European Song Contest 3

European Song Contest 3 was the third edition of the European Song Contest held in Maribor, Slovenia, after the win of zalagasper in Croatia during the previous edition. A total of 10 countries participated in the third edition. This was the first ever edition not to be hosted in a capital city.

The contest was won for the third time by Slovenia, where Jimmy & Verona scored 107 points with their song "Running for Your Life". Croatia came in second place with 103 points and Ukraine came in third place with 98 points. The Slovenian broadcaster confirmed the fourth edition would be hosted in Ljubljana.

Bidding phase
In order to compete in the bidding selection, the city would have to fulfill following criteria:
 * The host city had to be near a major airport.
 * The venue must be available for at least six weeks before the contest and one week after the conclusion of the contest
 * The venue must not be open-air, but an air-conditioned building with a capacity of at least 10,000 and a minimum ceiling height of 15 metres (49 ft), insulated for sound and light.
 * The green room must be located as close to the arena as possible (or within it), with a capacity of 300.

With the total of 7 (out of 10) votes, the Ljudski vrt was chosen to host the third edition of EuSC.

Host City
Maribor (UK: /ˈmærɪbɔːr/ MARR-ib-or, US: /ˈmɑːr-/ MAR-, Slovene: [ˈmáːɾibɔɾ] (listen), German: [ˈmaːʁiboːɐ̯] (listen); also known by other historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, the seat of the Drava statistical region and the Eastern Slovenia region. Maribor is also the economic, administrative, educational, and cultural centre of eastern Slovenia.

Maribor was first mentioned as a castle in 1164, as a settlement in 1209, and as a city in 1254. Like most Slovene ethnic territory, Maribor was under Habsburg rule until 1918, when Rudolf Maister and his men secured the city for the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, which then joined the Kingdom of Serbia to form the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In 1991 Maribor became part of independent Slovenia.

Maribor, along with the Portuguese city of Guimarães, was selected the European Capital of Culture for 2012.

Presenters
Maraaya are a Slovenian duo founded by Marjetka Vovk and Aleš Vovk (Raay) in 2014. The group's name is a combination of its members' names, while its pronunciation means "She has Raay" in Slovene. Raay is credited as co-writer and producer for many Slovenian artists. He is credited as the composer on Slovenia's 2014 Eurovision song "Round and Round", and they both contributed to Slovenia's 2014 Junior Eurovision song with "Nisi sam (Your Light)" and 2015 Junior Eurovision song with "Prva ljubezen" (The First Love). In 2013 Raay co-wrote and produced the music for "My Way Is My Decision", a hit song performed by Slovenian alpine skier Tina Maze. Raay co-wrote, produced and recorded first two singles ("Muza" and "Heart of Gold") for BQL, a Slovenian brothers duo.

In September 2017 they signed a contract with Warner Music Group and became the first Slovenian artists to sign with Warner Music.

After BQL, they are the second Slovenian artist to reach the top position on the national official singles charts SloTop50, with at least two singles: "Here for You" and "Diamond Duck".

Participants
The Reggia Broadcasting Union announced the list of 10 participants, with their songs being chosen via internal choice or a natioanl selection. Turkey was debuting during the third edition and Austria withdrew from the competition. The running order was made a week before the competition and Slovenia as the hosts chose the number 4.

Debuting countries

 * Flag_of_Turkey.svg Turkey - the Turkish broadcaster TRT stated, that Turkey would debut during the third edition of the contest.

Withdrawing countries

 * Flag_of_Austria.svg Austria - the Austrian broadcaster ORF, stated that Austria will withdraw from the contest due to disappointing results in the competition.

Other countries

 * Flag_of_Luxembourg.svg Luxembourg - the Luxembourger broadcaster RTL, stated that Luxembourg would take part in the competition, although due to the lack of a submitted candidate until the deadline, Luxembourg couldn't compete in the contest. The broadcaster stated, that Luxembourg would take part in the upcoming edition.

Grande Finale
The finale consisted of 10 original acts and the voting system remained the same (12-10-8-6-4-2-1). Each country had to submit a jury and a televoting set of votes.