Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005

Slovenia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Stop" written by Omar Naber and Urša Vlašič. The song was performed by Omar Naber. Slovenian broadcaster Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV Slovenija) organised the national final EMA 2005 in order to select the Slovenian entry for the 2005 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. Fourteen entries competed in the national final where the winner was selected over two rounds of public televoting. In the first round, the top three entries were selected. In the second round, "Stop" performed by Omar Naber was selected as the winner.

Slovenia competed in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 19 May 2005. Performing during the show in position 23, "Stop" 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 twelfth out of the 25 participating countries in the semi-final with 69 points.

Background
Prior to the 2005 contest, Slovenia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest ten 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 2004, "Stay Forever" performed by Platin 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 2005 Eurovision Song Contest on 4 August 2004. 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 2005, the broadcaster opted to organise EMA 2005 to select the Slovenian entry.

EMA 2005
EMA 2005 was the 10th edition of the Slovenian national final format Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA), used by RTV Slovenija to select Slovenia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2005. The competition took place at the RTV Slovenija Studio 1 in Ljubljana, hosted by Saša Einsiedler and Saša Gerdej and was broadcast on TV SLO1, Radio Val 202, Radio Koper, Radio Maribor and online via the broadcaster's website rtvslo.si.

Competing entries
Artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 16 October 2004 and 10 December 2004. 103 entries were received by the broadcaster during the submission period. An expert committee consisting of Andrej Karoli (music editor for Radia Slovenija), Mario Galunič (television presenter), Zoran Predin (singer-songwriter), Andrej Šifrer (singer and composer), Jaka Pucihar (composer) and Matjaž Kosi (songwriter and music producer) selected thirteen artists and songs for the competition from the received submissions, while an additional entry was provided by Omar Naber who won the first season of the talent show Bitka Talentov. The competing artists were announced on 22 December 2004. Among the competing artists were former Slovenian Eurovision contestants Regina who represented Slovenia in 1996 and Nuša Derenda who represented Slovenia in 2001.

Final
EMA 2005 took place on 6 February 2005. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2004 Eurovision winner Ruslana and 2004 Serbian and Montenegrin Eurovision entrant Željko Joksimović performed as guests. The winner was selected over two rounds of public televoting. In the first round, three entries were selected to proceed to the second round. In the second round, "Stop" performed by Omar Naber was selected as the winner.

At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2005 took place at the Palace of Sports in Kyiv, Ukraine and consisted of one semi-final on 19 May, and the final on 21 May 2005. 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 2004 contest were required to qualify from the semi-final in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from the semi-final progressed to the final. As Slovenia had placed 21st in the previous contest, the nation had to compete in the semi-final this year. On 22 March 2005, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order for the semi-final and Slovenia was set to perform in position 23, following the entry from Ireland and before the entry from Denmark. At the end of the show, Slovenia was not announced among the top 10 entries in the semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Slovenia placed 12th in the semi-final, receiving a total of 69 points.

In Slovenia, the semi-final was televised on RTV SLO2 and the final was televised on RTV SLO1. Both shows featured commentary by Mojca Mavec. The two shows were also broadcast via radio on Radio Val 202 with commentary by Jernej Vene. The Slovenian spokesperson, who announced the Slovenian votes during the final, was Katarina Čas.

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 Croatia in the semi-final and the final of the contest.