Slovenia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song "", written by band members , Jan Peteh, Jure Maček, Kris Guštin and Nace Jordan, alongside Žarko Pak, and performed by themselves as Joker Out. The Slovene participating broadcaster, (RTVSLO), internally selected its entry for the contest. Joker Out were announced as the Slovenian entrants to the contest on 8 December 2022, whilst their song was presented to the public in a televised presentation show, , on 4 February 2023.
Slovenia was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 11 May 2023 and was later selected to perform in position 10. At the end of the show, "" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and hence qualified to compete in the final, marking Slovenia's first qualification to the final since . It was later revealed that Slovenia placed fifth out of the sixteen participating countries in the semi-final with 103 points. In the final, Slovenia performed in position 24 and placed twenty-first out of the 26 participating countries, scoring a total of 78 points.
An average of 345,000 viewers watched the final in Slovenia, the highest viewing figures recorded since 2015 and the most watched show in Slovenia in 2023. In addition, peak viewing figures reached 895,300 – the highest total ever seen since Slovenia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993.
Background
Prior to the 2023 contest, (RTVSLO) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Slovenia twenty-seven times since its first entry . Its highest placing in the contest, to this point, has been seventh place, which the nation achieved on two occasions: in with the song "" performed by Darja Švajger and in with the song "Energy" performed by Nuša Derenda. The country's only other top ten result was achieved in when Tanja Ribič performing "" placed tenth. Since the introduction of semi-finals to the format of the contest in 2004, Slovenia had thus far only managed to qualify to the final on six occasions. In , "" performed by LPS failed to qualify to the final, finishing in last place in the first semi-final with 15 points. This marked Slovenia's worst result at the contest in ten years.
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, RTVSLO organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. Following the poor result in 2022, the broadcaster considered withdrawing from the contest in 2023. However, after discussions with the Music Commission of the Programme Council, RTVSLO opted against a withdrawal, and confirmed its participation in the 2023 contest on 15 September 2022. RTVSLO has traditionally selected its entry through a national final entitled (EMA), which has been produced with variable formats, with the exceptions of and when the entry was internally selected. Despite initially confirming that EMA would be used to select the entry for the 2023 contest, the broadcaster later opted to forego the use of the national final in order to internally select the entry.
Before Eurovision
Internal selection
The Slovenian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was selected internally by , marking only the third time the broadcaster has internally selected their act for the contest. On 8 December 2022, the broadcaster announced that they had selected the band Joker Out to represent Slovenia in Liverpool during a special press conference held at the Ljubljana Botanical Gardens. Following the announcement of their selection as the Slovenian entrants, the band stated that "This is an offer we could not refuse. We talked about Eurovision years ago, but we were waiting for the right moment. This is obviously now. We are incredibly proud to represent Slovenia with our brand of music to show to the European stage". The Slovenian song was recorded in December 2022 in Hamburg, Germany. The band worked with Mark Pirc, and Todd Burke during the recording process, with Pirc also acting as the creative producer for the entry's music video and showcase performance on the national TV, both completed in January 2023. "" was announced as the title of the Slovenian entry on 28 January 2023.
The selected song, "", was presented to the public on 4 February 2023, during the special presentation show . The show was broadcast on TV SLO 1 and hosted by Miša Molk. In addition to the presentation of the Slovene entry, past Slovenian Eurovision entrants Amaya, who represented Slovenia in 2011; Filip Vidušin, lead singer of LPS, who represented Slovenia in 2022; Nuša Derenda, who represented Slovenia in 2001; and , who represented Slovenia in 2002 as a member of Sestre, performed live in a special anniversary performance dedicated to Slovenia's thirty years since first entering the contest. Konstrakta, who represented Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, also performed live. The band also released the music video for the song, which was shot in Ljubljana at the Grand Hotel Union and directed by Bonino Englaro.
