Slovenia SLOVENIA 2021 - Ana Soklič - Amen

[escYOUnited]

Hey child
Why ya hiding from the light?
Why ya cowering in fright?

Don’t tell yourself
The heavens cast you out
And you’ve fallen from grace

You’ll get beaten and bruised
You’ll be scarred unto your core
But it’s gonna make you who you are

When ya learn to heal
When ya learn to rise again
You can tell the sun, “Amen”

Hallelujah
We’re gloriousl
Hallelujah,
The day is dawning!
The storm’s relentless
But everybody knows
Everybody knows
We’re born to the fight

Hey child
The fear’ll never go away
Might as well accept it now

Learn to persevere.
Learn to count your blessings down
Greet the future with Amen

Hallelujah
We’re gloriousl
Hallelujah
The day is dawning!
The storm’s relentless
But everybody knows
Everybody knows
We’re born to the fight

Not until the rain has stopped,
Not until the thunder’s hushed
Are we at rest, are we at peace…
Just imagine it
Not until the storm has passed,
Not until it’s quiet
Can the heart that’s broken cry.

Hallelujah
We’re gloriousl
Hallelujah
The day is dawning!
The storm’s relentless
But everybody knows
Everybody knows
We’re born to the fight

Hey child
Why ya hiding from the light?​

 

[ESC94]

Many Slovenians understand at least basics of Italian, but I would not say that the switching between Italian and Slovenian is something common in Slovenian speakers there. Sure, some learn it perfectly, but the majority does not. I think the Italian minority here speaks better Slovenian than vice versa. It is the same with the Hungarian here in my region. I know a lot of Hungarian words, especially the basic pleasantries, but I surely do not speak Hungarian. It is too distinct and since Hungarian is not an Indo-European language, you can't learn it easily. English and German (the latter among older people) are surely the languages of communication with foreigners here, though many younger people now speak also Spanish because of the telenovelas from Mexico and South America. I also learnt Spanish as I have family in Argentina and some French, as I have family in France... So, basically, if you speak German, you should get around just fine in Slovenia. But I have to admit one thing which I hated when working with German tourists. I can do some German, but we learn here Hochdeutsch. Occasionally I got tourists from Switzerland and some German/Austrian regions with heavy dialects and they would stick to their dialects in talking to me. I was like "What language do you speak? I cant understand you, speak proper German!" I am also a huge fan of Alpine ski, and I watch often Austrian channels, and some commentators are simply impossible to understand as they speak with thick accent in their dialects. But all in all, German and Austrian tourists were always nice and educated, I loved them. And unlike Slovenian tourists, they were not stingy

So as a tourist from I can get around very well with German and English??

I can imagine that in the tourist regions in the Alps and on the coastline most information is available in multiple languages, even though the quality of the translations is sometimes a bit doubtful.

 

[Carian]

So as a tourist from I can get around very well with German and English??

I can imagine that in the tourist regions in the Alps and on the coastline most information is available in multiple languages, even though the quality of the translations is sometimes a bit doubtful.

True. In fact, in Eastern Slovenia you could get by even better with German. Eastern Slovenia is underdeveloped cuz all the money goes to Ljubljana and Western Slovenia, so a lot of people actually work in Austria in Germany (my brother too). As a result, you can travel without prearranging your trip and just go wherever you want to. People speak German quite well. When I worked in tourism, I actually met hotel/hostels owners who did not speak a word of English, but their German was flawless. And almost all tourist materials are available also in German. So, even if you find some tourist worker who does not speak German, he will surely have tourist ads and materials for guides in German. And in almost every locality you have tourist information centers, where they can organize you the staying, bed, food, reservations of all kind of sorts. So, Slovenia is like a paradise for German and English speaking tourists.

PS: I forgot to add - yes, translations are sometimes horrible. I mean, when I worked in tourism, I had to translate tourist materials to German, though my German was really poor. But as a smart kid, I actually used German speaking tourist to edit my translations, so that in the end, my translations were always perfect

 

[ESC94]

@Carian

Sounds great.

What should I try to eat when I´m in ?? Is there a local speciality you can recommend?? And how is Slovenian cuisine in general??

 

[ESC94]

@randajad

What´s that??

 

[Carian]

@Carian

Sounds great.

