Celebrating Slovenian Statehood Day with their highest charting Eurovision entries

Today is ‘Dan državnosti’, Slovenian Statehood Day! The day commemorate the country's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

To celebrate their national day, we’re looking back at Slovenian Eurovision songs that have appeared on their SloTop50 charts.

Slovenia’s music charts are called the SloTop50, and were founded in 2013. The chart follows 61 radio stations across the country, and publishes weekly, monthly and annual charts, and every Slovenian Eurovision entry since 2014 has charted in the top 50.

Omar Naber – 'On My Way' (Kyiv 2017)

Highest Chart Position: 12

Omar Naber and the city of Kyiv are a love story as old as . . . well, as old as Kyiv hosting the Eurovision Song Contest!

When the contest first traveled to Kyiv in 2005, Omar represented Slovenia with ‘Stop’, competing in 23rd position in the semi final and just failing to qualify for the Grand FInal coming 12th place.

When the contest returned twelve years later, Omar again represented Slovenia, this time with his new entry ‘On My Way’. While the song may not have done as well as his first Eurovision entry, coming 17th in its semi final, the song did do well in the Slovenian music charts, peaking in 12th position.

Ana Soklič – 'Voda' (Rotterdam 2020)

Highest Chart Position: 10

Unfortunately with the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 Ana Soklič never had the opportunity to perform her beautiful Slovene ballad on stage in Rotterdam.

But that doesn’t mean that her song didn't make waves on the Slovenian music charts.

While ‘Voda’ peaked in 10th position in the SloTop50, it also charted in Italy reaching 78.

Ana will also be competing at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, and we’re hoping she’ll be coming back with another chart-topping entry.

Lea Sirk – 'Hvala, ne!' (Lisbon 2018)

Highest Chart Position: 9

“Music, please!”

Whether you were impressed by Lea Sirk’s planned technical glitch or not, it made it a memorable performance. The entry placed 8th in its semi final, and came 22nd in the Grand Final in Lisbon.

And just the song itself without the technical mishap was memorable enough. The song peaked in 9th position in the Slovenian music charts.

Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl – 'Sebi' (Tel Aviv 2019)

Highest Chart Position: 2

Did these two ever break eye contact during their three minutes on the stage in Tel Aviv? Their chemistry was unbelievably powerful, and kept the entire crowd of thousands intrigued in their performance.

‘Sebi’ came 6th in its semi final, and then finished 15th in the Grand Final, but the song also peaked at an incredibly high no.2 on the SloTop50.

And it isn’t just the Slovenian music charts they charted in. Zala and Gašper charted in Sweden (13), Estonia (32), Lithuania (33), and Switzerland (77).

Months after the contest, ‘Sebi’ still remained a favourite song amongst Eurovision fans. The song came 55th in the ESC Radio Top 250 in 2019.

ManuElla – 'Blue and Red' (Stockholm 2016)

Highest Chart Position: 1

Here we are. Number one. Well, not the number one of this list, but the number ones of the Slovenian music charts.

And the first entry we’re looking at to have topped the SloTop50 is ManuElla’s 2016 Eurovision entry, ‘Blue and Red’. The entry came 14th in its semi final in Stockholm, and 1st in the hearts of its Slovenian listeners.

Besides peaking at the top of the SloTop50 charts, ‘Blue and Red’ also came 168th in its only appearance in the ESC Radio Top 250 in 2016.

Australian fans also still remember the song four years on. It placed 62nd in OGAE Australia’s recent Top 100 Non-Qualifiers list.

Tinkara Kovač – 'Round and Round' (Copenhagen 2014)

Our next chart-topping Eurovision entry peaking in first place on the SloTop50 in Tinkara Kovač’s ‘Round and Round’. The entry placed 10th in its semifinal, and finished 25th in the Grand Final in Copenhagen.

‘Round and Round’ not only topped SloTop50, but also became the first Eurovision entry to become the year-end best charted domestic song under the SloTop50 music charts under its Slovene title of ‘Spet’.

‘Round and Round’ has also charted in the ESC Radio Top 250 twice, coming 106th in 2014, and 148th in 2015.

Maja Keuc – 'No One' (Dūsseldorf 2011)

Highest Chart Position: No.1

‘No One’ didn’t top the SloTop50 like the other entries in this list, but only because that particular music chart didn’t exist in 2011. Instead, it did top the chart system that existed before it, ‘Top 17 Slovenija', so we've made an exception and included it here.

As if peaking at the top of the Slovenian music charts wasn’t enough, ‘No One’ is such a fan favourite that it has charted in the ESC Radio Top 250 every single year since it debuted in 2011. It peaked at 55th position in 2011, and came 167th in its most recent appearance last year.

Maja Keuc was only nineteen years of age when she competed in Dūsseldorf. Her entry finished 3rd in its semifinal, and finished 13th in the Grand Final.

Maraaya – 'Here for You' (Vienna 2015)

Highest Chart Position: 1

‘Here for You’ didn’t only top the Slovenian music charts in 2015, it also topped the German music charts as well, making it the only Slovenian Eurovision entry to top another country’s music charts.

The song also charted in Sweden (10), Finland (18), Austria (23), Slovakia (24), and Belguim (48).

The song also became the second Slovenian Eurovision entry in as many years to be the year-end best charted domestic song.

Further proof that ‘Here for You’ is clearly among the fan favourite Slovenian Eurovision entries is in its appearances in the ESC Radio Top 250.

Ever since debuting in the year of its competition in 2015, the only time the song has failed to chart was in 2019. The song peaked at 77th in the ESC Radio Top 250 in 2015, and came 235th in its most recent appearance in 2018.

The song was also broadcast as a part of OGAE Australia’s inaugural Hottest 100 in 2019, where it placed 86th. Although the song failed to reach the top 100 in 2020, it only just missed out, being voted 136th.

So congratulations to the people of Slovenia for getting behind their Eurovision entries and we hope you have a wonderful Statehood Day!