Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001
| Eurovision Song Contest 2001 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Estonia | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Eurolaul 2001 | |||
| Selection date(s) | 3 February 2001 | |||
| Selected artist(s) | Tanel Padar, Dave Benton & 2XL | |||
| Selected song | "Everybody" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 1st, 198 points | |||
| Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Estonia was represented by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL, with the song '"Everybody", at the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 12 May in Copenhagen. "Everybody" was chosen as the Estonian entry at the national final, Eurolaul, on 3 February.
"Everybody" went on to bring Estonia one of the most unexpected victories in Eurovision history, with a song which is generally regarded as one of the weakest winners ever. It is also historic for representing the first Eurovision victory by one of the "new" nations – the considerable number of countries which had joined Eurovision post-1992 – and also for Benton becoming the first (and to date only) black performer to win a Eurovision title.
Final
Eurolaul was held at the studios of broadcaster ETV in Tallinn, hosted by Marko Reikop and Elektra. Eight songs took part with the winner being chosen by an "expert" international jury. All songs were presented in English for the first time.[1]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Votes | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soul Control | "Life Is a Beautiful Word" | 60 | 5 |
| 2 | Iris | "Sounds of the Sea" | 62 | 4 |
| 3 | Maian Kärmas | "The Right Way" | 51 | 6 |
| 4 | Hillar Vimberg | "Cat Story" | 29 | 8 |
| 5 | Kadi Toom | "A Little Chance" | 64 | 3 |
| 6 | Yvetta Raid | "Smile" | 31 | 7 |
| 7 | Tanel Padar, Dave Benton & 2XL | "Everybody" | 77 | 1 |
| 8 | Liisi Koikson | "Someday" | 66 | 2 |
At Eurovision
On the night of the final Padar, Benton and 2XL performed 20th in the running order, following Germany and preceding Malta. Pre-contest betting had rated Greece as the favourite for victory, with Denmark, France, Slovenia and Sweden also in the frame and Estonia nowhere in sight. The first half of the voting was very tight, and after 12 juries Denmark was in the lead on 99 points, with Estonia and France on 92 and 90 respectively. However from that point Estonia quickly pulled away and at the close of voting "Everybody" had received 198 points and become a very surprising winner by a clear margin of 21 points over eventual runners-up Denmark. The song had received nine maximum 12s – from Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Turkey and the United Kingdom – with only one country (Portugal) failing to award it any points at all. The 12 points from the Estonian televote were awarded to Denmark.[2]
Points awarded to Estonia
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
Points awarded by Estonia[2]
| 12 points |  Denmark
|
| 10 points |  France
|
| 8 points |  Latvia
|
| 7 points |  Sweden
|
| 6 points |  Greece
|
| 5 points |  Slovenia
|
| 4 points |  Russia
|
| 3 points |  Spain
|
| 2 points |  Malta
|
| 1 point |  Germany
|