| Year: | 1998 |
| Country: | Slovenia |
| Preselection: | EMA 1998 |
| Preselection Date: | 28 February 1998 |
| Entrant: | Vili Resnik |
| Song: | Naj bogovi slišijo |
| Final Result: | 18th, 17 points |
Slovenia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 with the song "Naj bogovi slišijo" written by Matjaž Vlašič and Urša Vlašič. The song was performed by Vili Resnik. Slovenian broadcaster Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV Slovenija) organised the national final EMA 1998 in order to select the Slovenian entry for the 1998 contest in Birmingham, United Kingdom. 14 entries competed in the national final where "Naj bogovi slišijo" performed by Vili Resnik was selected as the winner entirely by a public televote.
Slovenia competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 1998. Performing during the show in position 12, Slovenia placed eighteenth out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 17 points.
See main article: Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest. Prior to the 1998 contest, Slovenia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest four times since its first entry in .[1] Slovenia's highest placing in the contest, to this point, has been seventh place, which the nation achieved in 1995 with the song "Prisluhni mi" performed by Darja Švajger. The country's only other top ten result was achieved in 1997 when Tanja Ribič performing "Zbudi se" placed tenth.
The Slovenian national broadcaster, Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV Slovenija), broadcasts the event within Slovenia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. 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 1998, the broadcaster opted to organise EMA 1998 to select the Slovenian entry.[2]
EMA 1998 was the fourth edition of the Slovenian national final format Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA). The competition was used by RTV Slovenija to select Slovenia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 and took place on 28 February 1998 at the RTV Slovenija Studio 1 in Ljubljana. The show was hosted by Mojca Mavec and was broadcast on TV SLO1 as well as online via the broadcaster's website rtvslo.si.[3]
An expert committee consisting of Miša Molk (Head of Entertainment and Sports at RTV Slovenija), Mojmir Sepe (conductor and composer) and Andrej Karoli (music editor for Radio Slovenija) was tasked to select the entries for the competition from 43 received submissions. However, additional artists and composers were later directly invited by the broadcaster to submit entries due to the poor quality of the previously submitted songs.[4] Fourteen artists and songs were ultimately selected from those received through both entry methods and among the competing artists were former Slovenian Eurovision contestants Darja Švajger who represented Slovenia in 1995 and Regina who represented Slovenia in 1996.[5]
EMA 1998 took place on 28 February 1998. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 1997 Slovenian Eurovision entrant Tanja Ribič performed as a guest.[6] A public televote selected "Naj bogovi slišijo" performed by Vili Resnik as the winner.[7]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Televote | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magnifico | "Silvia" | Robert Magnifico | 3,558 | 5 | |
| 2 | Vili Resnik | "Naj bogovi slišijo" | Matjaž Vlašič, Urša Vlašič | 7,391 | 1 | |
| 3 | Pop Design | "Nora noč" | Tone Košmrlj | 911 | 13 | |
| 4 | Miran Rudan | "Cvetje in vrtovi" | Tone Košmrlj, Miran Rudan | 1,377 | 10 | |
| 5 | Aurora | "Pesem zate" | Dean Savič, Dragan Kikovič | 480 | 14 | |
| 6 | Obvezna smer | "Ko pade noč" | Martin Štibernik, Karmen Stavec | 980 | 12 | |
| 7 | Damjana | "Ljubim, ljubiš" | Karel Novak, Janez Zmazek | 1,448 | 9 | |
| 8 | Karmen Stavec and Patrik Greblo | "Kje pesem je doma" | Patrik Greblo, Milan Dekleva | 2,298 | 7 | |
| 9 | Sound Attack | "Zakaj odšel si" | Simon Šurev, Pika Božič | 1,628 | 8 | |
| 10 | Deja Mušič | "Ljubezen" | Boštjan Grabnar, Deja Mušič, Danijel Šmid | 1,257 | 11 | |
| 11 | Gianni Rijavec and Vladimir Čadež | "Pusti času čas" | Gianni Rijavec, Miša Čermak | 6,103 | 2 | |
| 12 | Darja Švajger | "Ljubezen ne odhaja" | Rok Golob, Darja Švajger | 3,224 | 6 | |
| 13 | Regina | "Glas gora" | Aleksander Kogoj | 5,694 | 3 | |
| 14 | Victory | "Zapri oči" | Robi Lukač | 4,221 | 4 |
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the eight countries which had obtained the lowest average number of points over the last five contests competed in the final on 9 May 1998. On 13 November 1997, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Slovenia was set to perform in position 12, following the entry from Hungary and before the entry from Ireland.[8] [9] The day before the contest, Slovenia was considered by bookmakers to be the nineteenth most likely country to win the competition.[10] The Slovenian conductor at the contest was Mojmir Sepe, and Slovenia finished in nineteenth place with 17 points.[11]
The show was televised in Slovenia on RTV SLO1.[12] The Slovenian spokesperson, who announced the Slovenian votes during the show, was Mojca Mavec.
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Slovenia and awarded by Slovenia in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Croatia in the contest.