.
The special guest of the evening is Helena Blagne who is singing Diva, Dana International's winning entry in 1998. An interesting, operatic cover of the popular winner. Somehow she manages NOT to bring the tingling in the spine a Eurovision winner usually does to fans.
Alenka Gotar now on stage again, so wonderful to hear the lovely lady once more. She is performing her brand new song Odidi, a cover of Idi, by Croatian Petar Grašo. Alenka has penned the lyrics herself.
Now it is Nusa Derenda, Darja Svaiger and Alenka Godec perform a song each.
Results now:
Skupina Langa and Rebekka Dremelj to the Super Final. While both Super Finalists perform their songs one more time here are the full results of the first round of televoting:
Brigita Suler – Samara 9746
4Play – DJ 9134
Eva Cerne – Dovolj 8044
Turbo Angels – Zabava 7914
Johnny Bravo – Butn … Butn!!! 6192
Tiana – Povej! 4945
Manca Spik – Se vedno nekaj cutim 3132
Cole in Predsednik – Dober planet 3189
The second teelvoting round will last only five minutes. Soon we will know whether Slovenia will send ethnic or pop to Belgrade.
Eroika now on stage, they perform Dan Ljubezni, the 1975 Yugoslavian entry, one of the biggest Eurovision hits from Slovenia originally performed by Pepel in Kri. The voting has ended and it is chills time as we hear last year's winner performed in English.
And the winner is ……………………… Rebekka Dremelj with just 400 votes more than Skupina langa.
