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| Eurovision Song Contest 2023 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Estonia | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Eesti Laul 2023 | |||
| Selection date(s) | Semi-finals: 12 January 2023 14 January 2023 Final: 11 February 2023 | |||
| Selected entrant | Alika | |||
| Selected song | "Bridges" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) | ||||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Qualified (10th, 74 points) | |||
| Final result | 8th, 168 points | |||
| Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Estonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, with "Bridges" performed by Alika. The Estonian broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) organised the national final Eesti Laul 2023 in order to select the Estonian entry for the 2023 contest. The national final consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. Ten 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 alongside two wildcards selected by the public. 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, "Bridges" performed by Alika was selected as the winner entirely by a public vote.
Estonia was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 11 May 2023. Performing during the show in position 4, "Bridges" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 13 May. It was later revealed that Estonia placed tenth out of the 16 participating countries in the semi-final with 74 points. In the final, Estonia performed in position 12 and placed eighth out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 168 points.
Background
Prior to the 2023 contest, Estonia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-seven times since its first entry in 1994, winning the contest in 2001 with the song "Everybody" performed by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL. Following the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Estonia has, to this point, managed to qualify to the final on eight occasions. In 2022, "Hope" performed by Stefan qualified Estonia to the final, where it placed 13th.
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 2023 Eurovision Song Contest on 1 August 2022.[1] 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 on 13 September 2022, ERR announced the organisation of Eesti Laul 2023 in order to select the nation's 2023 entry.[2]
Before Eurovision
Eesti Laul 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]
Format
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]
Competing entries
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.
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Alika | "Bridges" | Alika Milova, Wouter Hardy, Nina Sampermans |
| Andreas | "Why Do You Love Me" | Andreas Poom, Alan Roy Scott, Julia Sundberg |
| Anett and Fredi | "You Need to Move On" | Frederik Küüts, Anett Kulbin, Jason Hunter |
| Bedwetters | "Monsters" | Joosep Järvesaar, Mihkel Mõttus, Rauno Kutti, Kaspar Koppel, Karl-Kristjan Kingi, Claus Peneri, Kris Evan-Säde |
| Carlos Ukareda | "Whiskey Won't Forget" | Carlos Ukareda, Gevin Niglas, Chris Roberts |
| Ellip | "Pretty Girl" | Pille-Riin Karro, Meelis Meri |
| Elysa | "Bad Philosophy" | Stig Rästa, Vallo Kikas, Elisa Kolk, Anne Gudrun Michaelsen, Alex Ghinea |
| Inger | "Awaiting You" | Inger Fridolin, Oliver de la Rosa Padilla, Sofia-Liis Liiv |
| Janek | "House of Glass" | Janek Valgepea, Kjetil Mørland |
| Kaw | "Valik" | Gevin Niglas, Jesse Keihäsvuori |
| Linalakk and Bonzo | "Aeg" | Liina Tsimmer |
| M Els | "So Good (At What You Do)" | Stefan Airapetjan, Andreas Poom, Hugo Martin Maasikas, Gevin Niglas, Stig Rästa |
| Meelik | "Tuju" | Andres Kõpper, Meelik Samel, Rain Parve, Martin Petermann |
| Merlyn | "Unicorn Vibes" | Merlyn Uusküla, Lauri Lembinen, Liis Kaskpeit |
| Mia | "Üks samm korraga" | Kersti Kukk |
| Neon Letters and Maiko | "Tokimeki" (ときめき) | Aap-Eerik Lai, Johanna Holvandus, Maiko Tammik |
| Ollie | "Venom" | Oliver Mazurtšak |
| Robin Juhkental | "Kurbuse matused" | Robin Juhkental |
| Sissi | "Lighthouse" | Sissi Nylia Benita |
| Wiiralt | "Salalik" | Martin Saaremägi, Vahur Krautman |
Shows
Semi-finals
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]
First round (jury and televote) qualifier Second round (televote-only) qualifier
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Points | Votes | Points | |||||
| 1 | Janek | "House of Glass" | 33 | 3 | 1,134 | 7 | 10 | 6 |
| 2 | Ellip | "Pretty Girl" | 91 | 8 | 502 | 2 | 10 | 7 |
| 3 | Kaw | "Valik" | 42 | 4 | 269 | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| 4 | Merlyn | "Unicorn Vibes" | 14 | 1 | 529 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 5 | Mia | "Üks samm korraga" | 29 | 2 | 1,326 | 8 | 10 | 5 |
| 6 | Neon Letters and Maiko | "Tokimeki" | 61 | 5 | 520 | 3 | 8 | 8 |
| 7 | Ollie | "Venom" | 115 | 12 | 1,397 | 12 | 24 | 1 |
| 8 | Andreas | "Why Do You Love Me" | 81 | 7 | 555 | 5 | 12 | 4 |
| 9 | Bedwetters | "Monsters" | 73 | 6 | 1,335 | 10 | 16 | 2 |
| 10 | Anett and Fredi | "You Need to Move On" | 99 | 10 | 742 | 6 | 16 | 3 |
| Artist | Song | Televote | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ellip | "Pretty Girl" | 971 | 2 |
| Janek | "House of Glass" | 1,535 | 1 |
| Kaw | "Valik" | 265 | 6 |
| Merlyn | "Unicorn Vibes" | 497 | 3 |
| Mia | "Üks samm korraga" | 285 | 5 |
| Neon Letters and Maiko | "Tokimeki" | 434 | 4 |
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Points | Votes | Points | |||||
| 1 | Inger | "Awaiting You" | 58 | 6 | 918 | 8 | 14 | 3 |
| 2 | Linalakk and Bonzo | "Aeg" | 30 | 2 | 393 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| 3 | Meelik | "Tuju" | 85 | 8 | 775 | 6 | 14 | 4 |
| 4 | Elysa | "Bad Philosophy" | 30 | 1 | 1,464 | 10 | 11 | 5 |
| 5 | Robin Juhkental | "Kurbuse matused" | 44 | 3 | 317 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| 6 | M Els | "So Good (At What You Do)" | 50 | 4 | 611 | 5 | 9 | 7 |
| 7 | Wiiralt | "Salalik" | 65 | 7 | 414 | 3 | 10 | 6 |
| 8 | Sissi | "Lighthouse" | 114 | 12 | 890 | 7 | 19 | 2 |
| 9 | Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Estonia_in_the_Eurovision_Song_Contest_2023||||||||