Slovakia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Selection process logo.

A national final was held to select the fourth Slovak Eurovision entry, where the Slovak public will choose the winner through televoting.[7]

The original plan was for three semi-finals to be held for Eurosong, set for 15 February, 22 February and 1 March 2009. Thirty songs were to compete in the semi-finals, with four songs qualifying to the final: three of the songs from televoting results while the fourth qualifier decided by a seven-member jury panel.[8][9] However, due to the high amount of submissions received, STV decided to increase the number of semi-finals to five, each containing 10 songs, a total of 50 competing acts over the five semi-finals. The dates for the semi-finals were 15 February 2009, 20 February 2009, 22 February 2009, 27 February 2009 and 1 March 2009. From each semi-final, three songs qualified for the final, two by televoting and one by a jury, with 15 final songs competing in the final.[10][11]

The seven-member jury panel consisted of Laco Lučenič (musician and music producer), Katarína Hasprová (1998 Slovak Eurovision entrant), Marcel Palonder (1996 Slovak Eurovision entrant), Anton Popovič (composer), Mirka Brezovská (singer), Dezider Kukoľ (editor of TASR) and Lukáš Machala (STV representative).[12]

STV opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries up until 20 January 2009. From all 117 songs submitted to STV, a jury panel selected 50 songs for the competition. The list of competing songs was released on 3 February 2009.[13]

The first semi-final of Eurosong was held on 15 February 2009. Three songs qualified to the final from the nine acts that competed, two selected by televoting and one selected by a jury. Desmod & Lucia Nováková was supposed to perform during the show, however they did not due to an accident during rehearsals.[14]

Andrea Zimányiová and Robo Šimko & MassRiot were the two acts that qualified by televoting, while VIP was selected by the jury to qualify, after coming ninth and last in the televote.[14][15]

The second semi-final of Eurosong was held on 20 February 2009. Three songs qualified to the final from the ten songs that competed, with two selected by televoting and one selected by a jury.

Tomáš Bezdeda and Mária Čírová qualified to the final, gaining the highest number of televotes, while Mukatado qualified as the jury wildcard, coming seventh in the televote.[16][17] Samo Tomeček & Free Inna Cage were later chosen as an additional jury wildcard entry to the final after all the semi-finals had been held.[18]

The third semi-final was originally scheduled to be held on 22 February 2009, but was later rescheduled due to tragic accident on Saturday in Bratislava. As such, Sunday was declared a day of mourning in Slovakia and all entertainment shows were postponed or cancelled. Due to this, the show was held on 23 February 2009 instead.[19][20]

From this semi-final, Robo Opatovský and Peter Bazík & Andrea Sulovská gained the most televotes, while Komajota was selected by the jury to qualify, having initially come sixth in the televote.[21][22]

The fourth semi-final was held on 27 February 2009. Ten songs competed, with three qualifying to the final, two selected by televoting and one selected by a jury.

The winners of the televote were Martina Schindlerová and Janais, while Zachariáš Hubáček was selected as the jury wildcard, who was initially eliminated after coming seventh in the televote.[23][24]

The fifth semi-final was held on 1 March 2009. Eleven songs competed in this semi-final, including Desmod & Lucia Nováková, who were forced to retire from the first semi-final. Three songs again qualified to the final, with two selected by televoting and one selected by a jury.

Kamil Mikulčík & Nela Pocisková and Desmod & Lucia Nováková were the winners of the televote, while Michal Chrenko was selected as the jury wildcard, coming seventh in the televote.[25][26]

The final was held on 8 March 2009. Sixteen songs in total will compete, which include the initial semi-final qualifiers. The winner was decided by a jury selecting the final winner from the top three songs of a public televote.

A number of changes occurred to the final line-up. Initially Desmod & Lucia Nováková had qualified to the final, coming second in the fifth semi-final with "Posledná minúta". They later withdrew from the contest, and were replaced by Smola a hrušky with "Na čom záleží", who came sixth in the same semi-final. After all semi-final were held, the jury decided to select another jury wildcard to compete in the final. This was Samo Tomeček & Free Inna Cage, who came fourth in the first semi-final televote, with "To čo chceš".[18]

During the final, the Azerbaijani entry, AySel and Arash, performed their Eurovision entry, "Always".[27] The Czech Republic entry for Eurovision, Gipsy.cz, also performed during the show, performing their Eurovision entry "Aven Romale".

The top three songs selected by televote was Kamil Mikulčík and Nela Pocisková with "Leť tmou", Tomáš Bezdeda with "Každý z nás" and Mukatado with "Ja sa mám". The winner of the jury vote was Kamil Mikulčík and Nela Pocisková with "Leť tmou", who also won the televote.[4][5][6]