Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
| Estonia | |
|---|---|
|
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| Member station | ERR |
| National selection events | Eurolaul (1993–2008) Eesti Laul (2009–) |
| Appearances | |
| Appearances | 19 (13 finals) |
| First appearance | 1994 |
| Best result | 1st: 2001 |
| Worst result | 22nd SF: 2007 SF |
| External links | |
| ERR page | |
| Estonia's page at Eurovision.tv | |
Estonia first entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994. Its first appearance would have taken place in 1993 with Janika Sillamaa and "Muretut meelt ja südametuld", however a qualification round was just installed for former Eastern bloc countries and she did not manage to qualify to the Grand Final. Its first contest participation in 1994 was not a successful one, coming second last only to Lithuania. As such, the country was relegated from the 1995 contest. Its second entry, Maarja-Liis Ilus and Ivo Linna with "Kaelakee hääl", in 1996 was the complete opposite, coming 5th with 94 points. This was the first top 5 ranking for a former USSR country. In addition, Estonia is the most successful Baltic country in Eurovision.
Contents |
History of Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest [edit]
Estonia's record at the contest was a successful one from 1996 to 2002, only failing once to make the top 10 (in 1998 when it ended up in 12th place). The country's first win came in 2001, when Tanel Padar and Dave Benton, along with 2XL, sang "Everybody" and received 198 points, therefore making Estonia the first former USSR country to win the Contest and the second country of eastern Europe after Yugoslavia. As such the 2002 contest was held in Estonia, in the capital city Tallinn.
From 2004 to 2008 Estonia failed to qualify to the finals, mostly receiving poor results – during that period its best entry was 12th place in the 2004 semi-final by Neiokõsõ with the "Tii" (The Way), sung in the Võro language, a southern-Estonian dialect.
Despite news that Estonia might withdraw from the 2009 contest, set to be held in Moscow, Russia, due to the war in South Ossetia, Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) confirmed that, due to public demand, Estonia would send an entry to Moscow.[1][2] After a new national final, Eesti Laul, was introduced to select the Estonian entry, the winner was Urban Symphony with "Rändajad" (Nomads[3] or Travellers), which had beaten the televoting favourite, Laura, by the votes of a jury.[4][5]
At the second semi-final of the 2009 contest, Urban Symphony qualified Estonia to the final of the contest for the first time since 2003, receiving 115 points and placing 3rd. The group performed 15th in the final, where it received 129 points, placing 6th of 25 competing entries as well as being the highest placing non-English language song at the 2009 competition.
In 2010, Estonia failed to qualify to the final, with the song "Siren" by Malcolm Lincoln.
In 2011, Estonia was represented by Getter Jaani with the song "Rockefeller Street". She was the bookmakers' pre-contest favorite for victory along with France. She qualified to the final but eventually placed 24th of 25 entries- tying Silvi Vrait's 1994 result for Estonia's worst placing in the contest final.
In 2012, Ott Lepland qualified Estonia to the final with his song "Kuula", ending up 4th in the second semi-final. In the final, he equalled Estonia's result of 1999 and 2009, ending up 6th. Together after 2009, "Kuula" gave Estonia its best result in the contest since 2002.
Contestants [edit]
| Year | Artist | Title | Final | Points | Semi | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Silvi Vrait | "Nagu merelaine" | 24 | 2 | N/A | N/A |
| 1996 | Maarja-Liis Ilus & Ivo Linna | "Kaelakee hääl" | 5 | 94 | ||
| 1997 | Maarja Liis-Ilus | "Keelatud maa" | 8 | 82 | ||
| 1998 | Koit Toome | "Mere lapsed" | 12 | 36 | ||
| 1999 | Evelin Samuel & Camille | "Diamond of Night" | 6 | 90 | ||
| 2000 | Ines | "Once in a Lifetime" | 4 | 98 | ||
| 2001 | Tanel Padar/Dave Benton/2XL | "Everybody" | 1 | 198 | ||
| 2002 | Sahlene | "Runaway" | 3 | 111 | ||
| 2003 | Ruffus | "Eighties Coming Back" | 21 | 14 | ||
| 2004 | Neiokõsõ | "Tii" | X | X | 12 | 57 |
| 2005 | Suntribe | "Let's Get Loud" | X | X | 20 | 31 |
| 2006 | Sandra Oxenryd | "Through My Window" | X | X | 18 | 28 |
| 2007 | Gerli Padar | "Partners in Crime" | X | X | 22 | 33 |
| 2008 | Kreisiraadio | "Leto svet" | X | X | 18 | 8 |
| 2009 | Urban Symphony | "Rändajad" | 6 | 129 | 3 | 115 |
| 2010 | Malcolm Lincoln & Manpower 4 | "Siren" | X | X | 14 | 39 |
| 2011 | Getter Jaani | "Rockefeller Street" | 24 | 44 | 9 | 60 |
| 2012 | Ott Lepland | "Kuula" | 6 | 120 | 4 | 100 |
| 2013 | Birgit Õigemeel | "Et uus saaks alguse" | 20 | 19 | 10 | 52 |
| 2014 | TBD | TBD |
- XX on the finals denotes an unsuccessful attempt at qualifying to the final.
