The Estonian Final was selected on February 15th via "Eesti Laul" Before the final there was a radio-based semi-final There were two rounds of voting - a 50-50 mix televoting and international jury selected a top 3 and then a winner would be chosen solely by televoting. Going to Basel is Tommy Cash with the song "Espresso Macchiato".
Tommy Cash (born Tomas Tammemets) is from Tallinn. Although primarily a musical artist he has a background in dancing (influenced by popping, krumping and breakdancing) and art (video, photography, sculpture, painting, graffiti and fashion) and is infamous for his various stunts. His music (aural and visual) is seen as cheeky, often surreal, flipping between the many extreme of electronica and his lyrics are usually seen as rude, crude and sexually driven. He started his musical journey in 2013 by posting music to Soundcloud. From there his fan base grew with his songs being used in campaigns and appearances at festivals in the Baltic region. He has only released two albums but has released multiple solo tracks and has also collaborated on music with Little Big, bbno$, Riff Raff and Eurovision runner-up Käärijä, who was in his entourage at Eesti Laul.
The toping and aura of the song is rather interesting, for a Eurovision song in particular. The lyrics are littered with Italian words and phrases as well as English words spoken with an Italian lilt. After an extended chorus to begin with, the song continues with a verse - pre chorus - chorus which runs through twice and finishes with a la-la-la outro with the title of the song repeated. Tommy is dressed formally in a suit and tie but also looks rather dishevelled, maybe it is the long hair! At the start he is singing to a small white paper cup and then proceeds to dance rather strangely. He is joined on stage by four security guards who spend some of the time 'guarding' and the rest of the time dancing and helping to stage the song, almost as if they were props or furniture. The backdrop pivots between words from the song or coffee/Italian related paraphernalia. The song ends with Tommy lifted up by his body guards into a geometric ending pose.
The song is quite poppy and the music chops between the talky verses and the funky, almost Jitterbug-esque, chorus. Its style seems to hark back to slightly older styles of song but the theme and instrumentation is more up to date. I would say this song puts me in mind of "We No Speak Americano" although the subject matter is even more frivolous than this. The staging is very simple but also memorable. The choreography is full of tropes from other Eurovision stagings - but without being too pointed or referential about exactly what or who they are memeing. It is performed to a tee which makes sure that the entry is teasing- without being condescending or being nasty - which is a very fine line to tread. Moreover the song is really catchy, even if it is almost utter nonsense! This will sail through the semi-final as he is too well known in northern Europe and humours those who like the fun entries. This is pushing the boundaries and I'd love to know what the Italian, San Marinese and Italian-speaking Swiss public/delegations think of this! In addition, Tommy will be a 'character' during interviews and press events and a lot of people will be on edge when he is around!
ARTIST - Tommy Cash
SONG - Espresso macchiato
WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Tomas Tammemets, Johannes Naukkarinen
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