Promotion In order to promote "" as the Slovenian entry for the 2023 contest, Joker Out embarked on a promotional tour across Europe and Slovenia. They became the first Slovenian Eurovision entrants in history to attend all promotional parties. The band were the first to be confirmed as attending the Barcelona Eurovision Party on 8 April 2023. The band also appeared at pre-parties in Madrid, Tel Aviv, London, Warsaw and Amsterdam. On 9 March, the band revealed that they were recording an English-language version of "", after approaching fans on Instagram, with the track later released on 31 March 2023. On 29 April 2023, the band travelled to Liverpool in order to film a music video to their new single "New Wave" in collaboration with English singer Elvis Costello. They appeared on several British radio stations including BBC Radio Merseyside. On 9 April 2023, "" was played at Anfield before a Premier League football match between Liverpool and Arsenal. On 20 April 2023, RTVSLO held a press conference in Ljubljana, with Slovenian media having the opportunity to talk with Joker Out. The band also detailed their preparations for the contest and the concept of their staging plans with the BBC. The band also made several virtual appearances with media outlets in Croatia, Slovakia and Austria. On 25 April 2023, the band held a special concert in Prešeren Square, Ljubljana, where they performed a catalogue of songs including "Carpe Diem" in their final performance in Slovenia before departing for Liverpool. On 30 April 2023, the band also released a party version of the song, which was premiered on the Eurovision YouTube channel.
On 20 March 2023, the band began a weekly series documenting their preparations and journey to the Eurovision Song Contest across Europe, starting in Hamburg with the recording process and concluding with the band's final performance in Liverpool. On 11 May 2023, RTVSLO broadcast on TV SLO 2, a special programme accounting Joker Out's journey to the contest. On 13 May 2023, a behind-the-scenes show was broadcast on TV SLO 1 with special backstage footage from Liverpool.
At Eurovision
According to Eurovision 2023 rules, all nations with the exceptions of the reigning champion nation (Ukraine) and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and hosting country the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Slovenia was placed into the second semi-final, held on 11 May 2023, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.
Once all the competing songs for the 2023 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Slovenia was set to perform in position 10, following the entry from and before the entry from . Immediately after the close of the second semi-final, a press conference was held in which each of the artists drew the half of the final of which they would perform in. Slovenia was drawn into the second half of the final and was later selected by the EBU to perform in position number 24, following the entry from and before the entry from .
In Slovenia, the semi-finals were broadcast on TV SLO 2 and the final was broadcast on TV SLO 1, with commentary by . The second semi-final and the final were also broadcast on and Radio Val 202, with commentary of the second semi-final by Maja Stepančič, , Neja Jerant and Uršula Zaletelj, whilst radio coverage of the final featured commentary by Maja Stepančič, and Uršula Zaletelj. All shows were also screened on RTVSLO’s 4D online platform MMCŽivo with commentary by journalist Žana Čeh. The Slovenian spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the Slovenian jury during the final, was Melani Mekicar.
Semi-final
Joker Out took part in technical rehearsals on 2 and 5 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 10 and 11 May. This included the jury show on 10 May where the professional back-up juries of each country watched and voted in a result used if any issues with public televoting occurred.
, better known as Ponorelii, was the costumer designer for the band's performance, having previously designed outfits for Estelle, Severina, who represented Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, , Senidah and Dino Merlin, who represented Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 and 2011. He stated that, on the Eurovision stage, the Slovenian quintet would shine in light and romantic colours that match the melody of "" and mark the thematic set of the Garden of Eden, symbolising the coming of the animal and plant world. Each of the band members were also accompanied by a different motif, with each of them having their own animal, plant and precious stone, which was sewn into an unobtrusive part of the costume. Ponorelii also played with natural dyes in the costume colours, fusing colours in accordance to their energy and personality, with each having their own lace. Ponorelii also collaborated with Slovenian Idrija lace designer to bring a distinctly Slovene motive to the performance. Matic Zadravec also served as the choreographer for the Slovenian performance, having already worked with the band in Slovenia for several years.
During the Slovenian performance, dark red and black LED's dominated, with each band member interacting with each other for the entirety of the show. Lead singer Bojan Cvjetićanin stated that the band's aim is to create "a three-minute Joker Out concert" on stage, fusing "Slovene cultural heritage with a distinctly rock defining stage performance for Europe". At the end of the performance, each of the band members lined up at the front of the stage before bowing to the audience.
At the end of the show, Slovenia was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. This marked the first time since that Slovenia qualified for the final of the contest. It was later revealed that Slovenia placed fifth out of the sixteen participating countries in the second semi-final with 103 points.
Final