Irena Vrčkovnik

Irena Vrčkovnik is a Slovenian pop singer and songwriter, born on 8 August 1968 in Slovenj Gradec. She went to primary school in Šoštanj, finished the secondary teacher-training school in Celje and studied music education at the Faculty of Education in Maribor.

As a teenager she sang in the band Aurora. In 1989 and 1990 she was the singer of Ansambel Vesna, and from 1991 to 1993 of Ansambel Sredenšek, before going solo. She has also made a name as a writer of music and lyrics for other singers, and she has taught music: in primary schools in Griže, Liboje and Velenje in the early 1990s, and since 1996 privately, to young singers.

Her festival career began at the Festival of Dialect Songs, where "Pridi v Maribor", sung with Srečko Sedar, won the audience's third prize in 1991 and "Moj šocej" the audience's first prize in 1992. At Melodije morja in sonca she sang three songs by Oto Pestner, starting with "Zaljubljena v Portorož", which won the audience's third prize in 1992, and she won that prize again with "Če ne bi vedela" (1998). In 2012 "Il tempo passato" won the jury's award for the best performance there and finished third, and in 2018 she sang "Številka srca" with the group Mjav.

EMA brought her closest to Eurovision. In 1995 she was second with "Oda ljubezni", a duet with Oto Pestner, and in 1996 second again with "Naj mesec ugasne". She returned with "Kadar boš ob njej zaspal" (1997), "Igra je končana" with Damjana Golavšek and Sanja (fifth in 1999) and "V ritmu, ki me lovi" (2002). With Damjana she also won the golden klopotec at the Festival of Dialect Songs 1998 for "Naj bo vesela jesen", written by Adi Smolar.

At Slovenska popevka she sang "Sanjam" (1998), her own "Ostani, kar si" (1999), "Ustvari me" (2003), which won the jury's award for the best performer, and "Zračiš moj zrak" (2014). With Happy Band she sang her own songs "Takšna sem" at Melodije morja in sonca and "Povabi me" at Hit festival, both in 2000.