ESTONIA 2025

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

ESTONIA 2024

The Estonian act and song was chosen on February 17th through their well-established national final "Eesti Laul". Along with five automatic qualifiers, 5 more finalists qualified from the 15 song semifinal held two weeks previously. The overall winner was selected over two rounds of voting: After the scores of an international jury and public vote were amalgamated, the top 3 went to a televote only second round where a winner was determined. Going to Malmö is 5miinust and Puuluup performing the song 

"(Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi"   [We don't (yet) know anything about (these) drugs] 

This entry is an amalgamation of two well known, but slightly disparate music groups. 5miinust is an Estonian-language four-piece hip-hop group from Võsu. The collective have released two albums up to now, both charting in the top twenty. Their song "Aluspükse", a collaboration with Nublu, spent six weeks at the top of the Eesti Tipp-40 becoming the 3rd best-selling song in Estonia in 2019. They then signed a deal with Universal, with their next 3 songs all reaching number one, They have won in the Artist of the Year category on two occasions. Puuluup is an Estonian nu-folk duo consisting of Ramo Teder and Marko Veisson. They have called their style "neozombie postal folk". In particular, they create compositions on talharpas – a traditional bowed lyre -but use alternative bowing and drumming techniques. These sounds are then fed through loop pedals and given different sound effects. They have received several music awards in Estonia including the best band, the best ensemble and best album.

The song is mainly driven by the members of 5miinust but the instrumental has some very heavily interwoven folk traits from Puuluup. The song starts with a verse which has a rhythm reminiscent or MIA's "Paper Planes" but in Estonian. There is then a short instrumental break before the chorus in which a member of each band takes in turn to sing. Their vocal techniques and timbres are very different making it very engaging to listen to. There is then another sizable verse and instrumental before a short bridge and then into a final chorus. The song begins and ends with shouts of 'hey' in time with the music. During the song, it feels a bit like the two groups are competing against each other, in a kind of Aerosmith/Run DMC kind of way but during the final part of the song they all join in with what feel like a stylised half cancan.

The staging is rather simplistic with mostly yellow and blue lights flashing on stage but with the middle of the backdrop being an eyeball which contains a kind of nebulae/nerve ending motif. The movement of the participants is well rehearsed but always seems raw and spontaneous, although it is very much not. The rough and ready visuals very much matches with the rugged vocal style. The prominence of the instruments also gives this another earworm to remember it by. The song - in some ways - is very calculated as there is plenty of scope for audience participation physically or vocally, even if you don't know any Estonian. Many have already compared this to "Cha Cha Cha" and have suggested that is it some kind of copycat entry and personally I don't quite see the direct comparison. Although on paper they seem to have a lot in common (a genre-bending song in a minority language with an accompanying dance routine and charismatic singer) there is enough about them that gives them their own identity.  I feel this will have little trouble picking up televotes in the semi-final or final, however this entry came 3rd, albeit not too far off 1st place, with the international juries during Eesti Laul so it may have something in common with Cha Cha Cha after all.

ARTIST - 5miinust and Puuluup

SONG - (Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Kohver, Lancelot, Päevakoer, Põhja Korea, R Teder, M Veisson,, K Wennerström

ESTONIA 2023

The Estonian final "Eesti Laul" was held on February 11th at Tondiraba Jäähall in Tallinn, hosted by Tõnis Niinemets and Grete Kuld. Previous to the final there were 2 semi-finals where 10 songs competed per show and 6 qualified from each. During the final, a top 3 was chosen by 50-50 televoting and international jury but in the second round the winner was chosen solely by televoting. Going to Liverpool is Alika with the song "Bridges"

Alika Milova is from Narva, a town right on the north eastern border of Estonia Alika has been singing since she was small and has participated in many of the singing competitions in the area such as Baltic Voice, New Wave Junior and Kaunas Talent to name just a few. However, she came to national prominence in 2021 where she won "Eesti Otsib Superstar" - the Estonian version of Pop Idol - which also won her a record deal with Universal Music.

Alika is on stage wearing what seems to be a normal off-white trouser dress but is actually made up of different layers and slightly different materials. She is onstage with a piano - which sometimes plays by itself - and later on we see a cellist at the side. The song begins with a solitary piano intro. Alika begins with a very soft first verse followed by what turns out to be a shortened chorus. The second verse flows straight after with Alika's voice being a little stronger than before. There then follows a full length chorus which really gets the repetitive tune into your head. Into the final minute we have a bridge then a final rendition of the full length chorus, which has a slightly different tune, and ends on a big ballsy high note.

This song is extremely catchy, which is rather an odd thing to say about a very heartfelt ballad. The verses show off the low and lyrical parts of Alika's voice then the chorus shows her ability do short quick lyrics and to belt notes out. The music accompanying this is very classical and the repetitive scales in the chorus makes this whole piece sound extremely familiar and endearing. Alika's overall performance is very convincing and the use of the self playing piano is an interesting touch although I am not so sold on the armography during the chorus. I feel like the embryo of a good staging idea is here but may need to be placed and shot differently when on the Eurovision stage.

In a sea of very nationalistic and cultural songs this definitely covers all the normal general bases. It has a touch of musical theatre about it although staging wise it is not at all set that way. If the staging and camera work focuses in on Alika's voice then this surely cannot go wrong. I think this is a nice straight down the line ballad, the problem is will people see this as a well sung traditional Eurovision ballad or will people think this is somehow old fashioned and boring?  

