Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996
The Eurovision Song Contest 1996 was the third time that Estonia entered the Eurovision Song Contest, and was their first participation since their second-to-last place in the 1994 final. The entrant was again selected by a panel of expert judges, with thirteen entrants into the preselection final. The preselection would end up tied on points, with Maarja-Liis Ilus and Ivo Linna's duet "Kaelakee hääl" winning on the basis of being awarded more maximum points than the runner-up Kadri Hunt. In the final, Ilus and Linna finished 5th.
| Eurovision Song Contest 1996 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Eurolaul 1996 | |||
| Selection date(s) | 27 January 1996 | |||
| Selected entrant | Maarja-Liis Ilus & Ivo Linna | |||
| Selected song | "Kaelakee hääl" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 5th, 94 points | |||
| Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Before Eurovision
Eurolaul 1996
The final was held on 27 January 1996 at the Dekoltee nightclub in Tallinn, hosted by Marko Reikop and Karmel Eikner. Some of the participating singers were not actually present and instead appeared on a video wall screen, however Kirile Loo didn't appear at all (not even on the video screen) so during her song there were simply many shots of the stage.
The winner was chosen by a nine-member international jury panel, with Maarja-Liis Ilus and Ivo Linna tying first with Kadri Hunt on 62 points. After a review of the scoring, it was announced that Ilus and Linna were the winners, due to the Finnish judge awarding them with one top vote of 10 points whereas Hunt had not received any top votes.[1]
Several artists had also competed in the last Estonian preselection for the 1994 contest, including Evelin Samuel and Pearu Paulus.
| Final – 27 January 1996 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Points | Place |
| 1 | Evelin Samuel & Toomas Rull | "Kaheksa näoga kuu" | Tiit Kikas | 54 | 5 |
| 2 | Kadri Hunt | "Me rõõm ei kao" | Kadri Hunt | 62 | 2 |
| 3 | Üllar Meriste | "Iialgi veel" | Maris Arukask | 37 | 13 |
| 4 | Hedvig Hanson & Pearu Paulus | "Meeletu algus" | Kaari Sillamaa, Pearu Paulus, Ilmar Laisaar, Alar Kotkas | 50 | 7 |
| 5 | Urmas Podnek | "Vaba kui tuul" | Leelo Tungal, Peeter Thomson | 41 | 10 |
| 6 | Evelin Samuel, Karl Madis, Maarja-Liis Ilus & Pearu Paulus | "Kummalisel teel" | Kaari Sillamaa, Heini Vaikmaa | 51 | 6 |
| 7 | Ivo Linna & Kadi-Signe Selde | "Lihtne viis" | Leelo Tungal, Gunnar Kriik | 40 | 12 |
| 8 | Reet Kromel & Arne Lauri | "Laule ja palveid täis päev" | Arne Lauri, Margus Alviste | 50 | 7 |
| 9 | Tõnis Mägi | "Ballaad" | Villu Kangur, Tõnis Mägi | 57 | 3 |
| 10 | Kirile Loo | "Maatütre tants" | Rein Rannap | 56 | 4 |
| 11 | Sirje Medell | "Elust enesest" | Marika Viires, Kalmet Rauna | 48 | 9 |
| 12 | Maarja-Liis Ilus & Ivo Linna | "Kaelakee hääl" | Kaari Sillamaa, Priit Pajusaar | 62 | 1 |
| 13 | Tõnis Mägi | "Eestimaa euromehe laul" | Alo Mattiisen | 41 | 10 |
| Detailed International Jury Votes | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Song | .svg.png){kind=small} BEL |
 IRE |
 NOR |
 SLV |
 FIN |
 GBR |
 DEN |
 TUR |
 RUS |
Total |
| 1 | "Kaheksa näoga kuu" | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 54 |
| 2 | "Me rõõm ei kao" | 9 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 62 |
| 3 | "Iialgi veel" | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 37 |
| 4 | "Meeletu algus" | 6 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 50 |
| 5 | "Vaba kui tuul" | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 41 |
| 6 | "Kummalisel teel" | 6 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 51 |
| 7 | "Lihtne viis" | 5 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 40 |
| 8 | "Laule ja palveid täis päev" | 4 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 50 |
| 9 | "Ballaad" | 6 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 57 |
| 10 | "Maatütre tants" | 8 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 56 |
| 11 | "Elust enesest" | 7 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 48 |
| 12 | "Kaelakee hääl" | 8 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 62 |
| 13 | "Eestimaa euromehe laul" | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 41 |
At Eurovision
Estonia had missed the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 final due to a low score in the 1994 event, which allowed other countries the chance of compete in 1995. Likewise, low scoring countries at the 1995 final missed out for 1996, allowing Estonia to get back in. In the final, Estonia would not have to worry about low scoring putting them out for 1997, with Ilus and Linna performing strongly and receiving maximum points from Sweden, Finland and Iceland. With the scores received from other countries steady also, Estonia managed to finish 5th, their highest ever placing at the time.
Voting
Points awarded by Estonia (Pre-qualifying round)
| 12 points |  |
| 10 points | |
| 8 points |  |
| 7 points |  |
| 6 points |  |
| 5 points |  |
| 4 points | |
| 3 points |  |
| 2 points | |
| 1 point |  |
Points awarded by Estonia (Final)
| 12 points | |
| 10 points | |
| 8 points | |
| 7 points |  |
| 6 points |  |
| 5 points | |
| 4 points |  |
| 3 points | |
| 2 points | |
| 1 point | |
Points awarded to Estonia
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
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| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
.svg.png){kind=small}
References
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