Slovenian entrants Joker Out made the cut in Thursday's second semi final of the Eurovision song contest alongside Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland. This will be the first time since 2019 that Slovenia will be in the final.

The quintet, a hugely successful act in Slovenia, played down their chances before the semi-final arguing that for them the publicity offered by Eurovision is more important that the actual result.

But they were elated after the results came in, saying that they were still reeling from the excitement.

"We woke up without any stress. We knew we can give it more than 100% and we deserved the final," the group said.

Right after the semi-final ended the band members did not yet know how they stood points-wise. "Perhaps we were a bit angry at that point, being called last among the finalists," they said.

Joker Out are competing with Carpe Diem, a guitar-heavy poppy tune about dancing and partying.