Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019

Estonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Storm" performed by Victor Crone and written by Victor Crone together with Stig Rästa, Vallo Kikas, Fred Krieger and Sebastian Lestapier.

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)Stig Rästa
Vallo Kikas
Victor Crone
Fred Krieger
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (4th, 198 points)
Final result20th, 76 points
Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2018 • 2019 • 2020►

Background
Main article: Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest

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, Estonia has, to this point, managed to qualify to the final on five occasions. In 2018, "La forza" performed by Elina Nechayeva allowed Estonia to qualify to the Grand Final for the first time since 2015, in which 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.[2] 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. Before that, the Eurolaul format had been used.

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 24 entries competing in two semi-finals on 31 January and 2 February 2019, leading to a twelve-song final on 16 February 2019.[3]

Format

The format of the competition included two semi-finals on 31 January and 2 February 2019 and a final on 16 February 2019.[3] Twelve songs competed in each semi-final and the top six from each semi-final would qualify, completing the twelve-song lineup in the final. The results of the semi-finals were determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from a professional jury and public televoting for the first five entries, then the final spot was decided in a second round of voting, televote only. 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 and the second round decided the winner from those three songs, televote only.

Competing entries

In early September 2018, ERR opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries up until 6 November 2018 through an online upload platform.[4] Foreign songwriters were also eligible to submit songs for the first time. A fee was imposed on songs being submitted to the contest, with 25 Euros for Estonian language songs and 50 Euros for songs in other languages.[3] From all 216 songs submitted to ERR, a jury panel selected the 24 songs for the competition, with the selected entries being announced on 15 November 2018.[5] These entries were then revealed on 1 December 2018 as 1-minute clips on TV, and later as full videos on the ERR MENU portal. The selection jury consisted of Ivar Must (composer), Lenna Kuurmaa (musician and singer), Kaupo Karelson (TV producer), Leen Kadakas (Manager of Universal Music Baltics), Vaido Pannel (Radio Sky Plus 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 (Vikerradio music editor).[6]

Artist[6] Song (English translation)[6] Composer(s)[6]
Around the Sun "Follow Me Back" Daniel Rukovitškin, Georg Eessaar
Cätlin Mägi & Jaan Pehk "Parmumäng" (Play of horsefly / Play of jaw harp) Cätlin Mägi, Jaan Pehk
Grete Paia "Kui isegi kaotan" (Even if I lose) Grete Paia, Mihkel Mattisen, Timo Vendt, Kerli Puusepp
Inger "Coming Home" Inger Fridolin, Karl-Ander Reismann
Iseloomad "Kaks miinust" (Two minuses) Vilho Meier, Siim Randveer
Jennifer Cohen "Little Baby El" Chris Hierro, Jennifer Marisse Cohen, Luisa Lõhmus
Johanna Eendra "Miks sa teed nii?" (Why are you doing so?) Johanna Eendra, Joosep Eendra
Kadiah "Believe" Kadi Poll
Kaia Tamm "Wo sind die Katzen?" (Where are the cats?) 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" (What a day) Margus Piik, Kermo Hert, Jana Hallas
Marko Kaar "Smile" Marko Kaar, Egert Kanep
Öed "Öhuloss" (Sky castle) Tuuli Rand, Kristel Aaslaid, Bert Prikenfeld, Egert Milder
Ranele "Supernova" Marek Rosenberg, Lauri Lembinen, Marco Margna, Anne Loho
Sandra Nurmsalu "Soovide puu" (Tree of wishes) Priit Pajusaar, Sandra Nurmsalu, Aapo Ilves
Sissi "Strong" Karl-Ander Reismann, Sissi Nylia Benita
Sofia Rubina-Hunter "Deep Water" Sofia Rubina-Hunter, Janika Tenn, Oljana Kallson
Stefan "Without You" Stefan Airapetjan, Karl-Ander Reismann
Sünne Valtri "I'll Do It My Way" Sünne Valtri
The Swingers, Tanja & Birgit "High Heels in the Neighbourhood" Tanja Mihhailova, Timo Vendt, Mihkel Mattisen
Uku Suviste "Pretty Little Liar" Uku Suviste, Oliver Mazurtshak
Victor Crone "Storm" Stig Rästa, Vallo Kikas, Victor Crone, Fred Krieger
xtra basic & Emily J "Hold Me Close" Andrei Zevakin, Igor Volhonski

Shows
Semi-final 1

The first semi-final took place on 31 January 2019 in University of Tartu Sports Hall. Twelve songs competed for six spots in the final with the outcome decided upon by the combination of the votes from a jury panel and a public televote. The Swingers, xtra basic & Emily J, Stefan, Sandra Nurmsalu, Victor Crone, and Inger qualified to the final.[7]

