Slovakia in the Eurovision Song Contest

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Slovakia
Slovakia
Member stationRozhlas a televízia Slovenska (RTVS)
Former members
National selection events
Internal selection
  • 1993–1994
  • 1996
  • 1998 (song)
  • 2011–2012
National final
  • Bratislavská Lýra
  • 1998 (artist)
  • Eurosong
  • 2009–2010
Participation summary
Appearances7 (3 finals)
First appearance1994
Last appearance2012
Highest placement18th: 1996
External links
Slovakia's page at Eurovision.tv
Song contest current event.png 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. Because of its poor results, Slovakia was relegated in 1995 and 1997, and eventually withdrew in 1999. The country returned in 2009, although they withdrew again within 4 years, having failed to qualify for the final every year since their return.

History[]

Debut and first span of participation (1993–1998)[]

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 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 second time; Marcel Palonder with "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 6 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.

First withdrawal (1999–2008)[]

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.[1] 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.[2]

Second span of participation (2009–2012)[]

On 24 September 2008, STV announced their return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009 after an eleven-year absence. [3][4] The program director of STV Roman Lipták stated that the pressure from local artists was the driving force behind the country's return.[5] 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 RTVS, which had been created on 1 January 2011.[6][7] 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. They already 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 Slovak entry performed in English. TWiiNS eventually finished 13th in their semi-final, which meant they did not qualify for the Grand Final, due to the televote that counterbalanced the good jury rehearsal. They provided the best result for their country in many years.

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 Slovak 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 24 May 2012. The song did not qualify in the finals. It was later revealed that the song finished in last place with 22 points.

Second withdrawal (2013–2022)[]

On 4 December 2012, RTVS announced its withdrawal from the 2013 contest,[8] and on 9 September 2013 it announced that it wouldn't return at the 2014 contest either.[9] It was also announced that Slovakia would not return at the 2015 contest, citing financial constraints and an incompatibility between the contest and the programming goals of RTVS.[10] However RTVS returned to Eurovision Young Dancers in 2015, with RTVS explaining that the return of Slovakia to EYD supported domestic production and promoted national culture at a European level. RTVS announced on 28 September 2015 that Slovakia would not participate in the 2016 contest.[11]

RTVS' PR manager, Juraj Kadáš, explained on 12 April 2016 that Slovakia's absence from the contest since 2012 was not due to poor results, but rather the cost associated with participation.[12] Before the cancellation of the 2020 contest, RTVS had confirmed that they would not participate in 2020 due to a lack of interest from the Slovak public.[13]

In June 2021, RTVS confirmed that they would not participate in 2022, marking the tenth consecutive year that Slovakia has been absent from the contest.[14]

Participation overview[]

Table key
◁
 Last place
X
 Entry selected but did not compete
Year Entrant Song Language Final Points Semi Points
1993
 Elán "Amnestia na neveru" Slovak Failed to qualify[a] 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
 Kristína "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

Related involvement[]

Heads of delegation[]

Year Head of delegation Ref.
2012 Jana Majorava
[15]

Conductors[]

Year Conductor[b] Ref.
Kvalifikacija za Millstreet Vladimir Valovič
1994
1996 Juraj Burian
1998 Vladimír Valovič

Commentators and spokespersons[]

Year Television Radio Spokesperson Ref.
Commentator Channel Commentator Channel
1993 Alena Heribanová STV1 No broadcast Did not participate
1994 Martin Sarvaš STV2 Juraj Čurný
1995 No broadcast Did not participate
1996 Stanislav Ščepán STV2 Alena Heribanová
1997 Juraj Čurný Did not participate
1998 Rastislav Sokol Alena Heribanová
1999–2008 No broadcast Did not participate
2009 Roman Bomboš Dvojka Ľubomír Bajaník
[16]
2010
2011 Jednotka (SF1 & Final)
Dvojka (SF2)		 Roman Bomboš Rádio FM Mária Pietrová
[17]
2012 Jednotka Roman Bomboš (Rádio Slovensko)
Daniel Baláž and Pavol Hubinák (Rádio FM)		 Rádio Slovensko
Rádio FM
[18]
[19]
2013 No broadcast Daniel Baláž and Pavol Hubinák Rádio FM Did not participate
[20]
2014 Daniel Baláž, Pavol Hubinák and Juraj Kemka
[21]
[22]
2015
[23]
2016 Unknown Jednotka (Final)
[24]
2017 No broadcast
[25]
2018 Daniel Baláž, Pavol Hubinák, Juraj Malíček
Ela Tolstová and Celeste Buckingham
[26]
2019 Daniel Baláž and Pavol Hubinák
[27]
2021 Daniel Baláž, Lucia Haverlík, Pavol Hubinák
and Juraj Malíček
[28]
[29]

