Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019

Estonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Storm" written by Stig Rästa, Vallo Kikas, Victor Crone and Fred Krieger. The song was performed by Victor Crone. The Estonian broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) organised the national final Eesti Laul 2019 in order to select the Estonian entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel. The national final consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. Twelve songs competed in each semi-final and six from each semi-final as determined by a jury panel and public vote qualified to the final. In the final, the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a jury panel and a public vote selected the top three to qualify to the superfinal. In the superfinal, "Storm" performed by Victor Crone was selected as the winner entirely by a public vote.

Eurovision Song Contest 2019
Country Estonia
National selection
Selection processEesti Laul 2019
Selection date(s)Semi-finals:
31 January 2019
2 February 2019
Final:
16 February 2019
Selected entrantVictor Crone
Selected song"Storm"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (4th, 198 points)
Final result20th, 76 points
Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2018 2019 2020►

Estonia was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 14 May 2019. Performing during the show in position 14, "Storm" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 18 May. It was later revealed that Estonia placed fourth out of the 17 participating countries in the semi-final with 198 points. In the final, Estonia performed in position 18 and placed twentieth out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 76 points.

Background

Prior to the 2019 contest, Estonia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-four times since its first entry in 1994,[1] winning the contest on one occasion in 2001 with the song "Everybody" performed by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, Estonia has, to this point, managed to qualify to the final on six occasions. In 2018, "La forza" performed by Elina Nechayeva managed to qualify Estonia to the final where the song placed eighth.

The Estonian national broadcaster, Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR), broadcasts the event within Estonia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. ERR confirmed Estonia's participation at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest on 3 September 2018. Since their debut, the Estonian broadcaster has organised national finals that feature a competition among multiple artists and songs in order to select Estonia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The Eesti Laul competition has been organised since 2009 in order to select Estonia's entry and also on 3 September 2018, ERR announced the organisation of Eesti Laul 2019 in order to select the nation's 2019 entry.[2]

Before Eurovision

Eesti Laul 2019

Eesti Laul 2019 was the eleventh edition of the Estonian national selection Eesti Laul, which selected Estonia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The competition consisted of twenty entries competing in two semi-finals on 31 January and 2 February 2019 leading to a twelve-song final on 16 February 2019. All three shows were broadcast on Eesti Televisioon (ETV) and on ETV+ with Russian commentary as well as streamed online at the broadcaster's official website err.ee. The final was also broadcast via radio on Raadio 2 with commentary by Erik Morna, Margus Kamlat, Bert Järvet and Kristo Rajasaare.[3][4]

Format

The format of the competition included two semi-finals on 31 January and 2 February 2019 and a final on 16 February 2019. Twelve songs competed in each semi-final and the top six from each semi-final qualified to complete the twelve song lineup in the final.[5] The results of the semi-finals was determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a professional jury and public televoting for the first four qualifiers and a second round of public televoting for the fifth and sixth qualifiers. The winning song in the final was selected over two rounds of voting: the first round results selected the top three songs via the 50/50 combination of jury and public voting, while the second round (superfinal) determined the winner solely by public televoting. In addition to winning the right to represent Estonia at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, the winning songwriters and producers were also awarded monetary prizes of €3,000 and €1,000, respectively. The Estonian Authors' Society and Estonian Performers Association also awarded a monetary prize of €1,000 to the top three entries.[6]

Competing entries

On 1 October 2018, ERR opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries up until 6 November 2018 through an online upload platform. Each artist and songwriter was only able to submit a maximum of five entries. Foreign collaborations were allowed as long as 50% of the songwriters were Estonian. A fee was also imposed on songs being submitted to the competition, with €25 for songs in the Estonian language and €50 for songs in other languages.[5] 216 submissions were received by the deadline. A 12-member jury panel selected 24 semi-finalists from the submissions and the selected songs were announced during the ETV entertainment program Ringvaade on 15 November 2018.[7] The selection jury consisted of Ivar Must (composer), Lenna Kuurmaa (singer), Kaupo Karelson (television producer), Leen Kadakas (Universal Music Baltics manager), Vaido Pannel (Raadio Sky+ music editor), Allan Roosileht (Star FM presenter), Laura Põldvere (singer), Karl-Erik Taukar (singer), Dagmar Oja (singer), Rolf Roosalu (singer), Renee Meriste (music manager) and Sten Teppan (Vikerraadio music editor).[8]

