Slovenian here! 🙋🏻♀️ The song Veronika isn't about the Veronika myth from the city of Kamnik (which would've been awesome as well tho 😩), but about an actual Slovenian woman named Veronika Deseniška (Veronika of Desenice) who was accused of being a witch. She was a noblewoman of lesser status and she married Friderik II, the count of Celje. His father opposed their marriage; Friderik was imprisoned and she went into hiding into the wilderness, but was found and brought to Celje. The father accused her of poisoning him and of putting his son under a witch spell. This was the first recorded witchcraft trial in Slovenia and although she was acquitted in court, she was still murdered after (presumably by the orders of the father).
@@nikolamikulec7373 She was Slovenian, but the area she was from is under Croatia now :) I agree her origins are a source of yet another dispute amongst Slovenians and Croatians though, sadly
Thanks for the breakdown! It's really cool getting these previews of the artists 😊 Looooove getting anything in their own language and telling their local myths. Same reason why I loved Moldova this year.
Yes, another great choice by Slovenia, which kinda gives me the impression that their delegation finally got that Slovenia always chooses wrong in their national finals.
- A very intriguing choice and I'm here for it! - Based on what we've seen so far, I don't think she'll have too much difficulty in garnering enough televote points. If as you say her vocals are very strong then getting a decent jury score should be eminently achievable for her. - We're long overdue a first time winner and it would be lovely to see a country do well that hasn't had an especially successful track record (Slovenia's highest placement is 7th place in 1995 and 2001 and it hasn't made top ten since). This could potentially be one to watch! As an aside, Ljubljana would be a gorgeous host city...
I already have so much high hopes for Raiven especially with this preview video. The whole theme of Veronika is reminding me so much of Jezinky by Giudi for Czechia in 2022 national final (which would have been my second place in ESC 2022 if it was selected)
@@ESCTom hope she can make it possible cuz RTV SLO has some big financial issues (they had 10million€ loss in 2023) and i fear her entry will sadly be budget-friendly unless she/Rtv finds some sponsors or smth idk…
My favourite Eurovision songs are from artists showcasing their culture's folk music traditions with a modern pop/electronic twist, so I hope we get something like that from Raiven! Love her witchy siren vibe already 💙
Hey, Tom! Just wanted to jump in with some information from Slovene media. As Raiven herself said on Slovene-language news tonight, 'Veronika' is inspired by a different famous historical Veronika, Veronika of Desenice. Her claim to fame was that she was on trial for witchcraft. Here is the wiki article about her, which also says Raiven's song is about this woman: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veronika_of_Desenice Of course, it's entirely possible that there was a little inspiration from both stories, since I also thought there was something snake-y going on in the preview.
Very pleased to hear this! She was my fave in the previous national Slovene finals. Her concept and sound for 2024 look great! Congrats and good luck to her! 💗
As a classically trained baritone and a lover of pop at the same time, I'm more than happy to see that classically trained mezzo Raiven doesn't go for crossover and doesn't do an operatic voice. To each style its voice.
So let's hope the ''Käärijä, Effect'' ensures that the judges are equally diverse to vote for these amazing artists that are now being drawn to Eurovision. Because songs like Aiko's 'Pedestal' will not be wanting a mass of pop-orientated jurors like the last time out!
Interesting choice. I agree with you that it's good to see countries not playing it safe, like happened with Måneskin, Barbara Pravi, Gjon's Tears, Go_A, Käärijä... (I guess I'd rather call it the Rotterdam-effect haha). Anyway, I don't generally follow EMA so I'm not too familiar with her songs, but listening to her work I really liked Črno bel and Zažarim. Not too fond of Kaos (I think she tried to play the Lea Širk factor a bit too much). She apparently also performed a song called Ti at EMA Freš 2020 which was very beautiful as well. So yeah I'm quite enthusiastic about her artistry and this announcement clip is very promising.
You can get properly trained as a Pop-Jazz singer too, classical technique is just way different and somewhat harder to master as you have to project your voice without amplification.
