in
Ljubljana were of the locations of Joker Out's postcard.|A
video postcard introduced Joker Out's performance in the second semi-final and final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. The postcard was filmed at the headquarters of
Radiotelevizija Slovenija in March 2023 in collaboration with the host broadcaster BBC. The Goodness Gracious Rooftop Bar in
Liverpool and Tetris Hall rooftop in
Kyiv also featured in the Slovenian postcard. According to Eurovision 2023 rules, all nations with the exceptions of the reigning champion nation (Ukraine) and the "
Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and hosting country the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The
European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Slovenia was placed into the second semi-final, held on 11 May 2023, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2023 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Slovenia was set to perform in position 10, following the entry from and before the entry from . Immediately after the close of the second semi-final, a press conference was held in which each of the artists drew the half of the final of which they would perform in. Slovenia was drawn into the second half of the final and was later selected by the EBU to perform in position number 24, following the entry from and before the entry from . In Slovenia, the semi-finals were broadcast on
TV SLO 2 and the final was broadcast on
TV SLO 1, with commentary by . The second semi-final and the final were also broadcast on and
Radio Val 202, with commentary of the second semi-final by Maja Stepančič, , Neja Jerant and Uršula Zaletelj, whilst radio coverage of the final featured commentary by Maja Stepančič, and Uršula Zaletelj. All shows were also screened on RTVSLO’s 4D online platform MMCŽivo with commentary by journalist Žana Čeh. The Slovenian spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the Slovenian jury during the final, was Melani Mekicar.
Semi-final Joker Out took part in technical rehearsals on 2 and 5 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 10 and 11 May. This included the jury show on 10 May where the professional back-up juries of each country watched and voted in a result used if any issues with public televoting occurred. , better known as Ponorelii, was the costumer designer for the band's performance, having previously designed outfits for
Estelle,
Severina, who represented
Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, , Senidah and
Dino Merlin, who represented
Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 and
2011. He stated that, on the Eurovision stage, the Slovenian quintet would shine in light and romantic colours that match the melody of "" and mark the thematic set of the
Garden of Eden, symbolising the coming of the animal and plant world. Each of the band members were also accompanied by a different motif, with each of them having their own animal, plant and precious stone, which was sewn into an unobtrusive part of the costume. Ponorelii also played with natural dyes in the costume colours, fusing colours in accordance to their energy and personality, with each having their own lace. Ponorelii also collaborated with Slovenian
Idrija lace designer to bring a distinctly Slovene motive to the performance. Matic Zadravec also served as the choreographer for the Slovenian performance, having already worked with the band in Slovenia for several years. During the Slovenian performance, dark red and black LED's dominated, with each band member interacting with each other for the entirety of the show. Lead singer Bojan Cvjetićanin stated that the band's aim is to create "a three-minute Joker Out concert" on stage, fusing "Slovene cultural heritage with a distinctly rock defining stage performance for Europe". At the end of the performance, each of the band members lined up at the front of the stage before bowing to the audience. At the end of the show, Slovenia was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. This marked the first time since that Slovenia qualified for the final of the contest. It was later revealed that Slovenia placed fifth out of the sixteen participating countries in the second semi-final with 103 points.
Final Shortly after the second semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Slovenia was drawn to compete in the second half. Joker Out once again took part in dress rehearsals on 12 and 13 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show on 12 May. They performed a repeat of their semi-final performance during the final on 13 May. Slovenia placed 21st in the final, scoring 78 points; 45 points from the public televoting and 33 points from the juries.
Voting Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Slovenia in the second semi-final and in the final. Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting in the final vote, while the semi-final vote was based entirely on the vote of the public. The exact composition of the professional jury, and the results of each country's jury and televoting were released after the final. The Slovenian jury consisted of Edita Čepin,
Lara Baruca, Matjaž Vlašič, Hugo Smeh (Hyu) and Jernej Sobočan. In the second semi-final, Slovenia placed 5th with 103 points, receiving maximum twelve points from , and . This marked the first Slovenian qualification to the final since 2019. In the final, Slovenia placed 21st with 78 points, receiving twelve points in the jury vote from and twelve points in the public televote from . Over the course of the contest, Slovenia awarded its 12 points to in the second semi-final, and to (jury) and (televote) in the final.
Points awarded to Slovenia Points awarded by Slovenia Detailed voting results Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final. The following members comprised the Slovene jury: • Hugo Smeh (Hyu) – music producer • Jernej Sobočan Ivanovič – music editor at Radio Val 202 • Matjaž Vlašič – singer, guitarist, lyricist and pop music composer • Edita Čepin – stage name
Ditka, singer-songwriter and composer •
Lara Baruca – pop music singer and composer == After Eurovision ==