Slovakia in the Eurovision Song Contest | |
---|---|
Participating broadcaster | Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska (RTVS; 2011–present) Former members
|
Participation summary | |
Appearances | 7 (3 finals) |
First appearance | 1994 |
Last appearance | 2012 |
Highest placement | 18th: 1996 |
External links | |
Slovakia's page at Eurovision.tv | |
For the most recent participation see Slovakia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 |
Slovakia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest seven times, debuting in 1994. It had attempted to debut in 1993, but did not pass through the qualifying round. In the first three finals that Slovakia participated in, it placed no better than 18th, which it achieved in 1996. Due to poor results, Slovakia was relegated in 1995 and 1997, and eventually withdrew in 1999. The country returned in 2009, although it withdrew again within four years, having failed to qualify for the final every year since its return.
During the time of Czechoslovakia, Československá televize (ČST) is known to have broadcast a number of editions of the contest in Czechoslovakia during the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. [1] [2] [3] [4] Karel Gott, one of the most popular Czechoslovakian artist, represented Austria in the 1968 contest, held in London, United Kingdom. Furthermore, the Prague Theatre of Illuminated Drawings from the Czech capital performed as interval act in the 1984 contest, held in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Czechoslovakia was even a member of EBU for a short time before its dissolution in 1993.
Slovakia had planned on entering the contest at the 1993 contest, but with the introduction of many new countries, a preliminary round was held to trim down the number of new entries. Kvalifikacija za Millstreet took place on 3 April 1993 and was hosted by Radiotelevizija Slovenija in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The competition featured seven countries competing for only three places in the final. Slovakia was represented by internally selected band Elán with "Amnestia na neveru" and came fourth in the contest, just one point away from qualification behind Croatia, and therefore had to wait another year before entering again. Despite the non-qualification for the event, STV did send a commentary team to Millstreet, Ireland and broadcast coverage of the contest on the broadcaster's main channel.
Slovakia made its first official appearance at the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 in Dublin, where the country was represented for the first time by Tublatanka with "Nekonečná pieseň". Slovakia's first attempt proved reasonably unsuccessful, with the band receiving points from just two countries; three points from Greece and a surprising twelve points from Malta placing the country nineteenth on the leaderboard. This was unfortunately not enough to guarantee a spot for Slovakia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995, with the then EBU rules specifying that the bottom seven countries would be relegated the following year. STV then decided to not even broadcast the 1995 contest.
In 1996, Slovakia returned to the Eurovision Song Contest, with STV deciding to internally select their representative for the third time in a row. Ultimately, Marcel Palonder was internally selected to represent Slovakia in Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "Kým nás máš". Due to the rising number of countries wishing to participate, in 1996 the EBU introduced an audio-only qualification round. Slovakia managed to qualify in seventeenth place in a field of twenty-nine and progressed to the final. Here, Slovakia achieved their best result to date, placing eighteenth with nineteen points. However, it was not enough to guarantee participation in the 1997 contest and Slovakia was, once again, relegated.
For the 1998 contest, which was held in Birmingham in the United Kingdom, STV selected their artist through the national final Bratislavská Lýra 1998 - a contest which held previously been held during the existence of Czechoslovakia but revived for the purpose of selecting Slovakia's artist for the Eurovision Song Contest. The event took place on 7 June 1997, in which Katarína Hasprová took victory and was hence selected by STV to represent the country at the 1998 contest. The broadcaster internally selected "Modlitba" to be sung by Hasprová. At the contest, Slovakia only managed to receive eight points - all of which came from Croatia. This was the country's last participation for a number of years.
Due to a poor average score, Slovakia was automatically excluded from the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 and would therefore not be eligible to participate until 2000. However, after being due to return, STV withdrew due to financial concerns. [5] Throughout the early 2000s, the Eurovision project was mainly ignored by STV. After the first appearance of Slovakia's neighbour: the Czech Republic in 2007, the program director of Slovenská Televízia (STV), Peter Lipták, stated on 11 May 2007 that STV would like to participate in the 2008 contest, but due to a lack of financial funds Slovakia did not make a return. [6]
On 24 September 2008, STV announced their return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009 after an eleven-year absence. [7] [8] The program director of STV Roman Lipták stated that the pressure from local artists was the driving force behind the country's return. [9] Upon their return, STV organised a large-scale national final to select their entry. Eurosong 2009 consisted of six shows which commenced on 15 February 2009 and concluded with a final on 8 March 2009. The competition resulted in the selection of Slovak duo Kamil Mikulčík and Nela Pocisková with "Leť tmou". At the contest, the entry only received eight points and failed to qualify for the competition. For the 2010 contest, STV held the same national selection method, which resulted in the selection of Kristína with "Horehronie". Despite being a bookies and fan favourite, the song failed to qualify to the final - finishing in sixteenth place with twenty-four points.