Photogallery[]

  • Kamil Mikulčík in Moscow (2009)

  • Nela Pocisková in Moscow (2009)

  • Kristina in Oslo (2010)

  • TWiiNS in Düsseldorf (2011)

  • Max Jason Mai in Baku (2012)

Notes and references[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ All conductors are of Slovak nationality unless otherwise noted.

References[]

  1. ^ "The end of a decade: Stockholm 2000". 21 December 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  2. ^ Kasapoglou, Yiorgos (12 November 2007). "Slovakia: No participation in Belgrade!". ESC Today. Archived from the original on 14 November 2007.
  3. ^ Hondal, Víctor (24 September 2008). "Slovakia returns to Eurovision in 2009". ESCToday. Retrieved 24 September 2008.
  4. ^ Supranavicius, Alekas (24 September 2008). "It is official - a comeback". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 24 September 2008.
  5. ^ Rendall, Alasdair (20 November 2008). "National final on March 8th". Oikotimes. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
  6. ^ Van Eersel, Dennis. "Three acts shortlisted to represent Slovakia". ESCDaily. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  7. ^ "43 nations on 2011 participants list!". Eurovision Song Contest. European Broadcasting Union. 31 December 2010. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011.
  8. ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (4 December 2012). "Slovakia will not be in Malmö". ESCToday. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  9. ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (9 September 2013). "Slovakia: RTVS will not return to Eurovision in 2014". ESCToday. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  10. ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (26 August 2014). "Slovakia: RTVS will not return to Eurovision in 2015". ESC Today. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  11. ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (28 September 2015). "Slovakia: RTVS will not participate in Eurovision 2016". ESC Today. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  12. ^ "Slovakia: "Eurovision is an attractive Project"". Eurovoix. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  13. ^ Herbert, Emily (5 June 2019). "Slovakia: No Return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2020". Eurovoix. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  14. ^ Granger, Anthony (18 June 2021). "Slovakia: RTVS Rules Out Eurovision 2022 Participation". Eurovoix. Retrieved 18 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ "Heads of Delegation Meeting in Baku". 25 March 2012. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  16. ^ Atlas, a. s. "Eurovízia stála miliardu korún! (3D FOTO)" (in Slovak). Dnes.atlas.sk. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  17. ^ "STV – Relácie – Jednotka – Eurovision Song Contest 2011". Stv.sk. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  18. ^ "Úspechy Romana Bomboša: Svadba, ocenenie a Eurovízia priamo v Baku!". eurovisionslovakia.blogspot.com (in Slovak). 5 May 2012. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  19. ^ "Eurovízia s Balážom a Hubinákom - vyberajte najlepší komentár!". RTVS. 29 May 2012. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  20. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. ^ "Baláž a Hubinák: Eurovízia sa blíži!". RTVS. 2 May 2014. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  22. ^ "Eurovízia 2014 s Balážom a Hubinákom". RTVS. 2 May 2014. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  23. ^ "Eurovízia s Balážom a Hubinákom". RTVS. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  24. ^ "EBU - Ukraine wins 61st Eurovision Song Contest". www.ebu.ch.
  25. ^ "Eurovízia s Balážom a Hubinákom". RTVS. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  26. ^ "Eurovízia v Rádiu_FM". RTVS. 1 May 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  27. ^ "Eurovízia v Rádiu_FM". RTVS. 1 May 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  28. ^ van Waarden, Franciska (10 May 2021). "Slovakia: Rádio FM To Broadcast Eurovision 2021". Eurovoix. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  29. ^ "Eurovízia 2021 s Balážom a Hubinákom". rtvs.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 22 May 2021.

External links[]

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