“I had alredy sung it a year ago and said to myself that his had to find a way to the radio stations,” added Černe, who has been devoting most of her time to the theatre recently. She played the main role of the cabaret singer at a summer theatre festival in the play ‘Dama iz Maxima’ (The lady from Maxim’s). Foto: MMC RTV SLO/Jani Ugrin
“I had alredy sung it a year ago and said to myself that his had to find a way to the radio stations,” added Černe, who has been devoting most of her time to the theatre recently. She played the main role of the cabaret singer at a summer theatre festival in the play ‘Dama iz Maxima’ (The lady from Maxim’s). Foto: MMC RTV SLO/Jani Ugrin
Andraž Hribar
“I occasionally participated in the events organized by TV Slovenia, but I didn’t compete. Perhaps because I didn’t feel I had a suitable song. But this year it felt like a good time to reappear,” laughed Hribar, who has been preparing new material for the past year and a half. Foto: MMC RTV SLO/Jani Ugrin
Manca Špik
“I devoted more attention to thinking about the song, what I wanted to say with it, than actually singing it . I thoroughly analysed each line in my head and focused on my feelings as an interpreter and music performer, so most of the attention was given to interpretation,” admitted Špik, who proved with yesterday’s performance that she has taken a step further on her music journey. Foto: MMC RTV SLO/Jani Ugrin
Jure Ivanušič
“Slovenska popevka lacks a story, which is why I applied to the contest – to try to put people back into the focus. What the people listen and are interested in, is the story. The rest is small talk,” said Ivanušič. Foto: MMC RTV SLO/Jani Ugrin

An atypical pop song without a refrain convinced the jury. A song that could have already come to life at another music festival this summer, won the hearts of the audience. A chanson intertwined with a pop song stood out due to the singer’s interpretation, and a mistress of words crafted the best lyrics.

38th edition of the Slovenian song contest "Slovenska popevka’"put two well-known faces of the festival on the throne. The expert jury was won over by the song called "Po čem diši ta dan" (What does this day smell of) performed by Andraž Hribar, a renowned singer who had already won the best debutant award at the Slovenska popevka contest in 1998. “This is an atypical song, without a refrain – it’s a narrative lyrical song. I feel that Slovenians still have some sort of an Old Slavonic soul within, one that is fond of listening to fairy tales, of getting a feel of reality through stories,” said Hribar in a statement for MMC.
Hribar, who created the winning song together with Patrik Greblo, a prominent Slovenian conductor and composer, has been a regular guest at EMA, the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, where he competed four times, achieving his best result in 2001 with the song "Življenje je" (Life is). He also won the award for best Slovenian chanson with a song titled "Cigaret" (A fag) the following year.

The third performance at Slovenska popevka proved to be a lucky one for Eva Černe, a Slovenian singer for whom Studio 1, where the event took place, appears to be a lucky charm, since she had already won the ‘Bitka talentov’ (Talent Battle) talent show there. The 24-year-old singer first performed at the festival in 2007 and conquered the hearts of the audience then, too. This time she won with the song "Vrti se v ritmu" (It spins with the rhythm). “I’m different now. I feel better in my skin – I’m more confident. This is why I wanted a lively tune. I’ve had it with me for a year and have become well acquainted with it,” admitted Černe.
Černe returned to Slovenska popevka in 2010 with the song Signali (Signals). As three years before, her team of song creators was led by Rok Golob, another renowned composer, who was joined by his spouse Katarina Habe. In 2010, Černe and Golob won second place in the audience vote. “This is why this victory means double joy for us,” mentioned Černe. She added that the song had been created for the annual summer music festival in Portorož called ‘Melodies of the sea and the sun’, but failed to qualify, so the authors decided to send it to Slovenska popevka.

The festival saw the return of another participant. Jure Ivanušič is known as a master of chansons. He has already won the Festival of Slovenian chanson twice (2001, 2005) as well as Slovenska popevka (2003). He returned to the latter after having won best lyrics award ten years ago. This year he won the award for best interpretation of the song "Plavi angel" (Blue Angel), arranged by Nana Forte, his wife.

The last of the four winners is a renowned mistress of words by the name of Barbara Pešut, who won best lyrics award. She joined forces with Manca Špik, who performed her song "To so te reči" (These are the things).