Our next preview takes us to the land of skiing, lakes, beekeepers and a man of many voices and faces. It’s Slovenia!
History
Slovenia first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest as an independent country in 1993. They will make their 29th appearance in the contest this year. Previously they participated as part of Yugoslavia, with Slovenian artists representing the country on four occasions. Their best result is seventh place, which they achieved twice; first in 1995 when Darja Švajger sang “Prisluhni mi” and then in 2001 when Nuša Derenda sang “Energy”. At the 2023 contest, Joker Out finished 21st in the final with “Carpe Diem”.
Selection
The Slovenian broadcaster, Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTVSLO), used an internal selection to select their 2024 entry. They originally intended to organise a national final but these plans were scrapped. Raiven was selected to represent Slovenia in Malmö.
Artist
Sara Briški Cirman, better known as Raiven, was born on April 26 1996. She started her musical journey at the age of four, beginning her training at the Glasbena Matica in Ljubljana. From 2002 to 2011, she attended harp lessons at the Music School in Ljubljana. She then continued her studies at the Maribor Conservatory of Music and Ballet.
Sara has won several awards for her work in classical music, including first place at the Antonio Salieri International Harp Competition in Italy in 2013 and a gold plaque at the Temsig Solo Singing Country Competition. In 2015, she completed her undergraduate studies in solo singing. She then pursued further education at the Ljubljana Academy of Music, specializing in opera within the solo singing discipline.
Sara debuted under her stage name Raiven in 2016, when she took part in Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA), the Slovenian Eurovision selection. She finished second with “Črno bel” (Black and white). After her participation in EMA, she released her debut album “Magenta” in 2017.
Raiven returned to EMA in 2017 with the song “Zažarim” (I light up), finishing third. In 2018, she hosted EMA and received the Zlata Piščal award for Record of the Year. She returned to EMA as a participant in 2019 with “Kaos” (Chaos), finishing second. In 2021, she won Popevka with the song “Volkovi” (Wolves).
As an opera singer, Raiven has performed in several operas in Slovenia and abroad. In April 2022, she sang the title role in Händel’s opera Agrippina at Cankar Centre. That same month, she sang with the Albanian Opera Orchestra in Tirana at the Marie Kraja Opera Festival. In 2022, she made her debut at the Slovenian National Theatre Opera and Ballet Ljubljana in the show “Orpheus in the Underworld” (playing the role of Public Opinion), and in 2023, she portrayed Larina in the play “Eugene Onegin”.
The song that Raiven will perform in Malmö is called “Veronika”. It was written by Bojan Cvjetićanin, Danilo Kapel, Klavdija Kopina, Martin Bezjak, Peter Khoo
and Raiven herself. It was composed by Bojan Cvjetićanin, Klavdija Kopina and Raiven herself. Bojan is the lead singer of Joker Out, who represented Slovenia last year.
Song Review
Before we get into the song, here’s a little context.
The song is based on Veronika Deseniška (Veronika of Desenice), the second wife of Frederick II, Count of Celje. Veronika was a commoner and Hermann II, Frederick’s father, did not initially approve of the marriage. He kidnapped his son and accused Veronika of witchcraft, of which she was later acquitted.
I have wanted Raiven to get her chance at Eurovision for years and I am glad she finally has it. This song shows off the power of the self-proclaimed “musical alchemist”. There are dark beats that sound like they are rising from a deep, dark lake. There are rousing trumpets that sounds like victory. There are operatic vocals that sound absolutely effortless. Put that together and you have a captivating song.
From seeing her perform live, Raiven can bring her opera experience to really get the story of the song across on stage. Not to mention that her vocals are out of this world. This song is definitely one to watch.
The One That Got Away
Believe it or not, Raiven actually submitted two songs for Eurovision this year. One was “Veronika” and the other was “Ofelija”.
“Ofelija” (Ophelia) is inspired by the character from Hamlet. While slower than “Veronika” it features the same operatic musings and dark beats we already know. I think I would be okay with either song going to Eurovision but “Veronika” just has that extra something special that pushes it over the line.
Srečno v Sloveniji!
Are you Veronika or are you someone else? Leave your comments below. Stay tuned tomorrow for another Eurovision preview!
(Sources: eurovision.tv, RTVSLO, Youtube)
Thinking About It 