What should I try to eat when I´m in ?? Is there a local speciality you can recommend?? And how is Slovenian cuisine in general??

Slovenian cuisine is a mix of German, Italian, Balkan and Hungarian cuisines. Original local food? Oh, you got me know. I admit, I hate food and talk about food. But you know what? You have an excellent webpage of the Slovenian Tourist Board - slovenia.info if I remember correctly. They also distribute beautiful tourist materials and catallogues. Since it is the start of the year, you can write them and they will send you stuff. I used to work there also as a student. On their website, you can find all about offer, food, history, what to see, where to go etc. As for food, the only thing that comes to my mind and I think you should absolutely eat it is the Bled Kremschnitte. It is a delicious desert. Though similar stuff can be found in other places, their Kremschnitte is a bit different and it is really good. Oh, and if you visit the Eastern Slovenia, you must absolutely try smoked ham from Prekmurje - in my opinion it is better than perschiutto, and in the Prlekija region there is the so-called "Fleisch aus der Tünka" (basically, pork out of the lard). That is really good. I don't know. There are many things you can try and taste. Okay, final thought - if you like active vacations, there are many stuff to do in Slovenia and the good thing is that roads are not too packed.

 

[Carian]

@randajad

What´s that??

Just google it and check pics. It is good. Really good. I like them too.

 

[ESC94]

Slovenian cuisine is a mix of German, Italian, Balkan and Hungarian cuisines. Original local food? Oh, you got me know. I admit, I hate food and talk about food. But you know what? You have an excellent webpage of the Slovenian Tourist Board - slovenia.info if I remember correctly. They also distribute beautiful tourist materials and catallogues. Since it is the start of the year, you can write them and they will send you stuff. I used to work there also as a student. On their website, you can find all about offer, food, history, what to see, where to go etc. As for food, the only thing that comes to my mind and I think you should absolutely eat it is the Bled Kremschnitte. It is a delicious desert. Though similar stuff can be found in other places, their Kremschnitte is a bit different and it is really good. Oh, and if you visit the Eastern Slovenia, you must absolutely try smoked ham from Prekmurje - in my opinion it is better than perschiutto, and in the Prlekija region there is the so-called "Fleisch aus der Tünka" (basically, pork out of the lard). That is really good. I don't know. There are many things you can try and taste. Okay, final thought - if you like active vacations, there are many stuff to do in Slovenia and the good thing is that roads are not too packed.

Thanks for the information about Slovenia. I think I have a new country on my bucket list. Hvala!!

But now let´s go back to the topic, I think I derailed the thread too much already.

 

[HayashiM]

So, guys, I am finally responding here as I promised, and I must say that I am genuinely happy to see that you have listened to my request not to be nasty towards Ana just because of the religious undertones in her song. Moreover, I'd like to thank to all those that have shared very personal accounts and experiences which go beyond religion and ESC. In fact, this thread has turned unexpectedly into a very interesting discussion that I was eager to read and it made me actually to think. So, bravo, guys, and thank you for sharing.
Now, I would like to respond to individual messages, which I believe were responding to my earlier posts, but I will also comment some of the other's posts which I find interesting or compelled to comment.

@Ezio - Thanks for telling your story and how you conceive the religion. I can surely relate to you when you say your faith is your refuge in the wild world of gays. When I came out and realized that 90% of gays are hurt people who hurt me cuz they had been hurt in the past, I was so angry with the gay community that it took me a while to get over. I did not seek consolation in religion, though it might have been better if I had done like you. It took me years to find peace not only with other gays, but also with myself, cuz I honestly felt betrayed by my own "kind". Next, I agree with you that there is evil in the world and that it is real. I believe in something too, but I would not cast the world around me in Judeo-Christian terms. In fact, though it may sound funny and strange, I feel polytheistic religions much closer to my own experience, yet it is hard to be a polytheist in modern society, as there are no temples and no polytheist communities around me. And I absolutely believe in karma. English say it well with "What goes around, it comes around".

