Slovakia in the Eurovision Song Contest

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. Because of its poor results, it was forced to miss a year after each contest and then the country opted not to return for a number of years. It did eventually return to the Contest eleven years later, in 2009.

History

1994–1998

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 featured seven countries competing for only three places in the final. Slovakia came fourth in the contest, represented by Elán with "Amnestia na neveru", and therefore had to wait another year before entering again.

Slovakia's Eurovision entries in the 1990s weren't very successful, finishing 19th (1994), 18th (1996) and 21st (1998). After the 1998 contest, STV decided not to enter again for a number of years.

2009

From 1994 to 1998, STV used an internal selection to select the Slovak entry for the contest. In 2009, Slovakia organised a televised national final for the first time.^[1] A number of heats preceded a grand final, held on March 8, 2009 and Kamil Mikulčík and Nela Pocisková were chosen with their song "Leť tmou".^[2] They finished on 18th place out of 19 in semi-final.

2010

Slovakia tried again in 2010 contest with "Horehronie" by Kristina with similar result (16th out of 17 places in the Semi Final), despite being the fan and Bookmakers favourite.

2011

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 RTVS, which had been created on 1 January 2011.^[3][4] On 18 February 2011, RTVS revealed their choice for Slovakia's Eurovision 2011 entry. The song was "I'm Still Alive" and was performed by twin sisters Daniela and Veronika Nízlová better known as the pop duo TWiiNS. Daniela and Veronika Nízlová had some experience at Eurovision before as backing singers and dancers for Tereza Kerndlová, the Czech entry in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. The 2011 entry was the first Slovakian entry performed in English. TWiiNS eventually finished 13th in their Semi Final, which meant they did not qualify for the Grand Final. However, they provided the best result for their country in many years.

2012

RTVS sent an artist once again to the Contest in 2012, with a song that was selected internally by RTVS. At a press conference on 7 March 2012, the Slovakian entry for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest was announced: Max Jason Mai with a song called "Don't Close Your Eyes".

He performed in the second semi final, that was held on Thursday, May 24, 2012. The song did not qualify in the finals. It was later revealed that the song finished in last place with 22 points.

2013 onwards

On 4 December 2012, RTVS announced its withdrawal from Eurovision Song Contest 2013,^[5] and on 9 September 2013 it announced that it wouldn't return at Eurovision Song Contest 2014.^[6] It had also been announced that Slovakia would not return at Eurovision Song Contest 2015, citing financial constraints and an incompatibility between the contest and the programming goals of RTVS.^[7]

Contestants

Table key

NOTES:

A. ^ Slovakia unsuccessfully attempted to participate in 1993, when there was a pre-qualifying round for seven countries hoping to make their debut in the contest. The official Eurovision site does not count 1993 in Slovakia's list of appearances.

B. If a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition from 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, the countries who placed 11th and 12th were advanced to the following year's grand final along with the rest of the top ten countries

Voting history

As of 2012, Slovakia's voting history is as follows:

Most points given in the grand finals only Rank Country Points 1  Malta 34 2  Estonia 30 3  Croatia 27 4  Sweden 26 5  Ireland 21 Most points received in the grand finals only Rank Country Points 1  Malta 20 2  Croatia 8 3  Greece 7 4  Poland 5 5  Spain 2

Most points given in the semis and finals Rank Country Points 1  Estonia 50 2  Sweden 48 3  Norway 47 4  Bosnia and Herzegovina 41 5  Malta 31 Most points received in the semis and finals Rank Country Points 1  Malta 27 2  Ukraine 14 3  Bosnia and Herzegovina 11 4  Portugal 9 5  Croatia 8

Commentators and spokespersons

Photogallery

• 

  Nela Pocisková in Moscow (2009)

• 

  Kristina in Oslo (2010)

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  TWiiNS in Düsseldorf (2011)

References

External links

• Points to and from Slovakia eurovisioncovers.co.uk

Slovakia in the Eurovision Song Contest   Participation 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 to 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 to 2016   Artists 1990s Elán Tublatanka 1995 Marcel Palonder 1997 Katarína Hasprová 1999 2000s 2000 to 2008 Kamil Mikulčík and Nela Pocisková 2010s Kristina TWiiNS Max Jason Mai 2013 to 2015   Songs 1990s "Amnestia na neveru" "Nekonečná pieseň" 1995 "Kým nás máš" 1997 "Modlitba" 1999 2000s 2000 to 2008 "Leť tmou" 2010s "Horehronie" "I'm Still Alive" "Don't Close Your Eyes" 2013 to 2015 (Note: Entries scored out are when Slovakia did not compete)