Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Country	Slovakia
National selection
Selection process	Eurosong 2009
Selection date(s)	Semi-finals: 15 February 2009 20 February 2009 23 February 2009 27 February 2009 1 March 2009 Final: 8 March 2009
Selected entrant	Kamil Mikulčík and Nela Pocisková
Selected song	"Leť tmou"
Selected songwriter(s)	Rastislav Dubovský Petronela Kolevská Anna Žigová
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Failed to qualify (18th)
Slovakia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1998 • 2009 • 2010►

Slovakia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Leť tmou" written by Rastislav Dubovský, Petronela Kolevská and Anna Žigová. The song was performed by Kamil Mikulčík and Nela Pocisková. In September 2008, the Slovak broadcaster Slovenská televízia (STV) announced that they would return to the Eurovision Song Contest after an eleven-year absence. The broadcaster selected the Slovak entry for the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia through the national final Eurosong 2009. 50 entries competed in the national final which consisted of six shows: five semi-finals and a final. Entries were selected to advance from the semi-finals based on the votes of a seven-member jury panel as well as the votes from the public. Sixteen entries ultimately qualified to compete in the final on 8 March 2009 where a public televote selected three of the entries to proceed to a second round of voting. In the second round of voting, "Leť tmou" performed by Kamil Mikulčík and Nela Pocisková was selected as the winner after scoring the most points from the jury.

Slovakia was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 14 May 2009. Performing during the show in position 7, "Leť tmou" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Slovakia placed eighteenth out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 8 points.

Background

Prior to the 2009 contest, Slovakia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest three times since its first entry in 1994. The nation's best placing in the contest was eighteenth, which it achieved in 1996 with the song "Kým nás máš" performed by Marcel Palonder. Slovakia's least successful result has been 21st place, which they have achieved in 1998 with the song "Modlitba" performed by Katarína Hasprová.

The Slovak national broadcaster, Slovenská televízia (STV), broadcasts the event within Slovakia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. STV had selected all of their Eurovision entries through an internal selection. In 1999, Slovakia was relegated as one of the seven countries with the lowest average scores over the previous five years, while in 2000, nation withdrew from the competition, citing financial reasons.^[1] On 24 September 2008, STV announced their return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009 after an eleven-year absence.^[2][3] The program director of STV Roman Lipták stated that the pressure from local artists was the driving force behind the country's return.^[4]

Before Eurovision

Eurosong 2009

Eurosong 2009 was the national final format developed by STV in order to select Slovakia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009.^[5] The competition consisted of six shows which commenced on 15 February 2009 and concluded with a final on 8 March 2009. The six shows took place at the STV studios in Bratislava and hosted by Martin Rausch. All shows in the competition were broadcast on Jednotka as well as online at the broadcaster's official website stv.sk.^[6]

Format

The format of the competition consisted of six shows: five semi-finals on 15 February 2009, 20 February 2009, 22 February 2009, 27 February 2009 and 1 March 2009, and a final on 8 March 2009. Results during each show were determined by a jury panel and votes from the public. The semi-finals each featured ten entries from which the songs first faced a public televote where the top two entries qualified to the final. The jury then selected an additional qualifier from the remaining entries to advance. The jury also selected a wildcard qualifier for the final out of the remaining non-qualifying acts from the semi-finals. In the final, the winner was determined over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the remaining sixteen entries faced a public televote where the top three entries qualified to the second round of voting. In the second round, the winner was determined exclusively by the jury. Viewers were able to vote via SMS.^[7][8][9]

The seven-member jury panel participated in each show and selected entries to advance in the competition. The jury consisted of:^[10]

• Laco Lučenič – Musician and music producer
• Katarína Hasprová – Singer, represented Slovakia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998
• Marcel Palonder – Singer, represented Slovakia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996
• Anton Popovič – Composer
• Mirka Brezovská – Singer
• Dezider Kukoľ – Editor at the News Agency of the Slovak Republic (TASR)
• Lukáš Machala – Representative of STV

Competing entries

Artists and composers were able to submit their entries between 20 November 2008 and 20 January 2009. Artists were required to hold Slovak citizenship and songs were required to be performed in Slovak.^[11] The broadcaster received 177 submissions at the closing of the deadline and an expert committee selected fifty entries for the competition.^[12] The competing entries were announced on 3 February 2009.^[13]

Shows

Semi-finals

The five semi-finals took place between 15 February and 1 March 2009. The third semi-final was originally scheduled to take place on 22 February 2009, however due to a train accident in Bratislava on 21 February which led to a day of mourning in Slovakia, the semi-final was postponed to 23 February 2009 instead.^[14][15] Desmod and Lucia Nováková were due to perform in the first semi-final, however they were later reallocated to perform in the fifth semi-final following an accident during the rehearsals. Three entries qualified to the final from each semi-final. The competing entries first faced a public televote where the top two songs advanced; an additional qualifier was then selected from the remaining entries by the jury.^[16]

Following the semi-finals, "To čo chceš" performed by Samo Tomeček and Free Inna Cage received the jury wildcard and also qualified for the final, while Desmod and Lucia Nováková withdrew from the final after qualifying from the fifth semi-final; the jury selected "Na čom záleží" performed by Smola a hrušky as a replacement qualifier.^[17]