Problem with loop design in template

Hi I have a front page template which displays a certain category_name as a slideshow, and then is supposed to display the_content of the page.

I start by storing the page id:
$template_id = $post->ID;

The slideshow is next so I make a query:
query_posts(‘category_name=”front-slideshow”‘);

And then below that I am supposed to get the contents of the page in another (loop?):

query_posts('p='.$template_id);
if(have_posts()) while(have_posts()) : the_post();
	$content = the_content();
endwhile;

But it gives me nothing despite having the correct ID, If I put an id of any other page it works.

However if I put the content loop above the query_posts(‘category_name.. query it works fine (with no query necessary. But I can’t do that since I want short codes and calling get_the_content for later display doesnt render out shortcodes, only the_content does)

Any help much appreciated.