Note: Estonia unsuccessfully attempted to participate in 1993, when there was a pre-qualifying round for seven countries hoping to make their debut in the contest.
Voting history [edit]
1994–2012 [edit]
Estonia has given the most points to... [edit]
| Rank | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Russia |
126 |
| 2 |  Sweden |
112 |
| 3 |  Latvia |
67 |
| 4 |  Norway |
65 |
| 5 |  Finland |
61 |
Estonia has received the most points from... [edit]
| Rank | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Finland |
71 |
| 2 | Sweden |
68 |
| 3 |  Ireland |
65 |
| 4 | Latvia |
56 |
| 5 |  United Kingdom |
53 |
NOTE: The totals in the above tables include only points awarded in Eurovision finals, and not the semi-finals since 2004.
Since introducing the semi-finals in 2004 until 2012 [edit]
Estonia has given the most points to... [edit]
| Rank | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russia |
84 |
| 2 | Finland |
66 |
| 3 | Latvia |
52 |
| 4 | Sweden |
49 |
| 5 | Norway |
47 |
| 6 |  Ukraine |
44 |
| 7 |  Denmark |
39 |
| 8 |  Iceland |
32 |
| 9 |  Georgia |
30 |
| 10 |  Germany |
27 |
Estonia has received the most points from... [edit]
| Rank | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latvia |
83 |
| 2 | Finland |
77 |
| 3 |  Lithuania |
46 |
| 4 | Sweden |
34 |
| 5 | Ireland |
29 |
| Iceland |
29 | |
| 6 |  France |
22 |
 Slovakia |
22 | |
| 7 | Ukraine |
21 |
 Moldova |
21 | |
 Portugal |
21 |
NOTE: The tables with points from 2004 include points awarded in both finals and semi-finals where the highest point from the final/semi-final is picked.
Hostings [edit]
| Year | Location | Venue | Presenters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 |  Tallinn |
Saku Suurhall | Annely Peebo and Marko Matvere |
Commentators and spokespersons [edit]
| Year(s) | Television commentator | Radio commentator | Spokesperson |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Vello Rand | Marko Reikop (Raadio 2) | Urve Tiidus |
| 1995 | Jüri Pihel | Did Not Participate | |
| 1996 | Marko Reikop (Raadio 2) | Annika Talvik | |
| 1997 | Helene Tedre | ||
| 1998 | Reet Linna | Urve Tiidus | |
| 1999 | Marko Reikop | Vello Rand (Raadio 2) | Mart Sander |
| 2000 | Evelin Samuel | ||
| 2001 | Ilo-Mai Küttim (Elektra) | ||
| 2002 | |||
| 2003 | Ines | ||
| 2004 | Maarja-Liis Ilus | ||
| 2005 | Mart Juur (Raadio 2) Andrus Kivirähk (Raadio 2) |
||
| 2006 | Evelin Samuel | ||
| 2007 | Laura Põldvere | ||
| 2008 | Sahlene | ||
| 2009 | Marko Reikop (All) Olav Osolin (final) |
Laura Põldvere | |
| 2010 | Marko Reikop (All) Sven Lõhmus (final) |
Rolf Roosalu | |
| 2011 | Marko Reikop | Piret Järvis | |
| 2012 | Mart Juur, Andrus Kivirähk (Raadio 2) Ilja Ban, Dmitri Vinogradov, Aleksandra Moorast (Raadio 4) |
Getter Jaani | |
| 2013 | Rolf Roosalu |
References [edit]
- ^ Floras, Stella (2008-08-22). "Estonia: Minister discusses possible boycott of Eurovision in Moscow". ESCToday. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
- ^ Floras, Stella (2008-09-17). "Estonia will participate in 2009". ESCToday. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
- ^ "Estonia: Staging modern fairytale". 2009-04-26. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- ^ Calleja Bayliss, Marc (2009-03-07). "Urban Symphony to represent Estonia in Moscow". Oikotimes. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
- ^ Webb, Glen (2009-03-07). "Urban Symphony win Eesti Laul in Estonia". EBU. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
External links [edit]
- Points to and from Estonia eurovisioncovers.co.uk
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