Among the competing artists were previous Eurovision Song Contest entrants Sandra Nurmsalu, who represented Estonia as part of the group Urban Symphony in 2009, Birgit, who represented Estonia in 2013, and Tanja, who represented Estonia in 2014. Grete Paia, Inga, Jaan Pehk, Kerli Kivilaan, Kristel Aaslaid (Öed), Tuuli Rand (Öed), Sofia Rubina-Hunter, Stefan and Uku Suviste have all competed in previous editions of Eesti Laul. Victor Crone's entry was written by Stig Rästa, who represented Estonia in 2015 with Elina Born.[6]

Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Around the Sun "Follow Me Back" Daniel Rukovitškin, Georg Eessaar
Cätlin Mägi and Jaan Pehk "Parmumäng" Cätlin Mägi, Jaan Pehk
Grete Paia "Kui isegi kaotan" Grete Paia, Mihkel Mattisen, Timo Vendt, Kerli Puusepp
Inger "Coming Home" Inger Fridolin, Karl-Ander Reismann
Iseloomad "Kaks miinust" Vilho Meier, Siim Randveer
Jennifer Cohen "Little Baby El" Chris Hierro, Jennifer Marisse Cohen, Luisa Lõhmus
Johanna Eendra "Miks sa teed nii?" Johanna Eendra, Joosep Eendra
Kadiah "Believe" Kadi Poll
Kaia Tamm "Wo sind die Katzen?" Kaia Tamm
Kerli Kivilaan "Cold Love" Kerli Kivilaan, Egert Milder, Andres Kõpper
Lacy Jay "Halleluja" Ago Teppand, Lacy Nicole Jones, Hugo Martin Maasikas
Lumevärv feat. Inga "Milline päev" Margus Piik, Kermo Hert, Jana Hallas
Marko Kaar "Smile" Marko Kaar, Egert Kanep
Öed "Öhuloss" Tuuli Rand, Kristel Aaslaid, Bert Prikenfeld, Egert Milder
Ranele "Supernova" Marek Rosenberg, Lauri Lembinen, Marco Margna, Anne Loho
Sandra Nurmsalu "Soovide puu" Priit Pajusaar, Sandra Nurmsalu, Aapo Ilves
Sissi "Strong" Karl-Ander Reismann, Sissi Nylia Benita
Sofia Rubina feat. Janika Tenn "Deep Water" Sofia Rubina-Hunter, Janika Tenn, Oljana Kallson
Stefan "Without You" Stefan Airapetjan, Karl-Ander Reismann
Synne Valtri "I'll Do It My Way" Sünne Valtri
The Swingers, Tanja and Birgit "High Heels in the Neighbourhood" Tanja Mihhailova, Timo Vendt, Mihkel Mattisen
Uku Suviste "Pretty Little Liar" Uku Suviste, Oliver Mazurtšak
Victor Crone "Storm" Stig Rästa, Vallo Kikas, Victor Crone, Fred Krieger
Xtra Basic and Emily J "Hold Me Close" Andrei Zevakin, Igor Volhonski

Semi-finals

The two semi-finals took place on 31 January and 2 February 2019 at the University of Tartu Sports Hall in Tartu, hosted by Ott Sepp and Piret Krumm. In each semi-final twelve songs competed for the first four spots in the final with the outcome decided upon by the combination of the votes from a jury panel and a public televote which registered 23,372 votes in the first semi-final and 23,633 votes in the second semi-final; the remaining two qualifiers were decided by an additional televote between the remaining non-qualifiers which registered 7,038 votes in the first semi-final and 11,175 votes in the second semi-final.[9] The jury panel that voted in the semi-finals consisted of Toomas Olljum, Maiken, Tanel Padar, Sven Lõhmus, Berk Vaher, Kristjan Hirmo, Margus Kamlat, Jüri Pootsmann and Luisa Rõivas.[10]