Though STV originally stated that Slovakia would not take part in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011, it eventually did appear in Düsseldorf represented by the new national public broadcaster Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS), which had been created on 1 January 2011. [10] [11] On 18 February 2011, RTVS revealed their choice for Slovakia's 2011 entry. The song was "I'm Still Alive" and was performed by twin sisters Daniela and Veronika Nízlová, known as the pop duo TWiiNS. The sisters had prior experience at Eurovision as backing singers and dancers for Tereza Kerndlová, the Czech entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. The 2011 entry was the first Slovak entry performed in English. TWiiNS eventually finished 13th in their semi-final, thereby not qualifying for the final. RTVS sent an entry to the contest in 2012, with a song that was selected internally. At a press conference on 7 March 2012, the Slovak entry for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest was announced as Max Jason Mai with the song "Don't Close Your Eyes". It was performed in the second semi-final, held on 24 May 2012 and did not qualify in the final, placing last with 22 points.
On 4 December 2012, RTVS announced its withdrawal from the 2013 contest, beginning an absence that has continued in every edition since. [12] [13] [14] However, RTVS returned to Eurovision Young Dancers in 2015, with RTVS explaining that their return to Eurovision Young Dancers was in support of domestic production and promoted national culture at a European level. RTVS' PR manager, Juraj Kadáš, explained in April 2016 that Slovakia's absence from the contest since 2012 was not due to poor results, but rather the costs associated with participation. [15] This was reiterated in May 2023 by Filip Púchovský from the PR department of RTVS, adding that if Slovakia were to return to the contest, their artist would likely have to fund themselves rather than by the broadcaster. [16]
On 8 August 2023, the head of marketing communication at RTVS, Zuzana Vicelová, stated that the broadcaster was considering a return to the contest in 2025, following a restructuring of the broadcaster's financing model by the Slovak government, with the support of general director Ľuboš Machaj. [17] The following month, Machaj declared that the broadcaster was actively working to secure the funding needed to participate in 2025. [18] On 8 April 2024, RTVS announced that it would not return to the contest in 2025 due to budget cuts, putting any potential return in jeopardy. [19]
◁ | Last place |
X | Entry selected but did not compete |
Year | Artist | Song | Language | Final | Points | Semi | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1993 | Elán | " Amnestia na neveru " | Slovak | Failed to qualify [lower-alpha 1] X | 4 | 50 | |
1994 | Martin Ďurinda and Tublatanka | " Nekonečná pieseň " | Slovak | 19 | 15 | No semi-finals | |
1996 | Marcel Palonder | " Kým nás máš " | Slovak | 18 | 19 | 17 | 38 |
1998 | Katarína Hasprová | " Modlitba " | Slovak | 21 | 8 | No semi-finals | |
2009 | Kamil Mikulčík and Nela Pocisková | " Leť tmou " | Slovak | Failed to qualify | 18 | 8 | |
2010 | Kristina | " Horehronie " | Slovak | 16 | 24 | ||
2011 | Twiins | "I'm Still Alive" | English | 13 | 48 | ||
2012 | Max Jason Mai | "Don't Close Your Eyes" | English | 18 ◁ | 22 |
Songs | Language | Years |
---|---|---|
6 | Slovak | 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2009, 2010 |
2 | English | 2011, 2012 |
|
|
The public broadcaster of each participating country in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the contestants, songwriters, composers and backing vocalists, among others. [20]
Year | Head of delegation | Ref. |
---|---|---|
2011–2012 | Jana Majorava |
Year | Head of press | Ref. |
---|---|---|
2011–2012 | Alon Amir |
Year | Costume designers | Ref. |
---|---|---|
2011 | Lucia Senášiová |
Between 1993 and 1998, Slovakia sent a native conductor to the contest every year the country took part until the orchestra was dropped by the EBU in 1999.