@Ezio, @rasmuslights, @ESC94 - So, about Slovenian-Austrian/German relations and perceptions, there is nothing much to add beyond from what rasmulights had already said. Austria is almost proverbially place where we want to be as a state and nation in the future: you know, organized, no corruption etc. But there are also people, who do not adore that much - you know, WW2, but these are a dying minority. Nevertheless, there is also a lot of antagonism in sports, politics, etc., so people like to call Austrians and Germans "Švabi (read: Schwabi)", which is actually a slur word and really not flattering. So, if you ever travel here in Slovenia and someone calls you "Švaba" (this is a singular form), he is not being nice to you. One final note: late in 2018 I visited Trieste because of my studies. I was quite surprised to see how many Slovenes I met there during my stay. And I mention this, because I was shocked that Slovenes in Trieste still glorify the old days of Austro-Hungarian Empire, when Trieste was the biggest port in the empire and a good place to live in for Slovenes. That was a shock for me.

@Ezio, @ESC94, @Matt - thanks for the compliments for my German post. I apologize for my word order, but I must admit that I have problems with word worder in every foreign language and even in Standard Slovenian. Namely, I hail from the most NE region of Slovenia, where we speak a special "dialect" which foreign scholars (but not Slovenian) consider a distinct Slavic language. We use also sentence rhythm as a measure to put words in order. Basically, sometimes we will put some words in very unusual places in the sentences, only because of the sentence melody. Don't ask me how this is possible, but some friends told me that I write riming sentences in Slovene, though I do not do it consciously.

@ESC94 - although already someone else here replied to your question about the "language culture" and language minorities in Slovenia, I would like to add some details, if you are interested. Western Slovenia, especially coastal regions close by the Italian border, still has an Italian minority, just like my homeregion has the Hungarian minority. These two minorities are recognized by our state and their language is coofficial with the Slovenian language, where the minority represent the majority on a local level. However! I'd like to say that while it is well taken care of these two minorities (and I am not exagerating by saying this), we have also other minorities that do not fare that well. Nowadays, I am especially upset because of ex-Yugoslavian minorities which live in Slovenia and are not recognized as such. Though they assimilate at great speed, because Slovenian and Serbo-Croatian are very close, I still believe that they deserve the right to preserve their language and culture, even though they did not settle in Slovenia 400 years ago. Their recent settlement is often used as an excuse why not to recognize them. But this argument falls flat when we consider the Roma minorities in Slovenia. In my region, we have a huge Sinthi Roma minority which is very modern and there are numerous intermarriages between Roma and local Slovenians that started in Communist Yugoslavia. Our Roma are still struggling and I find their position very dire and unfair, cuz as I told earlier, they have to be "trilingual" in order to succeed. Beside their Roma language, they must learn our local dialect and then again Standard Slovene in schools. I mean, it is crazy. Can you imagine that you are trilingual, and no-one actually recognizes this fact which is a problem in itself? Finally, I'd like to say that there are also several German families living in the villages along the Austrian border with my hometown region. You will never hear of them, but they do exist.

@Iker - about "fant", I'd like say only that this is a standard Slovenian word used in central Slovenian dialects. But since there are 9 major dialectal groups, divided into about 60 dialectal groups, trust me, there are many many different words that you will not find them in any dictionary. For instance, Slovenian Eastern Styria region calls boys "čeh" (read: Tschechi) and it is basically the same word as the official word for Czeques. In my region, we call boys "pójeb" (read: Poyeb), and I believe that a lot of Slavic people will giggle now as we all now what the word "jebati" means in Slavic languages

@Lindon - the number of German loanwords in dialects goes into hunderds. A lot of them are not only simple loanwords for newly invented stuff, but also grammatical function words. In my dialect, we use for instance the words "dönok" which comes from the German "dennoch", a lot of Slovenian dialects use also the word "fejst" in the sense "very, a lot" and it comes from the German "fest". You know what is the worst thing? Words for mechanic tools. We have one set of words for tools that about 90% come from German, and then you have parallel set of Standard Slovene words, which probably 90% of people never use in daily speech. As a translator, I am always petrified when I get to translate a text about mechanics. I know these words from daily speech and I know exactly what they mean, but I really do not know how they are called in Standard Slovene. Languages are a mess and Slovenian is no different. In the end, you should know that the Standard Slovenian language is basically an artificial creation of the 19th-century intellectuals. Its true that it is based like 80% on the forms and vocabulary of the Slovenian Central dialects, but in reality no-one ever spoke like this here.