Raiven really isn't that popular in Slovenia and hasn't had any hits, but she's the darling of the national broadcaster, she is played on national radio and gets invited to their TV shows a lot. If I remember correctly, she only came second at the national preselection with Kaos in 2019, because first the jury selected two entries that were then put to public vote. And the audience overwhelmingly voted for Zala and Gašper. This is because the general public in Slovenia will always prefer cute, young, innocent things (by the way, I love Zala and Gašper) or artists with standard ballads, and Raiven is just too out there for their tastes, also with regard to her visual style.
"Game of Thrones, mythology, fantasy"..........oh.....i do hope your wrong, Tom. I can't take that level of pretension A simple composition with her amazing vocals will do for me. Please 🙏🙏
hehe I think Tom often describes things as "Game of Thrones" when he means anything with a dark fantasy vibe - don't think dragons but rather more melisandre
Slovenian here! 🙋🏻♀️ The song Veronika isn't about the Veronika myth from the city of Kamnik (which would've been awesome as well tho 😩), but about an actual Slovenian woman named Veronika Deseniška (Veronika of Desenice) who was accused of being a witch. She was a noblewoman of lesser status and she married Friderik II, the count of Celje. His father opposed their marriage; Friderik was imprisoned and she went into hiding into the wilderness, but was found and brought to Celje. The father accused her of poisoning him and of putting his son under a witch spell. This was the first recorded witchcraft trial in Slovenia and although she was acquitted in court, she was still murdered after (presumably by the orders of the father).
oh lol damn, what are the chances that there would be 2 different Slovenian myths about Veronikas and witchery 😭
@@ESCTomI don't think the 2nd one is a myth...
And they found woman skull in same castle where she lived
Sorry but Veronika Desinićka is from Croatia, not from Slovenia. She was merried for Slovenian dude named Fridrk II Celjski
@@nikolamikulec7373 She was Slovenian, but the area she was from is under Croatia now :) I agree her origins are a source of yet another dispute amongst Slovenians and Croatians though, sadly
Thanks for the breakdown! It's really cool getting these previews of the artists 😊 Looooove getting anything in their own language and telling their local myths. Same reason why I loved Moldova this year.
Slovenia slowly turning into my favorite ESC country. Great choice
Yes, another great choice by Slovenia, which kinda gives me the impression that their delegation finally got that Slovenia always chooses wrong in their national finals.
i SCREAMED when i found this out AHHH so happy for her and i have so much faith in her
She wouldn’t have had momentum if she won EMA 2016/17. This is a perfect time for Raiven! 🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮
True. Although she would have fared better than the acoustic Valium that is On My Way and Blue & Red with those lyrics 😂
Her music sounds super cool, very excited!
- A very intriguing choice and I'm here for it!
- Based on what we've seen so far, I don't think she'll have too much difficulty in garnering enough televote points. If as you say her vocals are very strong then getting a decent jury score should be eminently achievable for her.
- We're long overdue a first time winner and it would be lovely to see a country do well that hasn't had an especially successful track record (Slovenia's highest placement is 7th place in 1995 and 2001 and it hasn't made top ten since). This could potentially be one to watch! As an aside, Ljubljana would be a gorgeous host city...
Yea I would love to go to Ljubljana. Even top 5 for me would be a really excellent result
Check out her most recent releases too - Ikona is, again, a mix of classical and modern.
I already have so much high hopes for Raiven especially with this preview video. The whole theme of Veronika is reminding me so much of Jezinky by Giudi for Czechia in 2022 national final (which would have been my second place in ESC 2022 if it was selected)
Yes a lot of Jezinky vibes!