  First round (jury and televote) qualifier   Second round (televote-only) qualifier

Semi-final 1 (First round) – 31 January 2019
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points Votes Points
1 The Swingers, Tanja and Birgit "High Heels in the Neighbourhood" 45 6 2,088 7 13 4
2 Marko Kaar "Smile" 5 0 439 0 0 12
3 Xtra Basic and Emily J "Hold Me Close" 25 1 1,802 6 7 8
4 Johanna Eendra "Miks sa teed nii?" 34 2 796 2 4 10
5 Stefan "Without You" 86 12 2,668 8 20 2
6 Sandra Nurmsalu "Soovide puu" 37 4 1,677 5 9 5
7 Jennifer Cohen "Little Baby El" 42 5 1,083 3 8 6
8 Sofia Rubina feat. Janika Tenn "Deep Water" 48 7 747 1 8 7
9 Öed "Öhuloss" 36 3 1,219 4 7 9
10 Victor Crone "Storm" 82 10 6,346 12 22 1
11 Ranele "Supernova" 8 0 666 0 0 11
12 Inger "Coming Home" 74 8 3,841 10 18 3
Semi-final 1 (Second round) – 31 January 2019
Artist Song Televote Place
Jennifer Cohen "Little Baby El" 1,102 3
Johanna Eendra "Miks sa teed nii?" 494 6
Marko Kaar "Smile" 252 8
Öed "Öhuloss" 854 5
Ranele "Supernova" 325 7
Sandra Nurmsalu "Soovide puu" 1,736 1
Sofia Rubina feat. Janika Tenn "Deep Water" 1,073 4
Xtra Basic and Emily J "Hold Me Close" 1,202 2
Semi-final 2 (First round) – 2 February 2019
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points Votes Points
1 Synne Valtri "I'll Do It My Way" 28 1 2,729 8 9 7
2 Iseloomad "Kaks miinust" 38 5 762 0 5 10
3 Lumevärv feat. Inga "Milline päev" 58 8 1,386 3 11 5
4 Sissi "Storm" 55 7 2,557 6 13 4
5 Cätlin Mägi and Jaan Pehk "Parmumäng" 37 4 1,240 2 6 9
6 Kadiah "Believe" 49 6 2,663 7 13 3
7 Kaia Tamm "Wo sind die Katzen?" 20 0 1,112 1 1 12
8 Kerli Kivilaan "Cold Love" 75 12 1,488 5 17 2
9 Grete Paia "Kui isegi kaotan" 22 0 2,752 10 10 6
10 Lacy Jay "Halleluja" 35 2 1,467 4 6 8
11 Around the Sun "Follow Me Back" 36 3 842 0 3 11
12 Uku Suviste "Pretty Little Liar" 71 10 4,635 12 22 1
Semi-final 2 (Second round) – 2 February 2019
Artist Song Televote Place
Around the Sun "Follow Me Back" 629 7
Cätlin Mägi and Jaan Pehk "Parmumäng" 778 6
Grete Paia "Kui isegi kaotan" 1,230 4
Iseloomad "Kaks miinust" 394 8
Kaia Tamm "Wo sind die Katzen?" 1,023 5
Lacy Jay "Halleluja" 2,009 3
Lumevärv feat. Inga "Milline päev" 2,284 2
Synne Valtri "I'll Do It My Way" 2,828 1

