Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Estonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "The Lucky One" written by Uku Suviste and Sharon Vaughn. The song was performed by Uku Suviste. The Estonian broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) organised the national final Eesti Laul 2021 in order to select the Estonian entry for the 2021 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. 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, "The Lucky One" performed by Uku Suviste was selected as the winner entirely by a public vote.

Eurovision Song Contest 2021
Country Estonia
National selection
Selection processEesti Laul 2021
Selection date(s)Semi-finals:
18 February 2021
20 February 2021
Final:
6 March 2021
Selected entrantUku Suviste
Selected song"The Lucky One"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (13th)
Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2020 2021 2022►

Estonia was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 20 May 2021. Performing during the show in position 2, "The Lucky One" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Estonia placed thirteenth out of the 17 participating countries in the semi-final with 58 points.

Background

Prior to the 2021 Contest, Estonia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-five 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, Estonia has, to this point, managed to qualify to the final on seven occasions. In 2019, "Storm" performed by Victor Crone managed to qualify Estonia to the final where the song placed twentieth.

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 2021 Eurovision Song Contest on 18 March 2020 after the 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 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 18 March 2020, ERR announced the organisation of Eesti Laul 2021 in order to select the nation's 2021 entry.[2]

Before Eurovision

Eesti Laul 2021

Eesti Laul 2021 was the thirteenth edition of the Estonian national selection Eesti Laul, which selected Estonia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. The competition took place at the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, hosted by Tõnis Niinemets and Grete Kuld and consisted of twenty-four entries competing in two semi-finals on 18 and 20 February 2021 leading to a twelve-song final on 6 March 2021.[3] All three shows were broadcast on Eesti Televisioon (ETV), on ETV+ with Russian commentary, via radio on Raadio 2 with commentary by Erik Morna, Margus Kamlat, Robin Juhkental and Kristo Rajasaare as well as streamed online at the broadcaster's official website err.ee.[4]

Format

The format of the competition included two semi-finals on 18 and 20 February 2021 and a final on 6 March 2021.[5] 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. 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.

Competing entries

On 1 September 2020, ERR opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries up until 6 November 2020 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 €75 for songs in other languages. One of the semi-finalist spots was reserved for Uku Suviste, who was to represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 before the contest was cancelled.[6] 156 submissions were received by the deadline. A 17-member jury panel selected 24 semi-finalists from the submissions and the selected songs were announced during the ETV entertainment program Ringvaade on 11 and 12 November 2020. The selection jury consisted of Bert Prikenfeld (DJ), Kaupo Karelson (television producer), Jüri Pihel (television producer), Jaan Pehk (musician), Anu Varusk (Warner Music Baltics regional marketing manager), Karl-Erik Taukar (singer), Sten Teppan (Vikerradio music editor), Mari-Liis Männik (Raadio Elmar presenter), Ahto Kruusmann (Raadio Uuno presenter), Margus Kamlat (Raadio 2 presenter), Laura Põldvere (singer), Vaido Pannel (Raadio Sky+ music editor), Robert Kõrvits (musician), Rauno Märks (Retro FM presenter), Dmitri Mikrjukov (Raadio 4 music editor), Andres Aljaste (Power Hit Radio presenter) and Liis Lemsalu (singer).[7]

Among the competing artists were previous Eurovision Song Contest entrants Ivo Linna, who represented Estonia in 1996 with Maarja-Liis Ilus, Koit Toome, who represented Estonia in 1998 and in 2017 with Laura, Tanja, who represented Estonia in 2014, and Jüri Pootsmann, who represented Estonia in 2016. Andrei Zevakin, Egert Milder, Kaire Vilgats (member of Suured tüdrukud), Karl Killing, Kéa, Kristel Aaslaid (lead singer of Gram-Of-Fun), Nika Marula, Redel, Robert Linna, Sissi, Tuuli Rand, Uku Suviste and Wiiralt have all competed in previous editions of Eesti Laul.

Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Alabama Watchdog "Alabama Watchdog" Ken Einberg
Andrei Zevakin and Pluuto "Wingman" Andrei Zevakin, Henry Orlov
Egert Milder "Free Again" Kaspar Kalluste, Matteo Capreoli, Egert Milder
Gram-Of-Fun "Lost in a Dance" Martin Kuut, Kristel Aaslaid, Raul Ojamaa, Kostja Tsõbulevski, Mikk Simson
Hans Nayna "One by One" Vahur Valgmaa, Hans Nayna
Helen "Nii kõrgele" Rob Montes, Jason Hunter, Renae Rain, Helen Randmets
Heleza "6" Karl Killing, Helena Põldmaa
Ivo Linna, Robert Linna and Supernova "Ma olen siin" Rainer Michelson, Robert Linna
Jüri Pootsmann "Magus melanhoolia" Jüri Pootsmann, Joonas Mattias Sarapuu, Jana Hallas, Aleksi Liski
Kadri Voorand "Energy" Kadri Voorand
Karl Killing "Kiss Me" Karl Killing
Kéa "Hypnotized" Ketter Orav, Sander Sadam, Alvar Antson, Karl-Mathias Saarse
Kristin Kalnapenk "Find a Way" Kristin Kalnapenk, Hannes Agur Vellend
Koit Toome "We Could Have Been Beautiful" Joonas Parkkonen, Koit Toome, Peppina Pällijeff
Nika Marula "Calm Down" Andrei Zevakin, Nika Marula, Daniil Kotilevits
Rahel "Sunday Night" Rahel Ollisaar, Frederik Küüts, Jason Hunter
Redel "Tartu" Kristjan Oden, Indrek Vaheoja
Sissi "Time" Sissi Nylia Benita, Andrei Zevakin, Kelly Tulvik
Suured tüdrukud "Heaven's Not That Far Tonight" Koit Toome, Gevin Niglas, Karl Killing
Tanja "Best Night Ever" Timo Vendt, Tanja Mihhailova-Saar, Mihkel Mattisen
Tuuli Rand "Üks öö" Gevin Niglas, Kristel Aaslaid, Tuuli Rand
Uku Haasma "Kaos" Uku Haasma, Henri Erik Tammai, Rudolf Toltsberg
Uku Suviste "The Lucky One" Uku Suviste, Sharon Vaughn
Wiiralt "Tuuled" Pat Lyons, Martin Saaremägi

Semi-finals

The two semi-finals took place on 18 and 20 February 2021. 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 12,643 votes in the first semi-final and 27,785 votes in the second semi-final; the remaining two qualifiers were decided by an additional televote between the remaining non-qualifiers which registered 5,902 votes in the first semi-final and 11,800 votes in the second semi-final. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Elina Born, who represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, and singers Beebilõust and Villemdrillem performed as the interval act in the first semi-final, while singer Daniel Levi and the group Curly Strings performed as the interval act in the second semi-final.[8][9] The jury panel that voted in the semi-finals consisted of Kerli Kõiv, Heidy Purga, Sünne Valtri, Janika Sillamaa, Anett Kulbin, Nele Kirsipuu, Kristjan Järvi, Koit Raudsepp, Silver Laas, Andres Puusepp and Genka.[10]

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

Semi-final 1 (First round) – 18 February 2021
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points Votes Points
1 Tanja "Best Night Ever" 25 1 685 2 3 10
2 Hans Nayna "One by One" 40 3 916 4 7 8
3 Wiiralt "Tuuled" 59 6 945 5 11 5
4 Kéa "Hypnotized" 37 2 411 0 2 11
5 Andrei Zevakin and Pluuto "Wingman" 14 0 1,476 8 8 6
6 Karl Killing "Kiss Me" 54 5 1,151 7 12 4
7 Nika Marula "Calm Down" 62 7 548 1 8 7
8 Egert Milder "Free Again" 100 10 1,136 6 16 3
9 Tuuli Rand "Üks öö" 9 0 278 0 0 12
10 Koit Toome "We Could Have Been Beautiful" 111 12 2,873 12 24 1
11 Kristin Kalnapenk "Find a Way" 51 4 705 3 7 9
12 Ivo Linna, Robert Linna and Supernova "Ma olen siin" 76 8 1,519 10 18 2
Semi-final 1 (Second round) – 18 February 2021
Artist Song Televote Place
Andrei Zevakin and Pluuto "Wingman" 1,593 1
Hans Nayna "One by One" 1,083 2
Kéa "Hypnotized" 446 6
Kristin Kalnapenk "Find a Way" 412 7
Nika Marula "Calm Down" 686 5
Tanja "Best Night Ever" 781 3
Tuuli Rand "Üks öö" 164 8
Wiiralt "Tuuled" 737 4
Semi-final 2 (First round) – 20 February 2021
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points Votes Points
1 Sissi "Time" 44 4 1,797 5 9 7
2 Gram-Of-Fun "Lost in a Dance" 67 8 1,403 3 11 6
3 Kadri Voorand "Energy" 107 10 2,680 7 17 2
4 Helen "Nii kõrgele" 3 0 1,210 2 2 10
5 Redel "Tartu" 63 6 2,876 8 14 5
6 Rahel "Sunday Night" 33 1 839 0 1 11
7 Uku Haasma "Kaos" 12 0 654 0 0 12
8 Heleza "6" 35 2 1,494 4 6 9
9 Uku Suviste "The Lucky One" 41 3 6,291 12 15 3
10 Alabama Watchdog "Alabama Watchdog" 64 7 1,052 1 8 8
11 Jüri Pootsmann "Magus melanhoolia" 110 12 2,119 6 18 1
12 Suured tüdrukud "Heaven's Not That Far Tonight" 59 5 5,370 10 15 4
Semi-final 2 (Second round) – 20 February 2021
Artist Song Televote Place
Alabama Watchdog "Alabama Watchdog" 1,022 6
Gram-Of-Fun "Lost in a Dance" 1,771 3
Helen "Nii kõrgele" 1,270 5
Heleza "6" 1,345 4
Rahel "Sunday Night" 819 7
Redel "Tartu" 2,600 1
Sissi "Time" 2,451 2
Uku Haasma "Kaos" 522 8