@Pål Nordahl, @Sammy, @HayashiM - guys, thanks for sharing your stories and your opinions, but I still disagree with your position. Sammy literally wrote he finds the song as a hostile towards what he is. As an underpinning reasoning for your aversion and "fat 0" for Ana, you, Sammy, detail out your very personal and tragic account how you had a hard time accepting yourself because of the religious group/denomination/community you were part of when you were younger. I despise people and communities who do this what your community did to you, but allow me to say only that I had exactly the same experience as you, but I was not raised in a religious family or community. I hated myself, I rejected my homosexuality until I was 26 years old. I denied myself, despised myself, and even tried to hurt myself, because I thought that my family and friends would never accept me for who I am, as I was hearing them poke nasty jokes about gays etc. When I told my mum I was gay, I was ready and prepared to lose her, as I was 100% sure she would reject me. I had 100 scenarios running in my head what I would say, how I would respond to her, but I was not ready for what happened. You know what happened? She laughed loudly. Sincere laugh. It took her several days to think about it and only several days later she told me not to talk about it with other people about it, cuz they would not understand it and I would make my life harder. She was right. On the other hand, my sister's reaction was not nice, though I was sure that she would be the one who would be the only one to accept me unconditionally. We all have stories, but what I want to say is that my family is not religious, we do not belong to any church or religious cult, yet I was going through the same hell as you. So, apologies, if it offends you, but my case shows that people are just nasty when they want to be, regardless of the fact if they are religious or not. Anyways, is faith or religion a reason to hate a song, a person, or anything? I don't think so. People who hate will hate no matter what, and Holy Books and religion(s) are just a handy justification for their hatred. That's my view and it is fine to disagree, but please, do not take my position as an attempt to undermine your struggle or (past) sufferings. I am not, I am just saying that people twist religion into something bad. Religion per se is not and cannot be bad.

@A-lister - I agree with your summary and subscribe to your position 100%. You penned it perfectly. I end this debatte here.

Finally, I'd like to add one last thing to this overlong post. I have seen numerous reactions to Ana's song, but none was as nasty and filthy as Wiwiblogg's. I mean, Wiwiblogg is really losing it. Their reactions and comments are simply unbearable as they behave as the ultimate authority for ESC. I think the leaders of that website absolutely need a reality check. They literally lambasted and spit on Ana's song, only because she forgot to inform them that the song is not a ballad. That fake acting how they expect the song to turn into some dance shtic was absolutely undigestable. And one final point - Devan was explaining all the time that Ana's song were a ballad, though she promised her song was not a ballad. Now, please, correct me, if I am mistaken, but I actually agree with Ana when she said that this was not a ballad. Even Wikipedia states clearly that in modern English usage the term ballad is used for a popular love song, particularly in pop and rock music. So, if a ballad is a love song, can please someone explain to Devan that Ana is not singing about love or broken heart? Ana's song is an empowering song with the message of hope and overcoming hardships. Wiwibloggs is plain simply obnoxious and I hope their blog slowly vanishes for their biased, stupid "reporting". And if I were Ana, I would absolutely decline interviews with them, as they are being FAKE NEWS, yet they call themselves "experts". Yeah, right.

Thank you for the detailed excursion into Slovenian culture and history that I've immensely enjoyed. I am 100% here for posts like this one, that's one of numerous things that keep escYounited great.

I don't want to embark on a hate train against Wiwibloggs ok, who am I kidding, I find these people quite fake and superficial and certainly not musical experts, so I just don't go to their blog very often, which helps. Also spitting on an artist for delivering something else than you think he promised is really not cool (as isn't cool attacking Aksel as a liar for his alleged non-participation at this year's UMK, blink blink).

I feel the urge to continue the religious debate; I will however do so in the appropriate thread as I fear the topic of Ana's entry and my perception of it will now become less important than addressing the topic of religion in general.

 

[tuorem]

As for food, the only thing that comes to my mind and I think you should absolutely eat it is the Bled Kremschnitte. It is a delicious desert.

This has my stamp of approval as well @ESC94 And it comes from someone who is not into cakes and pastries in general. I wish I could have some delivered to my door.

And Bled is the perfect romantic scenery to enjoy such delicacy!

 

[Ianp16]

I keep on coming back to Amen. It's so dramatic, camp and epic. I'm not sure it'll win but it's been the entry I've been singing the most.

Can anyone kindly link me the live TV performance Ana did that some members were talking about? Can't find it on youtube.