She said that she wants to add some natural elements like water, wind and fire in her esc performance!
ooooooooooo i love that
@@ESCTom hope she can make it possible cuz RTV SLO has some big financial issues (they had 10million€ loss in 2023) and i fear her entry will sadly be budget-friendly unless she/Rtv finds some sponsors or smth idk…
My favourite Eurovision songs are from artists showcasing their culture's folk music traditions with a modern pop/electronic twist, so I hope we get something like that from Raiven! Love her witchy siren vibe already 💙
yea interestingly, her most recent EP was called Sirene. I think shes very interested in that type of folklore
Hey, Tom! Just wanted to jump in with some information from Slovene media. As Raiven herself said on Slovene-language news tonight, 'Veronika' is inspired by a different famous historical Veronika, Veronika of Desenice. Her claim to fame was that she was on trial for witchcraft.
Here is the wiki article about her, which also says Raiven's song is about this woman: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veronika_of_Desenice
Of course, it's entirely possible that there was a little inspiration from both stories, since I also thought there was something snake-y going on in the preview.
thank you for that 🙏🏻
I was NOT expecting there to be 2 separate myths about 2 different Slovene Veronika's 😭😭😭
I've been waiting to see her on ESC since 2016. Love her music so much. I made my top 10 Raiven songs video. Hope Veronica will not disappoint.
I'm excited for her! I love a witchy queen 🖤
🖤🖤🖤
Very pleased to hear this! She was my fave in the previous national Slovene finals. Her concept and sound for 2024 look great! Congrats and good luck to her! 💗
I’m so happy right now 🩷
As a classically trained baritone and a lover of pop at the same time, I'm more than happy to see that classically trained mezzo Raiven doesn't go for crossover and doesn't do an operatic voice. To each style its voice.
So let's hope the ''Käärijä, Effect'' ensures that the judges are equally diverse to vote for these amazing artists that are now being drawn to Eurovision. Because songs like Aiko's 'Pedestal' will not be wanting a mass of pop-orientated jurors like the last time out!
Interesting choice. I agree with you that it's good to see countries not playing it safe, like happened with Måneskin, Barbara Pravi, Gjon's Tears, Go_A, Käärijä... (I guess I'd rather call it the Rotterdam-effect haha). Anyway, I don't generally follow EMA so I'm not too familiar with her songs, but listening to her work I really liked Črno bel and Zažarim. Not too fond of Kaos (I think she tried to play the Lea Širk factor a bit too much). She apparently also performed a song called Ti at EMA Freš 2020 which was very beautiful as well. So yeah I'm quite enthusiastic about her artistry and this announcement clip is very promising.
yea the announcement clip gives a lot of enthusiasm because it shows quite a clear and precise artistic vision. very exciting
Would be worth listening to her latest single Ikona which features some of her operatic singing
I would love if she sent something Kaos-like. One of my favourite ever NF songs!
Hatari were ahead of their time
Idk why but my gut is telling me Slovenia could be a contender to win now
You can get properly trained as a Pop-Jazz singer too, classical technique is just way different and somewhat harder to master as you have to project your voice without amplification.
Raiven really isn't that popular in Slovenia and hasn't had any hits, but she's the darling of the national broadcaster, she is played on national radio and gets invited to their TV shows a lot.
If I remember correctly, she only came second at the national preselection with Kaos in 2019, because first the jury selected two entries that were then put to public vote. And the audience overwhelmingly voted for Zala and Gašper.
This is because the general public in Slovenia will always prefer cute, young, innocent things (by the way, I love Zala and Gašper) or artists with standard ballads, and Raiven is just too out there for their tastes, also with regard to her visual style.
"Game of Thrones, mythology, fantasy"..........oh.....i do hope your wrong, Tom.
I can't take that level of pretension
A simple composition with her amazing vocals will do for me.
Please 🙏🙏
hehe I think Tom often describes things as "Game of Thrones" when he means anything with a dark fantasy vibe - don't think dragons but rather more melisandre
YAS MELISANDRE 😍
@ESCTom oh lord...that a GoT reference?
Are you sitting down.............I've never seen it Tom!!
🙉
Not my kind of music, a good singer, but just that
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veronika_of_Desenice