Omar Naber won Slovenia’s national selection show, titled Evrovizijska Melodija 2017, with his song “On My Way”. He competed against 15 other contestants and came out on top. He’ll be jetting off to Kyiv, Ukraine to represent the country at Eurovision 2017.
The final saw eight of the contestants battle it out to win. Omar Naber won the jury vote with 64 points, and came second in the Televote with 60 points; winning with a total of 124 points; beating the Televote winner, BQL, who came second with 114 points for their song “Heart of Gold”.
On the night, he gave a solid performance of his ballad “On My Way”; totally showcasing his vocal ability, and we reckon it would do well at Eurovision.
Watch Omar Naber Perform “On My Way” At Slovenia’s National Selection To Eurovision Here:
This isn’t the first time Omar Naber has represented Slovenia at the Eurovision Song Contest. He previously sang “Stop” in 2005. Funnily enough, it’s the second time he will be jetting off to Kyiv since in 2005 the contest was also held in the Ukrainian capital.
He is hoping to do better than the last time he represented Slovenia since in 2005 he came 12th in the semi-final; therefore not advancing to the Grand Final. He is also hoping to do better than last year’s representative ManuElla, who didn’t advance to the Grand Final either.
Slovenia has never won the contest. They debuted in 1993, and their best position to date is 7th back in 1995 and in 2001.
Can Omar Naber do it for Slovenia, and win the Eurovision Song Contest 2017? He’ll have to out-perform and out-sing various other contestants from other countries. The announced acts so far are: Cyprus’ Hovig, The Netherlands’ O’G3NE, Belgium’s Blanche, Macedonia’s Jana Burceska, Azerbaijan’s DiHaj, Ireland’s Brendan Murray, Austria’s Nathan Trent, Albania’s Lindita, Armenia’s Artsvik, Montenegro’s Slavko Kalezic, Greece’s Demy, Georgia’s Tako Gachechiladze, Belarus’ Navi, The United Kingdom’s Lucie Jones, Finland’s Norma John, Switzerland’s Timebelle, Germany’s Levina, France’s Alma, Spain’s Manel Navarro, Italy’s Francesco Gabbani, Israel’s Imri Ziv, Czech Republic’s Martina Barta, Croatia’s Jacques Houdek, Malta’s Claudia Faniello, Poland’s Kasia Mos, and Hungary’s Joci Pápai.
The Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals will take place on 9 May and 11 May, with the Grand Final taking place on 13 May 2017. It will be held in Kyiv, Ukraine after Jamala won the contest last year with “1944”.
Have you got a favourite already? Do you think Slovenia has a chance this year? Let us know all your comments on this year’s Eurovision on Twitter @CelebMix.