With Slovenia’s national final EMA just a few weeks away, broadcaster RTVSLO has now announced who will be the hosts. Raiven, who represented Slovenia in 2024, and Štras will take on presenting duties for the Slovenian selection for Eurovision. EMA 2025 will be held on the 1st of February.
A new and a returning host
The two presenters who will host EMA 2025 both bring musical experience to the stage, with Raiven of course having competed in Eurovision. Štras, which is the artist name of Gregor Strasbergar, is the singer of MFRY, a multi-award winning Slovenian alternative/indie rock band. For him, this is the first time he hosts anything on RTVSLO. This is in contrast to Raiven, who also hosted EMA in 2018. Talking about getting to host the national final once again, Raiven said that she has a lot of nostalgia for it. She also hopes it can provide a platform for music and creativity. Štras took a more humorous approach when asked for comment. He said he is stressed and expect half the country to hate him, but that whoever wins EMA will draw more ire.
What we know about EMA 2025
EMA 2025 is this year’s edition of Evrovizijska Melodija, Slovenia’s national final for Eurovision. 12 acts will be competing in this edition. Two rounds of voting taking place on one night, the 1st of February, will determine the winner. First 5 juries will pick the two songs that will be in the superfinal. This will then be followed by a televote-only superfinal. Štras and 2024 representative Raiven will host EMA 2025. Snippets of all 12 competing songs will be revealed in a dedicated broadcast on 25 February.
What is EMA?
EMA has been integral to Slovenia’s Eurovision journey; having been used as its national selection for 25 of its 28 appearances. First introduced for Slovenia’s third Eurovision participation in 1996, the format has been used consistently until 2021, when EMA 2020 winner Ana Soklič reprised her role following the cancellation of the 2020 contest. The contest was abruptly cancelled in 2023 following Joker Out’s internal selection for Liverpool. The contest was set to return in 2024 but was cancelled prior to the announcement of participants as Raiven was internally selected.
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 28 times – of which, 16 were where they qualified for the Grand Final.
Slovenia’s recent Eurovision participation saw them being represented by Raiven, who sang the song “Veronika”. Performing at the first semi-final, Raiven placed 9th, therefore qualifying for the final for the second consecutive time. At the final, Slovenia finished in 23rd place, receiving 27 points. Of these, 15 came from the jury and 12 from the televote.
What do you think of Raiven and Štras being selected as the hosts for EMA 2025? Who would you like to see represent Slovenia at Eurovision 2025? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow “That Eurovision Site” on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky as we start gearing up for next year’s Contest!
News Source: RTVSLO
Photo Credit: Urša Premik / RTVSLO
Giwrgos Oiko 
Samantha