Slovenia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "Narodnozabavni rock" written by Marino Legovič and Leon Oblak. The song was performed by the bands Ansambel Žlindra and Kalamari. Slovenian broadcaster Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV Slovenija) organised the national final EMA 2010 in order to select the Slovenian entry for the 2010 contest in Oslo, Norway. 21 entries competed in the national final which consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final. Fourteen of the entries competed in the semi-final and the top seven entries were selected to advance alongside seven pre-qualified songs based on a public televote. Fourteen entries qualified to compete in the final where "Narodnozabavni rock" performed by Ansambel Žlindra and Kalamari was selected as the winner entirely by a public televote.
Slovenia was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 27 May 2010. Performing during the show in position 11, "Narodnozabavni rock" 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 Slovenia placed sixteenth out of the 17 participating countries in the semi-final with 6 points.
Background
Prior to the 2010 contest, Slovenia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifteen times since its first entry in . Slovenia's highest placing in the contest, to this point, has been seventh place, which the nation achieved on two occasions: in 1995 with the song "Prisluhni mi" performed by Darja Švajger and in 2001 with the song "Energy" performed by Nuša Derenda. The country's only other top ten result was achieved in 1997 when Tanja Ribič performing "Zbudi se" placed tenth. Since the introduction of semi-finals to the format of the contest in 2004, Slovenia had thus far only managed to qualify to the final on one occasion. In 2009, "Love Symphony" performed by Quartissimo feat. Martina failed to qualify to the final.
The Slovenian national broadcaster, Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV Slovenija), broadcasts the event within Slovenia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. RTV Slovenija confirmed Slovenia's participation in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest on 18 October 2009. The Slovenian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest has traditionally been selected through a national final entitled Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA), which has been produced with variable formats. For 2010, the broadcaster opted to organise EMA 2010 to select the Slovenian entry.
Before Eurovision
EMA 2010
EMA 2010 was the 15th edition of the Slovenian national final format Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA). The competition was used by RTV Slovenija to select Slovenia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, and consisted of two shows that took place on 20 and 21 February 2010. Both shows of the competition took place at the Gospodarsko razstavišče in Ljubljana and were broadcast on TV SLO1 and online via the broadcaster's website rtvslo.si.
Format
The format of the competition consisted of two televised shows: a semi-final held on 20 February 2010 and a final held on 21 February 2010. Fourteen songs competed in the semi-final and public televoting exclusively determined seven finalists to proceed to the final alongside an additional seven pre-qualified finalists. Fourteen songs competed in the final where public televoting exclusively determined the winner.