Final

The final took place on 16 February 2019 at the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, hosted by Karl-Erik Taukar and Piret Krumm. The six entries that qualified from each of the two preceding semi-finals, all together twelve songs, competed during the show. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a jury (50%) and public televote (50%) determined the top three entries to proceed to the superfinal. The public vote in the first round registered 54,896 votes. In the superfinal, "Storm" performed by Victor Crone was selected as the winner entirely by a public televote. The public televote in the superfinal registered 51,148 votes. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Ivo Linna, who represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996, Getter Jaani, who represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, and Elina Nechayeva, who represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, performed as the interval acts.[6] The jury panel that voted in the first round of the final consisted of Stig Karlsen (Melodi Grand Prix music director), AFSHeen (American producer and composer), Guna Zučika (Latvian music manager), Ben Camp (American songwriter), Cyrus Saidi (American music manager), Lörinc Bubno (Hungarian Eurovision Head of Delegation) and Josh Cumbee (American singer, producer and songwriter).[11]

Final – 16 February 2019
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points Votes Points
1 Sissi "Strong" 46 8 2,990 6 14 4
2 Lumevärv feat. Inga "Milline päev" 46 10 2,188 2 12 5
3 Victor Crone "Storm" 25 2 15,513 12 14 3
4 Kerli Kivilaan "Cold Love" 43 7 1,481 0 7 9
5 Xtra Basic and Emily J "Hold Me Close" 21 0 1,440 0 0 12
6 Kadiah "Believe" 25 3 2,287 3 6 10
7 Synne Valtri "I'll Do It My Way" 4 0 2,323 4 4 11
8 Stefan "Without You" 70 12 6,132 7 19 1
9 The Swingers, Tanja and Birgit "High Heels in the Neighbourhood" 26 4 2,737 5 9 7
10 Uku Suviste "Pretty Little Liar" 36 5 8,987 10 15 2
11 Inger "Coming Home" 24 1 6,904 8 9 6
12 Sandra Nurmsalu "Soovide puu" 40 6 1,914 1 7 8
Detailed Jury Votes
Draw Song S. Karlsen AFSHeen G. Zučika B. Camp C. Saidi L. Bubnó J. Cumbee Total
1 "Strong" 31086610346
2 "Milline päev" 4128104846
3 "Storm" 542323625
4 "Cold Love" 1751076743
5 "Hold Me Close" 64441221
6 "Believe" 6363725
7 "I'll Do It My Way" 224
8 "Without You" 7871212121270
9 "High Heels in the Neighbourhood" 101185126
10 "Pretty Little Liar" 1213718436
11 "Coming Home" 5122524
12 "Soovide puu" 8210551040
Superfinal – 16 February 2019
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 Victor Crone "Storm" 23,270 1
2 Stefan "Without You" 12,380 3
3 Uku Suviste "Pretty Little Liar" 15,498 2

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2019, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Estonia was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2019, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[12]

Once all the competing songs for the 2019 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Estonia was set to perform in position 14, following the entry from Iceland and before the entry from Portugal.[13]

The two semi-finals and the final were broadcast in Estonia on ETV with commentary in Estonian by Marko Reikop and on ETV+ with commentary in Russian by Aleksandr Hobotov and Julia Kalenda.[14][15] The Estonian spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the Estonian jury during the final, was Kelly Sildaru.

Semi-final

Victor Crone during a rehearsal before the first semi-final

Estonia performed fourteenth in the first semi-final, following the entry from Iceland and preceding the entry from Portugal. At the end of the show, Estonia was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Estonia placed fourth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 198 points: 133 points from the televoting and 65 points from the juries. At Eurovision, Kaire Vilgats, Dagmar Oja, Kaido Põldma, Lars Gunnar Säfsund and author Stig Rästa joined Crone off-stage as backing singers during the live performance. The actress and singer Saara Kadak, who supported Crone on stage during the Estonian national final, withdrew due to her wedding day and upcoming premiere of the musical West Side Story at the Estonian National Opera.

