Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006

Slovenia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Mr Nobody" written by Urša Vlašić and Matjaž Vlašić. The song was performed by Anžej Dežan. Slovenian broadcaster Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV Slovenija) organised the national final EMA 2006 in order to select the Slovenian entry for the 2006 contest in Athens, Greece. Fourteen entries competed in the national final where "Plan B" performed by Anžej Dežan was selected following the combination of votes from a five-member jury panel and a public televote. The song was later translated from Slovene to English for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "Mr Nobody".

Slovenia competed in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 18 May 2006. Performing during the show in position 3, "Mr Nobody" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Slovenia placed sixteenth out of the 23 participating countries in the semi-final with 49 points.

Background 

Prior to the 2006 contest, Slovenia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest eleven times since its first entry in . Slovenia's highest placing in the contest, to this point, has been seventh place, which the nation achieved on two occasions: in 1995 with the song "Prisluhni mi" performed by Darja Švajger and in 2001 with the song "Energy" performed by Nuša Derenda. The country's only other top ten result was achieved in 1997 when Tanja Ribič performing "Zbudi se" placed tenth. In 2005, "Stop" performed by Omar Naber failed to qualify to the final.

The Slovenian national broadcaster, Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV Slovenija), broadcasts the event within Slovenia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. RTV Slovenija confirmed Slovenia's participation in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest on 18 September 2005. The Slovenian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest has traditionally been selected through a national final entitled Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA), which has been produced with variable formats. For 2006, the broadcaster opted to organise EMA 2006 to select the Slovenian entry.

Before Eurovision

EMA 2006 

EMA 2006 was the 11th edition of the Slovenian national final format Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA), used by RTV Slovenija to select Slovenia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The competition took place at the RTV Slovenija Studio 1 in Ljubljana, hosted by Janez Škof, Aljoša Ternovšek and Boris Koba and was broadcast on TV SLO1, Radio Val 202 and online via the broadcaster's website rtvslo.si.

Format 
Fourteen songs competed in a televised show where the combination of points from a five-member expert jury and a public televote determined the winner. Viewers were able to vote via telephone, SMS and USSD, and the televote was divided into two groups: votes cast via landline phones and mobile phones (SMS and USSD). The televoting groups and the expert jury each assigned points as follows: 1–8, 10 and 12, with the song that received the highest overall score when the votes were combined being determined the winner.

Competing entries 
Artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 29 September 2005 and 20 November 2005. 107 entries were received by the broadcaster during the submission period. An expert committee consisting of Jaka Pucihar (composer), Rok Lopatič (music producer), Jernej Vene (music editor for Radio Val 202), Mitja Ciuha (Eurovision expert) and Mario Galunič (television presenter) selected fourteen artists and songs for the competition from the received submissions. The competing artists were announced on 28 November 2005.

Final 
EMA 2006 took place on 29 January 2006. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Alya and 2001 Slovenian Eurovision entrant Nuša Derenda performed as guests. The combination of points from a five-member jury panel (1/3) and a public televote split into votes cast via landline phones (1/3) and mobile phones (1/3) selected "Plan B" performed by Anžej Dežan as the winner. The jury consisted of Martin Žvelc (music producer), Nataša Assejev (editor for RTV Slovenija), Cole Moretti (1993 Slovenian Eurovision entrant as member of 1X Band), Dragan Trivič (musician and Head of the RTV Slovenija legal department) and Črt Sojar Voglar (composer).

Controversy 
The results of EMA 2006 caused controversy as Saša Lendero who won both televoting groups ultimately placed second due to the jury awarding her zero points, marking the second time in three years that the jury expelled the televoting winner from their votes. "Plan B" was also accused of plagiarising the song "Santa Maria" by Austrian singer Simone, however the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) allowed the song to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest as they did not see it as a plagiarism. A new version of "Plan B" was later created with the song being translated to English for the contest titled "Mr Nobody".

Promotion 
Anžej Dežan made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Mr Nobody" as the Slovenian Eurovision entry. On 4 February, Dežan performed "Mr Nobody" during the Maltese Eurovision national final Malta Song for Europe 2006. Dežan also performed the song during the third elimination show of the Ukrainian Eurovision national final Ty – Zirka! on 25 February, and during the Serbian and Montenegrin Eurovision national final Evropesma-Europjesma 2006 on 11 March. On 8 April, Dežan appeared in Croatia during the HTV1 show Studio 10. Dežan also completed promotional activities in Macedonia in late April, including a performance during the Sitel TV programme Zvezdena Planeta.

At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the ten highest placed finishers in the 2005 contest are required to qualify from the semi-final on 18 May 2006 in order to compete for the final on 20 May 2006; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final. On 21 March 2006, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order for the semi-final and Slovenia was set to perform in position 3, following the entry from Bulgaria and before the entry from Andorra. At the end of the semi-final, Slovenia was not announced among the top 10 entries and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Slovenia placed sixteenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 49 points.

In Slovenia, the semi-final was televised on TV SLO2 and the final was televised on TV SLO1. Both shows featured commentary by Mojca Mavec. The Slovenian spokesperson, who announced the Slovenian votes during the final, was Peter Poles.

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

Points awarded to Slovenia

Points awarded by Slovenia

References

2006
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006
Eurovision