On December 12th, RTVSLO confirmed that Raiven will represent Slovenia in Eurovision 2024. The artist was chosen internally by the Slovenian broadcaster to travel to Malmö. The announcement was made at an event organized by the same broadcaster in Ljubljana, the country’s capital, from the SNG Opera Ballet. The proposal for Malmö will be titled “Veronika” and will be included in the album “Sirene.”
Who is Raiven?
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 music combines pop with opera. Besides being a singer, she is also a composer, writer, and harpist. She received formal vocal training at the Maribor Conservatory and later in 2014 adopted the stage name by which we know her today. That same year, she released her first single, “Jadra.”
Raiven’s popularity in Slovenia grew thanks to her appearances in EMA and her unique stage performances that leave a lasting impression. Her music career took a significant step forward in 2017 with the release of her first album, “Magenta,” which earned the Golden Flute award for the best album of the year. Later in 2021, Raiven won the Popevka contest, an annual event organized by the Slovenian broadcaster RTVSLO, with the song “Volkovi.”
In 2023, Raiven returned to the Popevka contest, this time as the host of the show. During the event, she announced the release of her new album for 2024 and performed her new single “Ikona” alongside Helene Blagne, which will also be included in “Sirene.”
She participated three times in the Slovenian pre-selection EMA in 2016, 2017, and 2019, but did not win in any of those attempts. Finally, Raiven was internally selected by RTVSLO to represent Slovenia in Eurovision 2024 with the song “Veronika.”
“Veronika” the Slovenian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024
The song that Slovenia is presenting this year will once again be entirely in the national language, Slovene. The song, titled “Veronika,” was written by the artist herself together with other composers such as last year’s representative, Bojan Cvjetićanin, and aims to explore the experiences of various women throughout history. Specifically, it references Veronika Deseniška and her supposed witchcraft, a well-known story in Slovenia. Raiven describes her song as “a tune for the sirens.” The artist presented her entry in a live broadcast by RTVSLO, just as previous representatives, the group Joker Out, did.
We also learned some details about the stage presentation for the contest. Lukas Zuschlag joined Raiven’s team as the choreographer, as he confirmed on his social media. Lukas is a well-known Austrian choreographer who resides in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. He is part of the national Slovenian ballet and is currently performing at the SNG Opera.
Lukas created the choreography for the music video for the song, and it was revealed that the dancers accompanying the artist are also from the national ballet team. The music video for the entry was recently filmed in Slovenia. During the shoot, they experienced various incidents, including an unexpected rain shower. Here’s a short video showing how it all came together.
Lyrics of «Veronika»
Slovenian
Skrila sem se v reko,
in odšla v tiho noč.
Z glasnimi koraki,
nemi klici na pomoč.
Zdaj, ko sem le voda,
v valovih iščem mir.
Utopim se v sebi,
se svetlobi prepustim.
Najdi me, rani me, brani me.
Koga loviš, ko me zapustiš?
Dvigni me, pusti me, ljubi me.
Kdo te lovi, ko se me bojiš?
Koga se bojiš,
ko svoje želje zatajiš?
Gledaš me v oči,
podoba tebe v njih žari.
Ogledalo sem brez robov.
Le odsev tvojih sem strahov.
Najdi me, rani me, brani me.
Koga loviš, ko me zapustiš?
Dvigni me, pusti me, ljubi me.
Kdo te lovi, ko se me bojiš?
Jaz sem.
Ti si.
Veronika.
Tvojo resnico le ona ve.
English
I hid in the river.
And went into the silent night.
With loud steps.
Voiceless cries for help.
Now that I am just water.
In the waves, I seek peace.
I drown in myself.
I surrender to the light.
Find me, wound me, protect me.
(Who do you chase when you leave me?)
Lift me up, let me go, love me.
(Who hunts you when you fear me?)
Who are you afraid of,
when you deny your desires?
You look me in the eyes.
The image of you shines in them.
I am a frameless mirror.
Just a reflection of your fears.
Find me, wound me, protect me.
(Who do you chase when you leave me?)
Lift me up, let me go, love me.
(Who hunts you when you fear me?)
I am.
You are.
Veronika.
Only she knows your truth.
Slovenia’s participation in Eurovision
Slovenia made its Eurovision debut in 1993 with 1XBand and their “Tih deževen dan” and was one of the first three countries to join the festival following the fall of the Soviet Union and the dissolution of Yugoslavia.
Despite participating in 30 editions, Slovenia has never won the festival. Their best result was seventh place achieved in 1995 with Darja Švajger and in 2001 with Nuša Derenda.
Overall, Slovenia has had modest results, making it into the Top 10 only three times, including the two already mentioned, and in 1997 with Tanja Ribič, who placed tenth. Since the introduction of the semifinals in 2004, Slovenia has qualified on 7 out of 18 occasions, being one of the countries with the highest number of eliminations in semifinals.
Slovenia’s voting highlights the exchange of points with other countries that were part of the Republic of Yugoslavia, with Serbia and Croatia being the most benefited by Slovenia.
In 2022, the group LPS, with “Disko,” finished in seventeenth place in the semifinal with only 15 points, failing to advance to the grand final. In the last edition of Eurovision, held in 2023, the group Joker Out was internally selected to represent the country with “Carpe Diem,” with which they finished in twenty-first place in the grand final with 78 points, placing fifth in their semifinal with 103 points.