Final

Shortly after the first semi-final, a winner's press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries were announced during the semi-final. Estonia was drawn to compete in the second half. Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Estonia was subsequently placed to perform in position 18, following the entry from Iceland and before the entry from Belarus. At the conclusion of the voting, Estonia finished in twentieth place, scoring 76 points: 48 points from the televoting and 26 points from the juries.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.[16]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Estonia and awarded by Estonia in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

Points awarded to Estonia

Points awarded by Estonia

Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Estonian jury:[16]

  • Kaupo Karelson (jury chairperson)  television producer
  • Reet Linna  TV host
  • Sandra Sersant  artist manager
  • Mikk Targo  chairman of the Board of the Estonian Authors' Society
  • Uku Suviste  singer-songwriter, future Estonian representative in the 2021 contest
Detailed voting results from Estonia (Semi-final 1)[17]
Draw Country Jury Televote
K. Karelson R. Linna S. Sersant M. Targo U. Suviste Rank Points Rank Points
01  Cyprus333473814
02  Montenegro111487141116
03  Finland121212111115112
04  Poland1525124792
05  Slovenia1013109131247
06  Czech Republic2611111238
07  Hungary9155266583
08  Belarus72432210101
09  Serbia81141245613
10  Belgium1411118151474
11  Georgia1310131481311
12  Australia1641615510165
13  Iceland699699256
14  Estonia
15  Portugal15161516161615
16  Greece5761337412
17  San Marino487101083210
Detailed voting results from Estonia (Final)[18]
Draw Country Jury Televote
K. Karelson R. Linna S. Sersant M. Targo U. Suviste Rank Points Rank Points
01  Malta2117147231816
02  Albania23232317112325
03  Czech Republic61032103813
04  Germany1516241881923
05  Russia56814156112
06  Denmark2131215219256
07  San Marino2025229252212
08  North Macedonia1718161921118
09  Sweden3111311283
10  Slovenia11199871247
11  Cyprus1020710131319
12  Netherlands7522044738
13  Greece18221921152422
14  Israel24212022202524
15  Norway221415111720210
16  United Kingdom1915101261521
17  Iceland1411613221665
18  Estonia
19  Belarus16121331810115
20  Azerbaijan13254965101
21  France98115168317
22  Italy1271723121711
23  Serbia49182557420
24   Switzerland14461421074
25  Australia2532516191492
26  Spain8242124242114

References

  1. "Estonia Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  2. Granger, Anthony (3 September 2018). "Estonia: ERR Confirms Eurovision 2019 Participation". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  3. "Kuula, kuidas kõlaksid Eesti Laulu võistluslood uudistena". err.ee (in Estonian). 15 February 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  4. "Kuula üle: Eesti Laulu erisaade". r2.err.ee (in Estonian). 16 February 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  5. Granger, Anthony (5 September 2018). "Estonia: 24 Acts To Compete in Expanded Eesti Laul Selection". eurovoix.com. eurovoix.com. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  6. "Eurovision 2019 - Victor Crone (Estonia)". ESCKAZ. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  7. Granger, Anthony (15 September 2018). "Estonia: Eesti Laul 2019 Participants Revealed". eurovoix.com. eurovoix.com. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  8. "Galerii: Eesti Laul 2019 poolfinalistid on selgunud". err.ee (in Estonian). 15 November 2018.
  9. Farren, Neil (31 January 2019). "Estonia: Eesti Laul Semi-Final One Results". Eurovoix.
  10. "Kõik Eesti Laulu finalistid on selgunud". err.ee (in Estonian). 2 February 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  11. "Vaata, kes kuulusid Eesti Laulu rahvusvahelisse žüriisse". err.ee (in Estonian). 17 February 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  12. Jordan, Paul (28 January 2019). "Eurovision 2019: Which country takes part in which Semi-Final?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  13. "Exclusive: This is the Eurovision 2019 Semi-Final running order!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  14. "Eurovisiooni lauluvõistlus 2019". ETV - ERR (in Estonian). 18 May 2019. Archived from the original on 1 July 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  15. "Во вторник ETV+ и RUS.ERR.ee покажут первый полуфинал конкурса песни "Евровидение"". ERR (in Russian). 8 May 2019. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  16. Groot, Evert (30 April 2019). "Exclusive: They are the judges who will vote in Eurovision 2019!". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  17. "Results of the First Semi-Final of Tel Aviv 2019". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 1 April 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  18. "Results of the Grand Final of Tel Aviv 2019". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 1 April 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
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