The new rules say that the contestants must enter a song in the Slovene language. “If the song is to be sung in a different language, the contestant(s) must enter both versions,” the new rules read.

The contestants must be at least 16 years of age on the day of the Semi Final, i.e. May 8. The songwriters and performers can be citizens of Slovenia or foreigners. “If the sole songwriter is a citizen of Slovenia, all performers can be foreign nationals. If the sole songwriter is a foreign national, all performers must be citizens of Slovenia. If the song was written by several authors, some of which are foreign nationals, at least half the team of performers and half the team of songwriters must have Slovene citizenship,” the rules read.

All complete applications submitted by November 15 will be reviewed by a panel of (at least three) judges. The rules for the selection process will be published by December 1.

Lisbon calling
The 2018 Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Lisbon after Salvador Sobral won the competition earlier this year. In 2017, it was Omar Naber who was chosen to represent Slovenia at the Eurovision Song Contest. Even though he was eliminated in the Semi Final, a total of three Slovenian acts managed to qualify for the ESC Final in the past six years: Maja Keuc, Tinkara Kovač, and Maraaya.