Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023

Eesti Laul 2023 was the fifteenth edition of the Estonian national selection Eesti Laul, which selected Estonia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. The competition consisted of twenty entries competing in two semi-finals on 12 and 14 January 2023 leading to a twelve-song final on 11 February 2023. All three shows were broadcast on Eesti Televisioon (ETV), on ETV+ with Russian commentary, via radio in Estonia on Raadio 2 with commentary by Kristo Rajasaare, Marta Püssa and Kirke Antsmäe as well as streamed online at the broadcaster's official website err.ee.[3][4]

The format of the competition included two semi-finals on 12 and 14 January 2023 and a final on 11 February 2023. Ten songs competed in each semi-final and the top five from each semi-final qualified. The results of the semi-finals were 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 qualifier. A further round of public televoting was held following the semi-finals which determined two wildcards out of the remaining non-qualifying acts to complete the twelve song lineup in the final. 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.[5][6]

On 13 September 2022, ERR opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries up until 20 October 2022 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 €50 for songs in the Estonian language and €100 for songs in other languages; both of the fees were doubled for entries submitted from 17 October 2022.[7] 217 submissions were received by the deadline, of which 92 were in Estonian.[8] A 16-member jury panel selected 20 semi-finalists from the submissions and the selected songs were announced during the ETV entertainment program Ringvaade on 1 and 2 November 2022. The selection jury consisted of Ahto Kruusmann, Alar Kotkas, Andres Aljaste, Carola Madis, Ingrid Kohtla, Janika Sillamaa, Karl-Erik Taukar, Kristiina Kraus, Lenna, Margus Kamlat, Marta Püssa, Ott Lepland, Robert Linna, Silver Lass, Simon Jay and Vaido Pannel.[9][10] Wiiralt were originally supposed to perform their entry "Salalik" together with Ultima Thule, but the latter band withdrew after its member Riho Sibul died in November 2022.[11][12]

Among the competing artists was previous Eurovision Song Contest entrant Robin Juhkental, who represented Estonia in 2010 as part of the group Malcolm Lincoln together with Manpower 4. Andres Kõpper (member of Meelik), Annett x Fredi, Bonzo, Elysa, Inger, Joosep Järvesaar (member of Bedwetters), Karl-Kristjan Kingi (member of Bedwetters), Meelik Samel (member of Meelik), Mia, Sissi and Wiiralt have all competed in previous editions of Eesti Laul. Elysa's entry is written by Stig Rästa, who represented Estonia in 2015, and the entry from M Els is co-written by Stefan Airapetjan, who represented Estonia in 2022. Janek's entry is written by Kjetil Mørland, who represented Norway in 2015.

The two semi-finals took place on 12 and 14 January 2023 at the Viimsi Artium in Viimsi, hosted by Tõnis Niinemets and Grete Kuld.[13] In each semi-final ten 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 8,309 votes in the first semi-final and 10,752 votes in the second semi-final; the remaining qualifier was decided by an additional televote between the remaining non-qualifiers which registered 3,987 votes in the first semi-final and 3,257 votes in the second semi-final.[14][15] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the band Minimal Wind with Janika Sillama, who represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993, the duo Chlicherik and Mäx, and the hosts Tõnis Niinemets and Grete Kuld performed as the interval acts in the first semi-final, while singers Grete Paia with Sven Lõhmus, Kerli Kõiv with Kristjan Järvi, and Yasmyn performed as the interval act in the second semi-final.[3][16] The jury panel that voted in the semi-finals consisted of Eleryn Tiit, Birgit Sarrap, Grete Paia, Eva Palm, Indrek Vaheoja, Aarne Saluveer, Jaan Tätte Jr., Toomas Olljum, Danel Pandre, Sandra Ashilevi and Jon Mikiver.[3]

A further televote was held between the non-qualifiers in the semi-finals in order to select the two wildcard finalists. Voting took place between 15 and 16 January 2023 and the two qualifiers were announced during the ETV entertainment program Ringvaade on 16 January.[17] The public vote in the wildcard selection registered 7,374 votes.