Year | Conductor [lower-alpha 2] | Ref. |
---|---|---|
Kvalifikacija za Millstreet | Vladimir Valovič | |
1994 | ||
1996 | Juraj Burian | |
1998 | Vladimír Valovič |
For the show's broadcast on STV and RTVS, various commentators have provided commentary on the contest in the Slovak language. At the Eurovision Song Contest after all points are calculated, the presenters of the show call upon each voting country to invite each respective spokesperson to announce the results of their vote on-screen. [28] In 2011, Rádio FM began broadcasting the final of the contest, a broadcast which has continued every year (with the exception of 2022) since Slovakia's withdrawal in 2012.
Year | Television | Radio | Spokesperson | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Channel | Commentator | Channel | Commentator | |||
1965 | ČST | Unknown | No broadcast | Did not participate | ||
1966 | Vladimír Dvořák | |||||
1967 | ||||||
1968 | Miroslav Horníček | |||||
1969 | Unknown | |||||
1970–1980 | No broadcast | |||||
1981 | ČST2 | Unknown | ||||
1982 | ČST1 | |||||
1983 | ČST2 | |||||
1984 | ||||||
1985 | ||||||
1986 | ||||||
1987–1990 | No broadcast | |||||
1991 | S1 | Unknown | ||||
1992 | F1 | |||||
1993 | STV2 | |||||
1994 | Juraj Čurný | |||||
1995 | No broadcast | Did not participate | ||||
1996 | STV2 | Unknown | Alena Heribanová | |||
1997 | Did not participate | |||||
1998 | Alena Heribanová | |||||
1999–2008 | No broadcast | Did not participate | ||||
2009 | Dvojka | Roman Bomboš | Ľubomír Bajaník | |||
2010 | ||||||
2011 | Jednotka (SF1 & Final) Dvojka (SF2) | Rádio FM | Roman Bomboš | Mária Pietrová | ||
2012 | Jednotka | Rádio Slovensko Rádio FM | Roman Bomboš (Rádio Slovensko) Daniel Baláž and Pavol Hubinák (Rádio FM) | |||
2013 | No broadcast | Rádio FM | Daniel Baláž and Pavol Hubinák | Did not participate | ||
2014 | Daniel Baláž, Pavol Hubinák and Juraj Kemka | |||||
2015 | ||||||
2016 | ||||||
2017 | ||||||
2018 | Daniel Baláž, Pavol Hubinák, Juraj Malíček, Ela Tolstová and Celeste Buckingham | |||||
2019 | Daniel Baláž and Pavol Hubinák | |||||
2021 | Daniel Baláž, Lucia Haverlík, Pavol Hubinák and Juraj Malíček | |||||
2022 | No broadcast [lower-alpha 3] | |||||
2023 | Rádio FM | Daniel Baláž, Lucia Haverlík, Pavol Hubinák and Juraj Malíček | ||||
2024 |
The European Broadcasting Union is an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who are members of the Council of Europe. As of 2024, it is made up of 123 member organisations from 56 countries, and 31 associate members from a further 20 countries. It was established in 1950, and has its administrative headquarters in Geneva.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1969 was the 14th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Madrid, Spain, following the country's victory at the 1968 contest with the song "La La La" by Massiel. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE), the contest was held at the Teatro Real on 29 March 1969 and was hosted by Spanish television presenter and actress Laurita Valenzuela.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1968 was the 13th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in London, United Kingdom, following the country's first victory at the 1967 contest with the song "Puppet on a String" by Sandie Shaw. Despite having won for the first time the year before, it was actually the third time that the United Kingdom had hosted the competition, having previously done so in 1960 and 1963, both of which also took place in London. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the contest was held at Royal Albert Hall on 6 April 1968, and was hosted by Katie Boyle for the third time. It was notably also the first time that the contest was broadcast in colour.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1966 was the 11th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country's victory at the 1965 contest with the song "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" by France Gall. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT), the contest was held at the Villa Louvigny on 5 March 1966 and was hosted by Luxembourgish television presenter Josiane Chen.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1967 was the 12th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the 1966 contest with the song "Merci, Chérie" by Udo Jürgens. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), the contest was held at the Großer Festsaal der Wiener Hofburg on 8 April 1967, becoming the first contest held in the month of April, and was hosted by Austrian actress Erica Vaal.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1971 was the 16th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the 1970 contest with the song "All Kinds of Everything" by Dana. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), the contest was held at the Gaiety Theatre on 3 April 1971, and was hosted by Irish television presenter Bernadette Ní Ghallchóir.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1994 was the 39th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 30 April 1994 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), and presented by Cynthia Ní Mhurchú and Gerry Ryan, the contest was held in Ireland following the country's victory at the 1993 contest with the song "In Your Eyes" by Niamh Kavanagh. It was the first time that any country had hosted two successive editions of the contest, following the previous year's contest held in Millstreet.