Final

The final took place on 6 March 2021. 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 55,956 votes. In the superfinal, "The Lucky One" performed by Uku Suviste was selected as the winner entirely by a public televote. The public televote in the superfinal registered 52,214 votes. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, singers Liis Lemsalu and Stefan as well as the groups Goresoerd, Mr. Lawrence, Pitsa and Smilers performed as the interval acts.[11] The jury panel that voted in the first round of the final consisted of Moniqué (Lithuanian singer), Brian Henry (British keyboardist), Ben Camp (American songwriter), Sylvia Massy (American producer), Jan Frost Bors (Czech screenwriter), Stephen Budd (British producer), Helena Meraai (Belarusian singer), Pierre Dumoulin (Belgian songwriter) and Steve Rodway (British composer).[12]

Final – 6 March 2021
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points Votes Points
1 Egert Milder "Free Again" 24 1 1,871 1 2 12
2 Suured tüdrukud "Heaven's Not That Far Tonight" 33 2 5,002 6 8 7
3 Hans Nayna "One by One" 47 6 1,754 0 6 10
4 Ivo Linna, Robert Linna and Supernova "Ma olen siin" 18 0 2,030 2 2 11
5 Karl Killing "Kiss Me" 60 8 1,678 0 8 8
6 Uku Suviste "The Lucky One" 42 3 11,393 12 15 1
7 Sissi "Time" 73 12 4,186 3 15 3
8 Jüri Pootsmann "Magus melanhoolia" 59 7 6,193 8 15 2
9 Redel "Tartu" 17 0 5,160 7 7 9
10 Koit Toome "We Could Have Been Beautiful" 43 4 6,779 10 14 4
11 Andrei Zevakin and Pluuto "Wingman" 62 10 4,944 4 14 5
12 Kadri Voorand "Energy" 44 5 4,966 5 10 6
Detailed Jury Votes
Draw Song Moniqué B. Henry B. Camp J. F. Bors S. Massy S. Budd H. Meraai P. Dumoulin S. Rodway Total
1 "Free Again" 102124524
2 "Heaven's Not That Far Tonight" 43164173433
3 "One by One" 86353617847
4 "Ma olen siin" 616518
5 "Kiss Me" 7451253108660
6 "The Lucky One" 24210836742
7 "Time" 128108212612373
8 "Magus melanhoolia" 3107748101059
9 "Tartu" 88117
10 "We Could Have Been Beautiful" 257317421243
11 "Wingman" 171210122125162
12 "Energy" 51264105244
Superfinal – 6 March 2021
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 Uku Suviste "The Lucky One" 24,081 1
2 Sissi "Time" 14,968 2
3 Jüri Pootsmann "Magus melanhoolia" 12,776 3

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 took place at the Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands

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. The semi-final allocation draw held for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 on 28 January 2020 was used for the 2021 contest, which Estonia was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 20 May 2021, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[13]

Once all the competing songs for the 2021 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 2, following the entry from San Marino and before the entry from Czech Republic.[14]

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.[15][16] For the first time in the history of the contest, all three shows were broadcast in Estonia with Estonian sign language translation provided by twenty interpreters.[17] The Estonian spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the Estonian jury during the final, was Sissi.

Semi-final

Uku Suviste took part in technical rehearsals on 10 and 13 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 19 and 20 May. This included the jury show on 19 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.[18]

The Estonian performance featured Uku Suviste performing on stage in a white loose bowtie outfit with the stage displaying dark blue colours and a large moon graphic with lightning effects appearing on the LED screens alongside water effects appearing on the LED floor.[19][20] The stage director for the Estonian performance was Dan Shipton and Marvin Dietmann.[21] Uku Suviste was joined by a backing vocalist: Kaarel Orumägi.[22]

At the end of the show, Estonia was not announced among the top 10 entries in the first semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Estonia placed 13th in the semi-final, receiving a total of 58 points: 29 points from both the televoting and 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. 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.[23] In addition, each member of a national jury may only take part in the panel once every three years, and no jury was permitted to discuss of their vote with other members or be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.[24] The individual rankings of each jury member in an anonymised form as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.[25][26]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Estonia and awarded by Estonia in the second 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 to Estonia (Semi-final 2)[27]
Score Televote Jury
12 points
10 points  Latvia
8 points
7 points  Finland  Bulgaria
6 points  Denmark
5 points
4 points  Poland
3 points  Moldova
2 points  United Kingdom
1 point

