10. Slovenia: “Veronika” – Raiven

Now we move on to our top 10 songs this year!

At number 10, we have Slovenia. One of the first songs released back in January, Slovenia chose Raiven’s song “Veronika” through an internal selection process. Raiven will perform 9th in the first semifinal.

At first, we didn’t know what to think of this entry. The music video certainly had a haunting quality, and there’s the classic nearly-naked people pile (we don’t know why there are so many naked people piles in Eurovision music videos, but there seems to be at least one every single year… it’s *art*).

The song itself did not initially stick in our heads beyond the silvery body paint and the chorus, “Veronikaaaa, (oh ohh ohhh).” But then, as with a number of other entries this year, we saw the recorded live performances at the Eurovision pre-parties, starting with Madrid:

In her live performance it became clear that Raiven had ABSOLUTE command of that stage. While she does little more than stand and sing, the intensity of her gaze and the small gestures she makes with her long fingers are POWERFUL. She truly casts a spell on the audience and we were transfixed.

This is when we finally looked up what the Slovenian lyrics were about. All we really had before was the name of the song, Veronika. Well, let us tell you about “Veronika.”

Veronika of Desenice

The Veronika referenced in the song is Veronika of Desenice, a historical figure in Slovenia who died in 1425. The story goes that Veronika married Count Frederick, a man of much higher social status. Of course, Frederick’s father was upset about this, locked up his son, and accused Veronika of witchcraft for seducing the Count. When the court acquitted Veronika, Frederick’s father decided to take matters into his own hands and ordered her to be drowned in a river. It is said that you can hear her ghost wailing on long nights near the river where she was drowned. The tragic love story has inspired many works of literature and song, including this Eurovision entry.

Slovenian Lyrics	English Translation
Skrila sem se v reko in odšla v tiho noč Z glasnimi koraki nemi klici na pomoč Zdaj, ko sem le voda, v valovih iščem mir Utopim se v sebi, se svetlobi prepustim … Jaz sem Ti si Veronika Tvojo resnico le ona ve	I hid in the river and went into the silent night With loud steps, voiceless cries for help Now that I am just water In the waves, I seek peace I drown in myself, I surrender to the light … I am You are Veronika Only she knows your truth

This all made the water imagery in the music video much more meaningful.

With the story behind the lyrics and the power of Raiven’s performance, this song quickly became one of our favorites. And while we aren’t usually a fan of the people piles or the raw nakedness that Raiven has said she wants to bring to the Eurovision stage, we think “Veronika” has the spooky vibes and backstory to make this actually work. I guess we support nudity when you are embodying the ghost of a murdered lover. In conclusion, we love Raiven’s haunting witchy song and can’t wait to see what ghostliness she will bring to the Eurovision stage.