ARTIST - Alika

SONG - Bridges

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Wouter Hardy, Alika Milova, Nina Sampermans

ESTONIA 2021

The Estonian Final (Eesti Laul) was held on March 6th at Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, hosted by Tõnis Niinemets & Grete Kuld. Before the final there were two semi-finals with 6 qualifying from each. The winner was chosen in two rounds: first to find a top 3 using a 50/50 televoting/jury split then the winner was chosen solely by televoting. The winner was last year's Estonian entrant, Uku Suviste, with the song "The lucky one".

The staging of this is simplistic and helps deliver the message of the song. The stage is rather dark and Uku looks tiny amongst the darkness. He is wearing a white buttoned shirt and dark trousers with an undone bowtie around his neck and kneeling on the floor. There is a clever insert where it looks like Uku has fallen backwards and the stage turns to water but is actually a video clip. He walks forward onto the stage where chains are hanging all around him which seems like an odd shift of metaphors having just had the water one. Slowly, the back drop starts to light up, with more underwater shots in between, and as the song gets to the end flashes of pink start appearing on the backdrop before turning totally dark.

The singing starts almost immediately with Uku singing in a very low hushed tone. The backing track is very atmospheric making the whole thing rather mysterious and intriguing. During the second part of the verse his voice is more full but still with a sense of mystery. The bridge has an unusual mix of long held notes followed by short sharp rhyming parts which certainly catches your ear.  The chorus has a good mix of choir and synth beats although feels a bit mid tempo. However this section is rather short compared to the amount of time it takes to reach it. Verse 2 is much shorter and this time goes straight into the chorus which doesn't quite have the power as before. Strangely the bridge then comes after the chorus and really builds up to the final chorus.

Uku comes from a bit of a showbiz family; his father being a tv producer and his mother being an opera singer. In fact many of his close family are opera singers but Uku studied pop and jazz in Estonia before studying for some time at Berklee College in America learning the art of modern song writing and production techniques. In 2012 Uku took 3rd place at the New Wave contest and started a brief career in musicals. He's also participated in the Voice Russia, getting to the semi-finals. This song is his 4th entry in Eesti Laul with two wins and one second place to his name which cements him as one of the competition's most successful participants.

Compared to his winning song last year, it's in the same vein but slightly less annoying! I enjoy the build up through the first verse, bridge and chorus but that takes up over half the song so the second half feels rushed and squeezed which undoes all the good work. I wonder what difference it might make if the bridge was put after the second verse and had a double chorus after it. Personally, I like the water motifs but would lose the chains (unless there were chains visible when underwater maybe..?) In a sea of female bangers, a song like this could stand out as something safe and more stereotypically Eurovision for the casual waters at home but I wonder if the entry is powerful enough to get people to actually vote for it.

ARTIST - Uku Suviste
SONG - The lucky one
WRITING CREDITS - Dimitris Kontopoulous, Uku Suviste, Sharon Vaughn 

03/03/12 ESTONIA

The Estonian Final was held on March 3rd at the Nokia Concert Hall in Tallinn. Before the final there were 2 semi-finals where the list of 20 was whittled down to a final of 10. Lenna and Ott Lepland made it to the superfinal where Ott Lepland was announced as the winner of Eesti Laul.

During the semi final Ott was seated at a piano whilst in the final he sang the whole song stood in the middle of the stage. He is backed by a female singer who is stuck right at the back of the stage where you cannot see her, which I don’t like. Ott does not do very much and stays very much on the spot. It may well benefit the flow of the song if he starts n the piano and then does the rest of the song stood up as this will create some movement and help build the song.

The song is a slow quiet ballad that does gain some strength through the choruses. That said it just feels a little flat and samey and is not very memorable. I don’t even think having some dancers would help the song. This said Ott does put emotion into the song and sings it well. Now of course many will be wondering if the song will be left in the original Estonian or translated into English. Unfortunately I don’t think changing the language will save this at all.

Estonia picked a really, really good top 3 for Eesti Laul butended up choosing the wrong song for Baku. Lenna or Tenfold Rabbit (who came 3^rd) would have been much more original choices and would have made a mark on the contest, even if they were a little too different for Eurovision. Unless major staging, styling or even language changes are made this is a definite DNQ.

SONG – Kuula (Listen)

ARTIST – Ott Lepland

COMPOSERS – Ott Lepland and Aapo Ilves

LANGUAGE – Estonian

ESTONIA

The Estonian Final was hed on February 26th at the Nokia Concert Hall in Tallinn. Previous to the final there were 2 semi-finals. The eventual winner was chosen by a 50-50 mix of jury and televote and was Getter Jaani singing “Rockerfeller Street”

This song is very interesting entry. It is a real performance number with a lot visually going on. The stage has lots of architectural boxes with the singers and dancers use to good effect, as well as some props. There is lots of marching around lots of dancing and gesturing. Not a moment seems to go by when they are just standing still doing very little. Getter is wearing the strangest dress. It seeps to be a dress made up of left over multicoloured hankies. Although it does contrast well to the dark dressed dancers it really doesn’t say very much about the song and she could do with something a bit more classic.

The song itself is a song of two halves. The verses and bridge parts are much more interesting to listen to than the chorus. The backing track during the verses is very unusual- sounding almost like something Bjork might have made when messing about with micro beats. This is then a very good contracts when entering the bridge phase as it them builds up and uses some excellent use of drum beats to accent the words she is singing. When the song goes into the chorus it feels a little bit cheesy and a little bit predicatable, which is a bit of a shame.

I can see what they are trying to do with this song but it is not quite there yet. Unfortunately I don't see this one getting very far.

SINGER – Getter Jaani
SONG – Rockerfeller Street
MUSIC – Sven Lõhmus
WORDS – Sven Lõhmus