The final took place on 11 February 2023 at the Tondiraba Ice Hall in Tallinn, hosted by Tõnis Niinemets and Grete Kuld.[13] The five entries that qualified from each of the two preceding semi-finals and the two wildcard finalists, 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 32,824 votes. In the superfinal, "Bridges" performed by Alika was selected as the winner entirely by a public televote.[18] The public televote in the superfinal registered 31,412 votes. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the band Zetod opened the show, while Stefan, who represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, the group Púr Múdd with Ines, who represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000, the band 2 Quick Start, singer Karl-Erik Taukar and pianist Rein Rannap performed as interval acts.[19][20] The jury panel that voted in the first round of the final consisted of Alma (Finnish musician), Birgit Simal (Belgian television producer), Kat Reinhert (American vocal teacher, songwriter and Berklee College of Music professor), Lucas Gullbing (Swedish music producer), Deban Aderemi (British journalist at Wiwibloggs), Matthew Tryba (American music producer and songwriter), Anja Roglić (television producer and music editor at the Radio Television of Serbia), Joe Bennett (American musicologist), Tim Hall (American musician and Berklee College of Music professor), Tomi Saarinen (CEO of Live Nation Finland) and Yves Shifferele (Swiss Eurovision Head of Delegation).[21][19]

Alika made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Bridges" as the Estonian Eurovision entry. On 1 April, Alika performed during the Polish Eurovision Party, which was held at the Praga Centrum in Warsaw, Poland and hosted by Poli Genova and Konrad Zemlik.[22][23] Between 2 and 4 April, Alika took part in promotional activities in Tel Aviv, Israel and performed during the Israel Calling event held at Hangar 11 of the Tel Aviv Port.[24] On 8 April, Alika performed during the PrePartyES event, which was held at the Sala La Riviera venue in Madrid, Spain and hosted by Victor Escudero, SuRie and Ruslana.[25] On 15 April, Alika performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the AFAS Live venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Hila Noorzai.[26] On 16 April, Alika performed the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Here at Outernet venue in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell.[27]

Alika during a rehearsal before the second semi-final

Alika took part in technical rehearsals on 1 and 4 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 10 and 11 May. This included the jury show on 10 May where the professional back-up juries of each country watched and voted in a result used if any issues with public televoting occurred.[30]

The Estonian performance featured Alika performing on stage in a pale blue costume. The performance began with Alika playing the piano before moving to the centre of the stage for the majority of the song. The stage displayed blue and gold colours with graphics of water splashing and a gold rig appearing on the LED screens which later opened up to reveal lights.[31][32]

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 tenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 74 points.[33]

Shortly after the first semi-final, a winners' 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 appeared in the semi-final running order. Estonia was drawn to compete in the first half.[34] 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 12, before the entry from Italy and before the entry from Finland.[35]

Estonia once again took part in dress rehearsals on 12 and 13 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Alika performed a repeat of her semi-final performance during the final on 14 May. Estonia placed eighth in the final, scoring 168 points: 22 points from the televoting and 146 points from the juries.

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting in the final vote, while the semi-final vote was based entirely on the vote of the public.[36] 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. 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. 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.

[37]

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:

The following members comprised the Estonian jury:[40]

• Bert Järvet
• Gevin Niglas
• Tambet Mumma
• Dagmar Oja
• Liis Lemsalu

Detailed voting results from Estonia (Final)[39]

Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		Juror A	Juror B	Juror C	Juror D	Juror E	Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Austria	14	11	19	15	11	16		21
02	Portugal	17	21	14	21	19	24		23
03	Switzerland	18	20	16	17	7	15		7	4
04	Poland	21	14	13	14	20	22		8	3
05	Serbia	13	7	23	22	24	18		20
06	France	11	18	18	10	15	17		12
07	Cyprus	6	19	22	13	10	12		11
08	Spain	8	17	1	9	18	9	2	24
09	Sweden	3	2	12	2	3	1	12	2	10
10	Albania	19	24	6	24	23	19		25
11	Italy	1	6	11	6	12	6	5	9	2
12	Estonia
13	Finland	4	1	10	1	17	2	10	1	12
14	Czech Republic	16	22	9	18	16	21		13
15	Australia	5	5	5	11	1	3	8	5	6
16	Belgium	9	4	7	5	2	5	6	18
17	Armenia	10	8	4	7	6	8	3	19
18	Moldova	23	13	21	20	14	23		15
19	Ukraine	2	3	15	3	8	4	7	3	8
20	Norway	20	10	24	8	21	14		4	7
21	Germany	24	23	2	23	22	11		17
22	Lithuania	12	9	8	16	4	10	1	6	5
23	Israel	7	12	3	4	9	7	4	16
24	Slovenia	22	15	20	19	5	13		10	1
25	Croatia	25	25	25	25	25	25		14
26	United Kingdom	15	16	17	12	13	20		22