 

[Carian]

I keep on coming back to Amen. It's so dramatic, camp and epic. I'm not sure it'll win but it's been the entry I've been singing the most.

Can anyone kindly link me the live TV performance Ana did that some members were talking about? Can't find it on youtube.

https://4d.rtvslo.si/arhiv/ema/174756986
https://4d.rtvslo.si/arhiv/ema/174756986

The song starts at 57:30. Live vocals are flawless, but some idiot decided to use echo with her mic, so it sounds a bit strange, but she is still amazing.

 

[Carian]

This has my stamp of approval as well @ESC94 And it comes from someone who is not into cakes and pastries in general. I wish I could have some delivered to my door.

And Bled is the perfect romantic scenery to enjoy such delicacy!

It looks like someone has a sweet tooth here

 

[Ianp16]

https://4d.rtvslo.si/arhiv/ema/174756986
https://4d.rtvslo.si/arhiv/ema/174756986

The song starts at 57:30. Live vocals are flawless, but some idiot decided to use echo with her mic, so it sounds a bit strange, but she is still amazing.

Thank you! Wow. Her vocals are so amazing it seems to good to be true! What an absolute queen. I'm stanning so hard I think I'm haemorrhaging.

 

[Ali_]

Here's a link to the live performance of the song only

Ana Soklič – Amen

EMA - izbor predstavnika RTV Slovenija za Pesem Evrovizije. Spletna stran: https://www.rtvslo.si/zabava-in-slog/glasba/ema You tube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ESCSlovenia

www.rtvslo.si

 

[Iker]

No way, this is too dramatic, too melodic, too emotional. I'm not sure if it will qualify because we don't have all the songs yet. But Martina Barta was doomed to fail. Golden foil never saves a song with which you send the audience into the boredom-coma. But Ana will definitely have a better result than Martina and the chances of qualification are there.

I think it is slightly better than Martina Barta's song. But I find both equally dull.

 

[Iker]

Slovenia and Croatia have been a part of the Venetian Serene Republic for centuries. Dubrovnik, Koper and Zadar were important trade centers from the Middle Ages through the back end of the renaissance.

The Venetian influence is also incidentally why both countries are predominantly catholic despite being culturally slavic.

#HistoryNerd.

Your post makes no sense. Poland has had no Venetian influence whatsoever yet is both slavic and Roman Catholic.

 

[Carian]

I think it is slightly better than Martina Barta's song. But I find both equally dull.

I agree with you in a way, but I would like to point out that Martina did not (and could not) have choir in the back. In this sense, I think that these new rules could "save" Ana. It will be interesting to see what happens with Ana, and then we will be able to draw some interesting conclusions, such as: the number of performers and singers on the stage seriously favors certain type of songs in ESC.

 

[Carian]

Thank you! Wow. Her vocals are so amazing it seems to good to be true! What an absolute queen. I'm stanning so hard I think I'm haemorrhaging.

Yeah, sorry that I could not find the video of the song only, thanks @Ali_ . I actually heard the live version only yesterday when I was frantically looking for the video, and I admit that I was positively surprised too. Well, she had to be good alive, no wonder people were having problem to tell whether it is sync or live
You know, fun fact. She participated about 10 years ago in one of the Slovenian talent shows. I still remember how impressed I was by her voice back then, but since then she became something "normal" on our musical scene, so her voice doesn't hit me anymore as it did the first time I heard her. Anyways, in that talent show, I remember that she was eliminated quite early on. Everyone was impressed by her, but she was acting moody and was taking criticism very badly. She went long distances since then, and a couple of years ago (maybe more), I remember I saw another interview with her, where she looked more calm and confident. By then, she was already an acomplished and trained singer. She won one of the most important traditional music festivals the other year. Anyways, Ana is today a recognized and respected singer, she never had any scandals. I mean, she is an artist and a lady in the true meaning of the word. For those, who look for drama and scandals, she is really not the right address.

 

[Mainshow]

I'm actually planning my trip to Slovenia right now and I really enjoyed the current conversation. I already took down notes what to eat in which region haha

 

[Carian]

I'm actually planning my trip to Slovenia right now and I really enjoyed the current conversation. I already took down notes what to eat in which region haha

Sorry guys, I guess I have still the "tourist guide" in me. I promise next time to send such messages in private to people.