🇸🇮 That Eurovision Review: Drama and bodysuits for Raiven in her first rehearsal

Today the rehearsals for Eurovision 2024 continue in Malmö. Countries rehearsing on Day 2 Iceland, Slovenia, Finland, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Australia, Portugal, and Luxembourg. The second to rehearse today is Slovenia’s Raiven.

Raiven’s first rehearsal

The next to take to the Eurovision 2024 stage at Malmö Arena in Malmö was Slovenia’s Raiven. Raiven will be competing in this year’s competition with her entry “Veronika” following her internal selection by RTVSlo.

Following Raiven’s first rehearsal a clip of what went on was posted on the official TikTok account of the Eurovision Song Contest. The clip showed her before and after she took to the Eurovision stage for the first time, as well as giving us some insight into how well her first rehearsal went.

What did we learn about Raiven’s staging?

Raiven’s staging is at times reminiscent of the music video for “Veronika”, as per the official Eurovision live blog. The singer is wearing a dark silver bodysuit and starts on the floor, with pulsating graphics kicking off together with her moves. Five dancers in nude bodysuits join her on stage to perform an intricate routine. The choreography is ethereal yet dramatic, with the dancers frequently intertwining. To add to the drama, low fog is wafted across the stage by some wind machines.

What we thought of Raiven’s first rehearsal

After Raiven’s first rehearsal, Jazzi gave her initial thoughts on the snippet that we saw.

Who is Raiven

Sara Cirman, AKA Raiven, is a 27 year old musician well versed with the Eurovision world; having tried to represent her country on three separate occasions. Her debut attempt in 2016 with the song Črno Bel saw her narrowly miss out on the win by only 127 points. Her 2017 and 2018 attempts (Zažarim & KAOS) saw her again narrowly miss out, coming 3rd and 2nd respectively. In addition to her talents as a vocalist, Raiven is a harpist; having learned to play as a child.

Following her 2016 EMA participation, Raiven released her debut, and to date only, album Magenta in 2017. The album saw great popularity and subsequently won the Zlata piščal album of the year in 2018. Outwith her pop career, Raiven has used her talents as a Mezzo-Soprano singer to venture into the world of Opera. She has participated in a series of operas including the likes of The Barber of Seville as Rosina. Additionally, she has flirted with a career in theatre, having participated in a number of plays produced by the Slovenian National Theatre.

Her 2024 Eurovision entry ‘Veronika’ was penned by herself, and a team that included the frontman of Joker Out (Bojan Cvjetićanin) who represented Slovenia last year in Liverpool. The writing team included Martin Bezjak, Danilo Kapel, Peter Khoo, and Klavdija Kopina.

Slovenia’s Eurovision Journey

In 1993, Slovenia made its debut in the Eurovision Song Contest with 1X Band and the song “Tih deževen dan”, which placed 22nd. Since their debut, they have participated 27 times – of which, 15 were where they qualified for the Grand Final.

Slovenia’s recent Eurovision participation saw them being represented by Joker Out, who sang the song “Carpe Diem”. Performing at the second semi-final, the band placed 5th, therefore qualifying for the final for the first time since 2019. At the final, Slovenia finished in 21st place, receiving 78 points. Of these, 33 came from the jury and 45 from the televote.

What do you think of “Veronika”? SECOND SENTENCE? Let us know your thoughts! Also, be sure to follow “That Eurovision Site” on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok as we prepare for Eurovision 2024!

News Source: That Eurovision Site / Eurovision.tv

Photo Credit: Corinne Cumming / EBU