Slovenia’s Eurovision representatives, Joker Out, originally recorded their song for the contest in English. 

Carpe Diem is sung – and will be performed entirely – in Slovenian, but the importance of the band’s mother tongue prompted the language change. 

Speaking to The Euro Trip, frontman Bojan Cvjetićanin said: “The demo was actually in English and it was called Want Me. 

“The lyrics didn’t make much sense, but the chorus was: ‘Why don’t you tell me that you want me? Why don’t you tell me that you need me?’. 

“It was the first thing that came to my mind when we were recording the melody.” 

The band spent 12 days at the legendary Clouds Hill recording studio in Hamburg late last year to write and record music. During that time, the band created Carpe Diem. 

Expanding on the reason for the language change, Cvjetićanin said: “It was important to go to Eurovision [singing in] Slovenian because we owe it to our fans and ourselves…we are most true and honest in our own language. 

“We are representing our country and we love the fact that it makes Eurovision more diverse and colourful when you hear different languages.”

Joker Out’s predecessors at the contest, LPS, performed Disko entirely in Slovenian but finished last in their Semi Final. 

The last time Slovenia reached the Grand Final of Eurovision was in 2019 when zalagasper finished 15th with their song Sebi.

Image – Katja Kodba / RTV Slovenia