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

Semi-final 1 – 31 January 2019
Draw Artist Song Round One Round Two
Jury Televote Total Place Votes Place
1 The Swingers "High Heels in the Neighbourhood" 45 6 2088 7 13 4 — —
2 Marko Kaar "Smile" 5 0 439 0 0 12 252 8
3 Xtra Basic & Emily J "Hold Me Close" 25 1 1802 6 7 8 1202 2
4 Johanna Eendra "Miks sa teed nii" 34 2 796 2 4 10 494 6
5 Stefan "Without You" 86 12 2668 8 20 2 — —
6 Sandra Nurmsalu "Soovide puu" 37 4 1677 5 9 5 1736 1
7 Jennifer Cohen "Little Baby El" 42 5 1083 3 8 6 1102 3
8 Sofia Rubina Hunter & Janika Tenn "Deep Water" 48 7 747 1 8 7 1073 4
9 Öed "Öhuloss" 36 3 1219 4 7 9 854 5
10 Victor Crone "Storm" 82 10 6346 12 22 1 — —
11 Ranele "Supernova" 8 0 666 0 0 11 325 7
12 Inger Fridolin "Coming Home" 74 8 3841 10 18 3 — —
Semi-final 2

The second semi-final took place on 2 February 2019 in University of Tartu Sports Hall. Twelve songs competed for six spots in the final with the outcome decided upon by the combination of the votes from a jury panel and a public televote.

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

Semi-final 2 – 2 February 2019
Draw Artist Song Round One Round Two
Jury Televote Total Place Votes Place
1 Synne Valtri "I'll Do It My Way" 28 1 2729 8 9 7 2828 1
2 Iseloomad "Kaks miinust" 38 5 762 0 5 10 394 8
3 Lumevärv & Inga "Milline päev" 58 8 1386 3 11 5 2284 2
4 Sissi "Strong" 55 7 2557 6 13 4 — —
5 Cätlin Mägi & Jaan Pehk "Parmumäng" 37 4 1240 2 6 9 778 6
6 Kadiah Poll "Believe" 49 6 2663 7 13 3 — —
7 Kaia Tamm "Wo sind die Katzen" 20 0 1112 1 1 12 1023 5
8 Kerli Kivilaan "Cold Love" 75 12 1488 5 17 2 — —
9 Grete Paia "Kui isegi kaotan" 22 0 2752 10 10 6 1230 4
10 Lacy Jay "Halleluja" 35 2 1467 4 6 8 2009 3
11 Around the Sun "Follow Me Back" 36 3 842 0 3 11 629 7
12 Uku Suviste "Pretty Little Liar" 71 10 4635 12 22 1 — —

Final

The final took place on 16 February 2019 at the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn. 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 super final. In the super final, the winner was selected entirely by the televote.

Final – 16 February 2019
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
1 Sissi "Strong" 46 8 2990 6 14 4
2 Lumevärv & Inga "Milline päev" 46 10 2188 2 12 5
3 Victor Crone "Storm" 25 2 15513 12 14 3
4 Kerli Kivilaan "Cold Love" 43 7 1481 0 7 9
5 Xtra Basic & Emily J "Hold Me Close" 21 0 1440 0 0 12
6 Kadiah Poll "Believe" 25 3 2287 3 6 10
7 Synne Valtri "I'll Do It My Way" 4 0 2323 4 4 11
8 Stefan "Without You" 70 12 6132 7 19 1
9 The Swingers "High Heels in the Neighbourhood" 26 4 2737 5 9 7
10 Uku Suviste "Pretty Little Liar" 36 5 8987 10 15 2
11 Inger Fridolin "Coming Home" 24 1 6904 8 9 6
12 Sandra Nurmsalu "Soovide puu" 40 6 1914 1 7 8
Super Final – 16 February 2019
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 Victor Crone "Storm" 23270 (46%) 1
2 Stefan "Without You" 12380 (24%) 3
3 Uku Suviste "Pretty Little Liar" 15498 (30%) 2

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (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.[8]

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 preceding the entry from Portugal.[9]

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.

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 will be released shortly after the grand final.[10]

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 to Estonia (Semi-final 1)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Points awarded to Estonia (final)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Estonia

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Estonian jury:[10]

  • Kaupo Karelson – Chairperson – television producer
  • Reet Linna – TV host
  • Sandra Sersant – artist manager
  • Mikk Targo – Chairman of the Board of the Estonian Authors’ Society
  • Uku Suviste
Split voting results from Estonia (Semi-final 1)
Draw Country Jury Televote
K. Karelson R. Linna S. Sersant M. Targo U. Suviste Average 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
Split voting results from Estonia (final)
Draw Country Jury Televote
K. Karelson R. Linna S. Sersant M. Targo U. Suviste Average 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
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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. Granger, Anthony (5 September 2018). "Estonia: 24 Acts To Compete in Expanded Eesti Laul Selection". eurovoix.com. eurovoix.com. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  4. Agadellis, Stratos (19 September 2017). "Estonia: Eesti Laul calls for songs celebrating its 10 years". esctoday.com. Esctoday.com. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  5. Granger, Anthony (15 September 2018). "Estonia: Eesti Laul 2019 Participants Revealed". eurovoix.com. eurovoix.com. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  6. "Galerii: Eesti Laul 2019 poolfinalistid on selgunud". err.ee (in Estonian). 15 November 2018.
  7. Farren, Neil (31 January 2019). "Estonia: Eesti Laul Semi-Final One Results". Eurovoix.
  8. Jordan, Paul (28 January 2019). "Eurovision 2019: Which country takes part in which Semi-Final?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  9. "Exclusive: This is the Eurovision 2019 Semi-Final running order!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  10. 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.
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