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1987 was the 32nd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Brussels, Belgium, following the country's victory at the 1986 contest with the song "J'aime la vie" by Sandra Kim. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF), the contest was held at the Centenary Palace on 9 May 1987 and hosted by French-Belgian singer Viktor Lazlo.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1982 was the 27th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Harrogate, United Kingdom, following the country's victory at the 1981 contest with the song "Making Your Mind Up" by Bucks Fizz. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the contest was held at the Harrogate International Centre on 24 April 1982 and was hosted by English TV presenter and newsreader Jan Leeming.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1973 was the 18th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country's victory at the 1972 contest with the song "Après toi" by Vicky Leandros. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT), the contest was held at the Grand Théâtre on 7 April 1973 and was hosted by German television presenter Helga Guitton.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1972 was the 17th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Edinburgh, United Kingdom and was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), who agreed to stage the event after Monaco, who won in 1971, were unable to meet the demands of hosting the event and could not find a suitable venue. The contest was held at the Usher Hall on 25 March 1972 and was hosted by Scottish ballet dancer Moira Shearer.
Slovenia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 29 times since its debut in 1993, having hosted a qualification round in Ljubljana for seven countries due to the influx of new nations wishing to join the Eurovision Song Contest. Having only missed the event twice in 1994 and 2000 due to the relegation rule after a poor average score in the 1990s, Slovenia's best result is seventh position achieved on two occasions; in 1995 with "Prisluhni mi" performed by Darja Švajger and in 2001 with Nuša Derenda and "Energy". Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Slovenia has qualified for the final on eight occasions. As of 2024, Slovenia has not made it to the top ten since their seventh place finish in 2001, only making it to the thirteenth position in 2002 and 2011.
Duna TV, full name Duna Televízió — one of Hungary's public television channels. "Duna" is the Hungarian name for the Danube. Duna has been the national main channel of the public media MTVA since 15 March 2015.
The Czech Republic, presented as Czechia since 2023, has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 12 times since making its debut in 2007. After receiving nul points in the semi-final of the 2009 contest and due to a lack of interest from the Czech public, Czech broadcaster Česká televize (ČT) decided to withdraw from the contest; the country would not participate again until 2015.
Kvalifikacija za Millstreet was a televised song contest held as a qualifying round for the Eurovision Song Contest 1993. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTVSLO), the contest was held on 3 April 1993 in Studio 1 of Televizija Slovenija in Ljubljana, Slovenia and presented by the Slovenian television presenter Tajda Lekše.
The Eurovision Young Musicians 1992 was the sixth edition of the Eurovision Young Musicians, held at Cirque Royal in Brussels, Belgium on 9 June 1992. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Télévision Belge Francophone (RTBF), musicians from eight countries participated in the televised final. Eighteen countries took part in the competition. All participants performed a classical piece of their choice accompanied by the Belgian National Orchestra, conducted by Ronald Zollman. Hungary and Poland made their début, while Greece and Italy decided not to participate.
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the seventeenth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, organised by Telewizja Polska (TVP) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It was held on 24 November 2019, at the Gliwice Arena in Gliwice, Poland, following the country's victory at the 2018 contest in Minsk, Belarus, with the song "Anyone I Want to Be", performed by Roksana Węgiel. It was the first time Poland had hosted the contest, as well as the first Eurovision event to be held in the country since the Eurovision Young Dancers 2013.
Slovenia originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Voda" written by Ana Soklič and Bojan Simončič. The song was performed by Ana Soklič. Slovenian broadcaster Radiotelevizija Slovenija organised the national final EMA in order to select the Slovenian entry for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. 18 entries competed in the first stage of the national final, EMA FREŠ 2020, from which two entries qualified to compete in EMA 2020 following a two-month-long competition. Twelve entries competed in EMA 2020 where the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the top two entries were selected by a three-member jury panel. In the second round, "Voda" performed by Ana Soklič was selected as the winner entirely by a public vote.