Points awarded by Estonia

Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Estonian jury:[25][26]

Detailed voting results from Estonia (Semi-final 2)[27]
Draw Country Jury Televote
Juror A Juror B Juror C Juror D Juror E Rank Points Rank Points
01  San Marino1077111310174
02  Estonia
03  Czech Republic914158101116
04  Greece7812778311
05  Austria1369567412
06  Poland15161613151615
07  Moldova141313101113112
08  Iceland314293847
09  Serbia51121656514
10  Georgia1210815141283
11  Albania8961489213
12  Portugal635445665
13  Bulgaria4433221092
14  Finland15116147210
15  Latvia111510121615101
16   Switzerland2211311256
17  Denmark1612149121438
Detailed voting results from Estonia (Final)[28]
Draw Country Jury Televote
Juror A Juror B Juror C Juror D Juror E Rank Points Rank Points
01  Cyprus2081012241416
02  Albania14201618202125
03  Israel1311148131321
04  Belgium16101516211915
05  Russia2323622121756
06  Malta189177910113
07  Portugal17311566512
08  Serbia1014519161123
09  United Kingdom19222017172522
10  Greece917189221817
11   Switzerland1221311292
12  Iceland248373883
13  Spain4242313191224
14  Moldova25262525262619
15  Germany26252624112418
16  Finland3796147112
17  Bulgaria664285611
18  Lithuania12127101092210
19  Ukraine713120237465
20  France5134221047
21  Azerbaijan22181226182314
22  Norway11192123252274
23  Netherlands2121241551526
24  Italy155132148338
25  Sweden81522111416101
26  San Marino24161914152020

References

  1. "Estonia Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  2. Granger, Anthony (18 March 2020). "Estonia: Eesti Laul Will Determine Eurovision 2021 Participant". Eurovoix. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  3. Jumawan, Tim (11 November 2020). "156 songs submitted for Eesti Laul 2021". escXtra.
  4. "Eesti Laulu finaal. Saatejuhid Margus, Kristo, Erik ja Robin". r2.err.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  5. Gallagher, Robyn (12 November 2020). "Estonia: All Eesti Laul 2021 shows to be held in Tallinn, ERR undecided if grand final will have live audience".
  6. Walpole, Natalie (1 September 2020). "ERR opens submission window for Eesti Laul 2021". escXtra.
  7. Kaldoja, Kerttu (12 November 2020). "Õhtul selguvad kõik Eesti Laul 2021 poolinalistid". ERR (in Estonian).
  8. "Eesti Laulu esimesed finalistid on selgunud!". err.ee (in Estonian). 18 February 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  9. "Kõik Eesti laulu finalistid on selgunud". err.ee (in Estonian). 20 February 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  10. "Eesti Laulu poolfinaale hindab 11-liikmeline žürii". err.ee (in Estonian). 19 February 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  11. "Eesti Laulu võitis Uku Suviste!". err.ee (in Estonian). 6 March 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  12. "Eesti Laulu finaali hindab rahvusvaheline žürii". err.ee (in Estonian). 6 March 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  13. Groot, Evert (17 November 2020). "2020 Semi-Final line-up to stay for 2021". eurovision.tv. Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  14. "Semi-Final running orders revealed". Eurovision.tv. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  15. ERR (18 May 2021). "Eurovisiooni lauluvõistlus 2021 | ETV". ERR (in Estonian). Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  16. ERR (18 May 2021). "Евровидение-2021 | ETV+". ERR (in Russian). Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  17. Herbert, Emily (16 May 2021). "Estonia: ERR To Broadcast Eurovision 2021 With Sign Language Translation". Eurovoix. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  18. "Eurovision 2021: Rehearsal Schedule". eurovisionworld.com. 24 April 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  19. "🇪🇪 LIVE DAY 3 REVIEW: Uku Suviste channels his inner werewolf for Estonia". escXtra. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  20. Adams, Oliver (10 May 2021). "Treading water: Uku Suviste survives a storm during Estonia's first rehearsal at Eurovision 2021". wiwibloggs. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  21. "Eurovision 2021 Estonia: Uku Suviste - "The Lucky One"". Eurovisionworld. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  22. "Eesti delegatsioon Eurovisioonil: esimene lavaproov oli üle ootuste hea". Muusika ja live (in Estonian). 11 May 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  23. "Voting–Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  24. "Fairness–Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  25. "Juries in the Second Semi-Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  26. "Juries in the Grand Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  27. "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 28 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  28. "Results of the Grand Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 28 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
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