Slovenian singer Raiven has released her Eurovision 2024 entry, “Veronika.”
“Veronika” is the fourth Eurovision 2024 entry to be released so far, with songs from France, Czechia and Albania selected over the past two months.
Raiven was chosen by an international jury after an internal jury shortlisted five contestants from over 100 applications. She was the only contestant to win votes from all international jury members, broadcaster Radio-Television Slovenia shared in a press release.
“Veronika” has been described as “the symphony of the Sirens.” It’s named after Veronika of Desenice, second wife of Frederick II, Count of Celje, in the days of the Holy Roman Empire. Frederick II’s father opposed the marriage because of Veronika’s lower-class status and initiated a trial against her to accuse her of witchcraft. Despite being acquitted by the court, she was still murdered by drowning. After the murder, Frederick ordered her remains to be re-buried at a Carthusian monastery in Jurklošter, Slovenia.
“The song was not written with the idea of going to Eurovision,” Raiven has said. “When creating it, I focused primarily on the dramatic quality, which is key to telling Veronika’s story effectively. I wanted her story to not only be expressed but also resonate with the year 2024. The idea that she needed music, which was just right – cinematic and contemporary – was present throughout the creative process.”
Raiven found inspiration by researching the fates of iconic women in history. Veronika Deseniška is a mysterious figure in Slovenian history, and Raiven said Veronika’s ambiguity led her to retreat from reality into a calmer, inner world. The song will be in Slovenian.
“I don’t think this kind of song needs English for the Eurovision performance. I am convinced that both the story and the music are strong and expressive enough that their essence and emotional depth will be perceived and understood even by non-Slovenian speakers,” she told Eurovision.tv.
Joining Raiven as a part of Veronika’s writing team is her close friend Bojan Cvjetićanin, frontman of Joker Out, Slovenia’s representative at the Eurovision Song Contest last year in Liverpool. Joker Out placed 21st in the final and embarked on a European tour, selling out several venues along the way.
“Bojan is a very good friend of mine,” she told the official Eurovision Song Contest site. “We often talked about doing something together, and our musical collaboration on ‘Veronika” came about very spontaneously.”
Raiven’s participation in Eurovision has been a long time coming. Over the past decade, the classically trained singer-songwriter and harpist came close to winning Slovenia’s national selection several times. On her debut year, in 2016, she entered with the song “Črno Bel,” which landed on her 2nd place, behind ManuElla. She then returned to the national final the following year, in 2017, with the song “Zažarim“, which landed on her 3rd place, behind BQL and eventual winner Omar Naber. She didn’t return in 2018 as a participant, but instead as a host of the show. After a one-year break as a participant, she was back once again, in 2019, with her song “Kaos,” which also landed second place, finishing behind Zalagasper.
What did #YOU think of Raiven’s song? Which of the four Eurovision songs do #YOU like the most so far? Let’s hear from #YOU on our forum site right HERE, or visit us on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, Youtube, TikTok and Discord.
