Klemen is waving the flag for Slovenia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, and reminding Europe to make the most of every moment. He’ll be singing ‘How Much Time Do We Have Left’.

Slovenia’s time to choose

The Slovenian public gathered around their TVs in February 2025 to find out who would be representing them at Eurovision. The national selection show Evrovizijska Melodijaccc , or EMA, was back after a two-year absence, with the country’s 2024 artist Raiven acting as co-host.

Slovenian actor, singer, songwriter, and TV host Klemen Slakonja entered the contest for the first time, and he was up against 11 other hopefuls. Once everyone had performed, a special jury whittled the numbers down to 2, choosing How Much Time Do We Have Left by Klemen and New Religion by July Jones.

The final decision was in the hands of the viewers, and they made their choice loud and clear – Klemen would be going to Basel.

When life has other plans

Klemen has been getting a lot of attention for his comedy videos on YouTube, with millions of views. But his Eurovision song couldn’t be more different from those funny skits.

In 2016, just after one of his comedy videos had gone viral, his wife Mojca was diagnosed with a serious illness and told that it was incurable. Incredibly, she went on to make a full recovery.

Klemen’s Eurovision song How Much Time Do We Have Left is all about this difficult experience, and the importance of making the most of every moment. He’s hoping he can be the voice of people who have faced a serious illness or lost a loved one.

He’s not only singing the song – he wrote it too. Beyond Eurovision, he’ll be releasing his first solo album in 2025 with 10 new tracks, which has been recorded in London.

There’s another important member of the family worth mentioning – Klemen’s dog Olivija, who’s a Peruvian Inca Orchid. The breed are known to be hairless. But not Olivija, who didn’t get the memo. We love a pup who breaks the mould.

United by music

Klemen’s earliest memory of Eurovision is when Tuto Cutugno won the Contest for Italy in 1990 with the song Insieme: 1992. The song had strong early 1990s power ballad vibes and a message about Europe uniting . Something we’re all about at the Eurovision Song Contest.

His Eurovision hero is Dave Benton, who was part of the group who snatched Estonia’s first win in 2001 with the song Everybody. Klemen thinks Dave is worthy of the hero title, after becoming the first Black person to win the Contest, the first Caribbean person to win the Contest, and the oldest person to win the Contest.

They say never meet your heroes, but we'll allow it just this once. Klemen and Dave have recorded a special duet of How Much Time Do We Have Left.

What Klemen’s playing on repeat

One look at Klemen’s playlist, and it’s clear he’s inspired by deep and meaningful pop songs. Some of his top tracks include Robbie Williams’ Feel, John Lennon’s Imagine, and Coldplay’s Fix You.

He’s obviously a Robbie Williams fan, because his karaoke song of choice also comes from the singer’s back catalogue – he loves to get up and sing Let Me Entertain You. And let him, we shall.

And when he's off the mic, and Daft Punk’s Get Lucky or Outkast’s Hey Ya! come on at a party, he’s straight up on the dance floor.

Clockwatching in Switzerland

With the Eurovision Song Contest just around the corner, Klemen is thinking about what to expect in Switzerland. He says he associates the country with mountains, the Eurovision winner Nemo, and cheese. Although with a milk intolerance, his cheese will need to be vegan.

Klemen has devoted a lot of thought to how to enjoy every second of life. Competing in the Eurovision Song Contest seems like a pretty great place to start.

Listen out for Klemen on the Official Eurovision Song Contest Podcast .

You can learn more about Klemen from Slovenia right here .