| Year: | 1997 |
| Country: | Slovenia |
| Preselection: | EMA 1997 |
| Preselection Date: | 22 February 1997 |
| Entrant: | Tanja Ribič |
| Song: | Zbudi se |
| Final Result: | 10th, 60 points |
Slovenia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 with the song "Zbudi se" written by Saša Lošić and Zoran Predin. The song was performed by Tanja Ribič. Slovenian broadcaster Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV Slovenija) organised the national final EMA 1997 in order to select the Slovenian entry for the 1997 contest in Dublin, Ireland. 13 entries competed in the national final where "Zbudi se" performed by Tanja Ribič was selected as the winner entirely by a public televote.
Slovenia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest held on 3 May 1997. Performing in the 6th position, Slovenia finished tenth out of the 25 competing countries, earning a total of 60 points.
See main article: Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest. Prior to the 1997 contest, Slovenia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest three 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. In 1996, "Dan najlepših sanj" performed by Regina placed twenty-first.
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 1997, the broadcaster opted to organise EMA 1997 to select the Slovenian entry.
EMA 1997 was the third 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 1997 and took place on 22 February 1997 at the RTV Slovenija Studio 1 in Ljubljana.[2] The show was hosted by Mojca Mavec and was broadcast on TV SLO1.[3]
An expert committee consisting of music editors for Radio Slovenija as well as representatives of ZKP RTV Slovenija and the Union of the Slovenian Musicians nominated 19 composers. Each member of the expert committee assigned a score of 1 (lowest score) to 7 (highest score) to their seven preferred composers with the top eight that received the highest overall scores when the votes were combined being directly invited by the broadcaster to submit up to two entries (one upbeat song and/or one ballad) by 20 December 1996.[4] The invited composers were: Matjaž Vlašič, Aleš Klinar, Saša Lošić, Danilo Kocjančič, Veno Dolenc, Primož Peterca, Sašo Fajon and Slavko Avsenik Jr.[5] A total of thirteen songs were created and selected for the competition and among the competing artists was former Slovenian Eurovision contestant Darja Švajger who represented Slovenia in 1995.[6]
EMA 1997 took place on 22 February 1997. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Norina Radovan performed as a guest.[7] A public televote selected "Zbudi se" performed by Tanja Ribič as the winner.[8]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Televote | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natalija Verboten | "Nekdo" | Matjaž Vlašič, Urša Vlašič | 265 | 12 | |
| 2 | Dominik Kozarič | "Zaradi nje" | Aleš Klinar, Dominik Kozarič | 650 | 9 | |
| 3 | Tanja Ribič | "Zbudi se" | Saša Lošić, Zoran Predin | 4,493 | 1 | |
| 4 | Tinkara Kovač | "Veter z juga" | Danilo Kocjančič, Drago Mislej | 574 | 10 | |
| 5 | Irena Vrčkovnik | "Kadar boš ob njej zaspal" | Matjaž Vlašič, Urša Vlašič | 1,010 | 7 | |
| 6 | Melita and Klarisa | "Daljave" | Veno Dolenc, Kajetan Kovič | 512 | 11 | |
| 7 | GROM | "Le en poljub" | Slavko Avsenik Jr., Mirjam Beranek | 895 | 8 | |
| 8 | Napoleon | "Prosim ostani" | Aleš Klinar, Anja Rupel | 1,794 | 5 | |
| 9 | Katrina | "Korak v dežju" | Primož Peterca, Rok Golob, Katarina Habe | 213 | 13 | |
| 10 | Rok 'n' Band | "Jagode in čokolada" | Saša Lošić, Janez Zmazek | 2,226 | 3 | |
| 11 | Darja Švajger | "Vsakdanji čudež" | Primož Peterca | 4,076 | 2 | |
| 12 | Vili Resnik | "Ti in jaz" | Sašo Fajon, Vili Resnik | 1,521 | 6 | |
| 13 | M4M | "Objemi me nežno" | Slavko Avsenik Jr., Mirjam Beranek | 2,047 | 4 |
According to Eurovision rules, the twenty-four countries which had obtained the highest average number of points over the last four contests competed in the final on 3 May 1997.[9] On 28 November 1996, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Slovenia was set to perform in position 6, following the entry from Ireland and before the entry from Switzerland.[10] The day before the contest, Slovenia was considered by bookmakers to be the tenth most likely country to win the competition.[11] The Slovenian conductor at the contest was Mojmir Sepe, and Slovenia finished in tenth place with 60 points.[12]
The show was televised in Slovenia on RTV SLO1.[13] 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 Russia in the contest.[14]