Slovenia was one of the first countries to choose its entry for Malmö. On December 12th 2024, RTVSLO confirmed that Raiven would be Slovenia’s representative in Eurovision 2024. The artist was internally selected by the Slovenian channel to travel to Malmö (Sweden). The announcement took place at an event organized by the same entity in Ljubljana, the country’s capital, at the SNG Opera Ballet. It was announced that the song “Veronika”-a dark and mysterious ballad mixing traditional lyrical singing style with current sounds, was the chosen entry.. A modern operatic ballad that tells the story of Veronika Deseniška, the very first witch of Slovenia whose mystery and unique traits inspired Raiven to explore her true self from another perspective pushing her to explore corners of her heart and express her feelings in such a poetic way.
We now know how Raiven’s proposal for the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö sounds and looks like. The artist has unveiled the song “Veronika” in a special broadcast by the Slovenian channel, which has adopted the name Misija Malmo, just as the pre-selection that was initially supposed to choose the representative this year was going to be called. The show was hosted by Tiln Artač, a well-known comedian and violinist from the country. During the program, Raiven’s musical career was reviewed, celebrating her tenth anniversary in 2024. Some moments were recalled, including her participation in the Slovenian pre-selection EMA, as well as her involvement in other music competitions and award galas where she has been honored. The broadcast featured performances by Raiven with various guest artists and concluded with the release of the official video for the proposal.
The song was written by Raiven herself with the help of the lead singer of the Slovenian band Joker Out who were the entry for Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, Bojan Cvjetićanin. Bojan and Raiven have been working together in different programs and performing together for such a long that this collaboration came natural and without the pretension of being a Eurovision song, they united their creativity to create the song that finally will represent Slovenia in Malmö.
First glimpse of the song and music video
The song is a beautiful and mysterious ballad that take you to places with the mesmerising musicality of it, where Raiven mixes traditional Slovenian singing and music with a modern and current production. The song which is entirely in Slovenian tells the story of Veronika Deseniška and the alleged witchcraft she possessed, a well-known story in the Slovenian country. Raiven describes her song as “a tune for the sirens” and invites us to connect with the history of this character.. With this song, the artist aims to explore the experiences of some women throughout history.
The music video shows Raiven embodying Veronika in a dark body water. The fire and sparkles take over the setting where Raiven is singing her soul out while calling out Veronika from the deep waters surrounded by her entourage.
Staging potential: What to expect for Malmö
Details about the stage presentation for the festival have also been revealed. Lukas Zuschlag joined Raiven’s team as the choreographer, as confirmed on his social media. Lukas is a well-known Austrian choreographer residing in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. He is part of the Slovenian national ballet and can currently be found performing at the SNG Opera. Lukas has choreographed the proposal’s music video, featuring dancers from the national ballet team. The video was recently shot in Slovenia and showcases a dynamic choreography, promising an exciting performance on the Malmö stage. Various anecdotes occurred during the filming, including an unexpected appearance of rain.
It has also been revealed that this year’s Slovenian entry, “Veronika,” will be included in the album “Sirene,” which the artist is currently working on and is set to be released on February 17th.
Who is Raiven? Get to know the Slovenian representative at Eurovision 2024.
Who is Raiven? Get to know the Slovenian representative at Eurovision 2024.
Sara Briški Cirman is the real name of the artist better known as Raiven, born on April 26, 1996, in Slovenia. She is considered a mezzo-soprano, and her songs blend pop with opera. In addition to being a singer, she is also a composer, writer, and harpist. She received academic training in singing at the Konservatorij Maribor, and later in 2014, she adopted the stage name by which we know her today. In the same year, she released her first single, “Jadra.” Raiven’s popularity in Slovenia grew thanks to her participations in EMA (the former Slovenian pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest) and also for her stage performances that leave no one indifferent. Her musical career took a significant step in 2017 with the release of her first album, “Magenta,” which won the Golden Flute award for the best album of that year. Later in 2021, Raiven won the Popevka contest, an event organized annually by the Slovenian broadcaster, with the song “Volkovi.”
As mentioned earlier, the artist is known for her past unsuccessful attempts to represent the country at Eurovision. She participated in EMA four times but did not manage to secure the ticket to Eurovision. Let’s review all her participations:
In 2016, Raiven made her debut in the national selection EMA with the song “Črno bel.” The artist finished in a very good second place, with a narrow margin compared to that year’s winning entry, “Blue and Red” by ManuElla.
After narrowly missing out on the Stockholm contest, the artist didn’t give up and returned the following year with the song “Zažarim.” This time, things didn’t go as well, and she had to settle for third place in the competition.
In 2019, Raiven was determined to reach Eurovision. She decided to participate again in EMA, this time bringing “KAOS,” a song that was popular among Eurofans but couldn’t surpass Zala & Gasper’s “Sebi.” Despite another second-place finish, the duo ultimately represented Slovenia in Tel Aviv that year.
The following year, Raiven appeared in EMA Freš 2020 (a preliminary round to the EMA pre-selection), but this time, she was invited as a guest artist to the final gala. The final was co-hosted by Bojan Cvjetićanin, the vocalist and member of the Slovenian group Joker Out, who represented the country in Liverpool 2023.
Will Veronika continue the good luck of Joker Out and Carpe Diem at Eurovision and reach the final and even clim higher than the 21st position that Bojan and his friends achieved in Liverpool? Seems that Europe love Slovenian language at Eurovision as normally songs in this language do better for the small ex-yugoslavian country than their English entries. Will be this the lucky year for Slovenia to enter the top 10 of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 with Raiven and her “Veronika” We really do hope so, as they are bringing a very solid and special entry this year!
