Country Estonia Selection date(s) 24 January 1998 Selected song "Mere lapsed" | Selection process Eurolaul 1998 Selected entrant Koit Toome Final result 12th= 36 points | |
Estonia was represented by Koit Toome, with the song "Mere lapsed", at the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May in Birmingham. "Mere lapsed" was chosen as the Estonian entry at the national final, Eurolaul, on 24 January.
Contents
Final
Eurolaul was held at the studios of broadcaster ETV in Tallinn, hosted by Marko Reikop and Anu Välba. Ten songs took part with the winner being chosen by an "expert" international jury. Other participants included former Estonian representatives Janika Sillamaa and Ivo Linna, and the following year's Evelin Samuel. "Mere lapsed" was an unexpected winner and had never been ahead in the voting until the final juror's votes enabled it to snatch an unpredicted last minute victory.
At Eurovision
On the night of the final Toome performed 23rd in the running order, following Norway and preceding Turkey. At the close of voting "Mere lapsed" had picked up 36 points (over half of which comprised a maximum 12 from Finland and 8 from Slovakia), placing Estonia joint 12th (with Portugal) of the 25 entries. The 12 points from the Estonian televote were awarded to Sweden.