Slovenia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song "Samo ljubezen", composed by Robert Pešut, with lyrics by Barbara Pešut, and performed by the drag act Sestre. The Slovene participating broadcaster, Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTVSLO), held the national final Evrovizijska Melodija 2002 in order to select its entry for the contest. 18 entries competed in the national final which consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final. Entries were selected to advance from the semi-final based on a public televote and a jury panel. Ten entries qualified to compete in the final where "Samo ljubezen" performed by Sestre was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from two thematical juries.
Slovenia competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 25 May 2002. Performing during the show in position 22, Slovenia placed thirteenth out of the 24 participating countries, scoring 33 points.
Prior to the 2002 contest, Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTVSLO) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Slovenia seven times since its first entry in 1993.[1] Its highest placing in the contest, to this point, has been seventh place, 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. Its only other top ten result was achieved in 1997 when "Zbudi se" performed by Tanja Ribič placed tenth.
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, RTVSLO organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster has traditionally selected its entry through a national final entitled Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA), which has been produced with variable formats. For 2002, RTVSLO opted to organise Evrovizijska Melodija 2002 (EMA 2002) to select its entry.[2]
Before Eurovision
Evrovizijska Melodija 2002
Sestre performing at EMA 2002
Evrovizijska Melodija 2002 (EMA 2002) was the seventh edition of the national final format Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA). The competition was used by RTVSLO to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2002, and consisted of two shows on 15 and 16 February 2002. The broadcaster held both shows of the competition at its Studio 1 in Ljubljana and were broadcast on TV SLO1.[3]
Format
The format of the competition consisted of two televised shows: a semi-final held on 15 February 2002 and a final held on 16 February 2002. Eighteen songs competed in the semi-final where a public televote first selected the top five entries to proceed to the final. An expert jury then selected an additional five finalists out of the thirteen remaining songs. Ten songs competed in the final where the winner was selected by two thematical juries. Each jury group 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.[4]
Competing entries
Artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster until 25 October 2001.[5] 75 entries were received by the broadcaster during the submission period.[6] An expert committee consisting of Mojmir Sepe (conductor and composer), Aleš Strajnar (musician and composer), Jaka Pucihar (composer), Aleksander Radić (Head of the Slovenian delegation at the Eurovision Song Contest) and Peter Juratovec (television director) selected eighteen artists and songs for the competition from the received submissions.[7] The competing artists were announced on 23 November 2001. Among the competing artists was former Slovenian Eurovision contestant Regina who represented Slovenia in 1996.[8]
The semi-final of EMA 2002 took place on 15 February 2002, hosted by Andrea F. and former Slovenian Eurovision entrants Darja Švajger (1995 and 1999) and Nuša Derenda (2001). The eighteen competing entries first faced a public televote where the top five proceeded to the final; an additional five qualifiers were then selected out of the remaining thirteen entries by an expert jury.[9]
The final of EMA 2002 took place on 16 February 2002 and was hosted by Miša Molk and Andrea F. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Ines (who represented Estonia in 2000) performed as a guest.[2] The points from two thematical juries selected "Samo ljubezen" performed by Sestre as the winner. The juries consisted of experts and representatives of the entertainment programme of RTVSLO.[9][10] A public televote was also held during the show and originally had a weighting equal to the votes of a single jury, however its results were announced to have been invalidated in its entirety on 19 February as the voting lines were open for eight minutes instead of five as prescribed. Karmen Stavec was the winner of the televote with 31,944 votes, with Sestre was only ranked sixth by the televote with 8,454 votes.[11][12]
The victory of Sestre at EMA 2002 was heavily criticised in Slovenia, mainly due to the votes from the two juries being sufficient in determining the final winner. A group of Slovenian singers, composers and record labels published a protest letter following the competition threatening to never again appear at any event organised by the entertainment department of RTVSLO, while questions were also raised in the country's parliament regarding the broadcaster's image as the controversy garnered international media attention.[14][15] A new voting round was planned to be held with the winner being exclusively determined by public televoting, but this did not materialise and Sestre ultimately remained as the Slovenian Eurovision representative.[14]
At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2002 took place at Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, Estonia, on 25 May 2002.[16] The participants list included the previous year's winning country, the "Big Four" countries, consisting of France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, any eligible countries which did not compete in the 2001 contest, and countries which had obtained the highest average points total at the previous year's contest, up to 24 total participants.[17] According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the bottom six countries in the 2001 contest competed in the final. On 9 November 2001, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Slovenia was set to perform in position 22, following the entry from Romania and before the entry from Latvia.[17] Slovenia finished in thirteenth place with 33 points.[18]
The show was televised in Slovenia on TV SLO1.[19] RTVSLO appointed Nuša Derenda (who represented who represented Slovenia in 2001) as its spokesperson to announce the Slovenian votes during the show.
Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Slovenia and awarded by Slovenia in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Croatia in the contest.[20]
^"Sporedi – sobota, 25. maja 2002"(PDF). Gorenjski glas (in Slovenian). 24 May 2002. p. 7. Archived(PDF) from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
