EMA 2010 was the 15th edition of the Slovenian national final format Evrovizijska Melodija . The competition was used by RTV Slovenija to select Slovenia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010.
Format
EMA 2010 consisted of a semi final on 20 February 2010 and a final on 21 February 2010. Twenty-one artists in total competed in EMA 2010, with 14 songs in the semi-final alongside with 7 pre-qualified songs. In the semi-final, 7 songs qualified to the final. public televoting exclusively determined the results of both the semi-final and the final.
Competing entries
Artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between until 14 December 2009. Songs were required to be performed in the Slovene language. 111 entries were received by the broadcaster during the submission period. An expert committee consisting of Mojca Menart, Urška Čop, Andrea Flego, Miha Vardjan and Drago Mislej Mef selected fourteen artists and songs for the semi-final of the competition from the received submissions. The jury were given special numbers and letter codes to identify the songs. The seven pre-qualified songs were written by prominent local composers who RTV Slovenija invited for the competition. The composers both created the song and selected the performer for their entry. The invited composers were:
The competing semi-finalists and pre-qualified finalists were announced on 18 December 2009 and 8 January 2010 respectively. The running order for both the semi-final and the final were announced on 7 January 2010. Between 31 January and 7 February 2010, 90 second clips of the fourteen semi-finalists were performed on the RTV Slovenija program Spet doma. Full versions of the seven pre-qualified entries were presented on Radio Val 202 on 11 February 2010, and were performed on Spet doma on 14 February 2010.
Semi-final
The semi-final of EMA 2010 took place on 20 February 2010 at the Gospodarsko Razstavišče in Ljubljana, hosted by Ivo Kores and Bernarda Žarn. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2009 Bosnian entrantRegina, 2008 Slovenian entrantRebeka Dremelj and former EMA contestants Natalija Verboten and Eva Černe performed as guests. Seven acts qualified for the final on 21 February 2010 based on the results of a public vote.
Final
The final of EMA 2010 took place on 21 February 2010 at the Gospodarsko Razstavišče in Ljubljana, hosted by Lorella Flego and Andrea F. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Eurovision 2009 winner Alexander Rybak, 2005 Slovenian entrantOmar Naber, runner-ups of EMA 2006 and 1999 Saša Lendero and Tinkara Kovač and 2009 Slovenian entrantQuartissimo and Martina Majerle performed as guests. Fourteen songs consisting of the seven semi-final qualifiers alongside the seven pre-qualified songs competed and a public vote selected "Narodnozabavni rock" performed by Ansambel Roka Žlindre as the winner, receiving five times as many votes as the runner-up, "Dež" performed by Nina Pušlar.
At Eurovision
Slovenia competed in the second semi-final of the contest on 27 May 2010. Ansambel Roka Žlindre & Kalamari performed 11th on stage, following Romania and preceding Ireland. Slovenia finished in 16th place, finishing with only 6 points, 1 point from Israel and 5 points from Croatia. Therefore, they did not qualify for the final on 29 May. In the semi-final Slovenia gave the maximum points, 12 points, to Croatia, 10 points to Denmark and 8 points to Azerbaijan. In the final, where Slovenia were also allowed to vote, the country gave 12 points to Denmark, 10 points to winners Germany and 8 points to Serbia. In the final the Slovene points were announced by Andrea F.
Split results
In the Semi-final 2 Slovenia came 16th with 6 points: the public awarded Slovenia 16th place with 11 points and the jury awarded 17th place with 5 points.
