Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

Background

Prior to the 2015 Contest, Estonia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty times since its first entry in 1994. Estonia has won the contest once in 2001 with the song "Everybody" performed by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL. To this point, since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Estonia had failed to reach the final on seven occasions and had only reached the top ten twice, with Urban Symphony in 2009 and Ott Lepland in 2012, who both finished sixth. In 2014, "Amazing" performed by Tanja failed to qualify Estonia to compete in the final.

The Estonian broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR), which broadcast the contest in Estonia and oragnised the selection of the Estonian entry, confirmed that Estonia would participate in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest on 26 May 2014. On 17 September 2014, the broadcaster revealed details regarding their selection procedure and announced the organization of Eesti Laul 2015.

Eesti Laul 2015

Eesti Laul 2015 was the seventh edition of the Estonian national selection Eesti Laul, which selected Estonia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. The competition consisted of twenty entries competing in two semi-finals on 7 and 14 February 2015 leading to a ten song final on 21 February 2015. All three shows were broadcast on Eesti Televisioon (ETV).

Format

The format of the competition included two semi-finals on 7 and 14 February and a final on 21 February 2015. Ten songs competed in each semi-final where the top five from each semi-final qualified to complete the ten song lineup in the final. The results of the semi-finals were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a professional jury and the votes of public televoting. The winning song in the final was selected over two rounds of voting: the first round results were determined by the 50/50 combination of jury and public voting, while the second round (super final) was determined solely by public televoting. The original format of Eesti Laul featured only the two highest ranked songs from the first round of voting in the final qualifying to the second round of voting. In 2015, the super final round featured three finalists instead of two.

Competing entries

ERR opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries between 17 September 2014 and 1 December 2014. A record 219 submissions were received by the deadline—the highest amount since the conception of the Eesti Laul format. A jury selected 20 semi-finalists from the submissions and the selected songs were announced during the ETV entertainment program Ringvaade on 4 December 2014. The selection jury consisted of Erik Morna (Raadio 2 head of music), Toomas Puna (Raadio Sky+ program director), Owe Petersell (Raadio Elmar chief editor), Siim Nestor (music critic), Kaupo Karelson (television producer), Valner Valme (music critic), Lenna Kuurmaa (singer), Ago Teppand (musician/producer), Anne Veski (singer), Ingrid Kohtla (music editor) and Mingo Rajandi (musician).

Among the competing artists was previous Eurovision Song Contest entrant Robin Juhkental who represented Estonia in 2010 as part of the group Malcolm Lincoln. Airi Vipulkumar Ka nsar (Ojamets), Elina Born, Liis Lemsalu, Luisa Värk, Maia Vahtramäe, NimmerSchmidt, Stig Rästa and Wilhelm had all previously competed in Estonian national finals.

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final of Eesti Laul 2015 took place on 7 February 2015, hosted by Helen Sürje and Indrek Vaheoja with additional commentary provided by Mart Juur and Peeter Oja. The performances of the competing songs were filmed earlier on 30 January 2015. Ten songs competed for five 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 18,507 votes. The jury panel that voted in the first semi-final consisted of Owe Petersell, Mare Väljataga, Alar Kotkas, Peedu Kass, Erik Morna, Marie Vaigla, Valner Valme, Grete Paia, Koit Toome, Sander Mölder and Anneliis Kits.

Semi-final 2

The second semi-final of Eesti Laul 2015 took place on 14 February 2015, hosted by Helen Sürje and Indrek Vaheoja with additional commentary provided by Mart Juur and Peeter Oja. The performances of the competing songs were filmed earlier on 1 February 2015. Ten songs competed for five 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 38,094votes. The jury panel that voted in the second semi-final consisted of Owe Petersell, Mare Väljataga, Alar Kotkas, Peedu Kass, Erik Morna, Marie Vaigla, Valner Valme, Grete Paia, Koit Toome, Sander Mölder and Anneliis Kits.

Final

The final of Eesti Laul 2015 took place on 21 February 2015 at the Nordea Concert Hall in Tallinn, hosted by Marko Reikop and Henrik Kalmet. Five songs from each semi-final, all together ten songs, competed in the first round of the competition where a jury (50%) and public televote (50%) decided the top three entries for the super final. The public vote in the first round registered 76,807 votes. "Goodbye to Yesterday" performed by Elina Born and Stig Rästa, "Burning Lights" performed by Daniel Levi and "Superlove" performed by Elisa Kolk qualified to the super final. The jury panel that voted in the first round consisted of G-Enka (musician), Ines (singer-songwriter), Ingrid Kohtla (music critic), Kristjan Hirmo (DJ and Radio Sky Plus presenter), Els Himma (singer), Priit Hõbemägi (culture critic), Koit Raudsepp (Raadio 2 presenter), Iiris (singer), Reigo Ahven (drummer), Kristjan Randalu (pianist and composer) and Tanja (musician and choreographer). In the super final, "Goodbye to Yesterday" performed by Elina Born and Stig Rästa won with 79% of the public televote which registered 90,417 votes.

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. In the 2015 contest, Australia also competed directly in the final as an invited guest nation. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into five different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 26 January 2015, 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 19 May 2015, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2015 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 7, following the entry from Greece and before the entry from Macedonia.

All three shows were televised in Estonia on ETV with commentary by Marko Reikop. The first semi-final and final were also broadcast via radio on Raadio 2 with commentary by Mart Juur and Andrus Kivirähk. The Estonian spokesperson, who announced the Estonian votes during the final, was 2014 Eurovision entrant Tanja.

Semi-final

Elina Born and Stig Rästa took part in technical rehearsals on 11 and 15 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 18 and 19 May. This included the jury final where professional juries of each country, responsible for 50 percent of each country's vote, watched and voted on the competing entries.

The stage show featured Elina Born dressed in a dark jumpsuit with a silver belt and Stig Rästa dressed in a dark suit with casual shoes. The staging for the song included dark colours with white accents and silhouettes of the performers projected on the LED stage floor. The large background LED screens displayed a shadowy cityscape with prominent skyscrapers. Rästa began the performance on stage alone and was then joined by Born during the first chorus. Born then finished the song on stage alone as Rästa exited during the final chorus.

At the end of the show, Estonia was announced as having finished in the top ten and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Estonia placed third in the semi-final, receiving a total of 105 points.

Final

Shortly after the first semi-final, a winner's 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 were announced during the semi-final. Estonia was drawn to compete in the first half. 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 4, following the entry from Israel and before the entry from the United Kingdom.

Elina Born and Stig Rästa once again took part in dress rehearsals on 22 and 23 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. The duet performed a repeat of their semi-final performance during the final on 23 May. At the conclusion of the voting, Estonia finished in seventh place with 106 points.

Voting

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant 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 could 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 were released shortly after the grand final.

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Estonia had placed fifth with the public televote and eleventh with the jury vote in the final. In the public vote, Estonia scored 144 points, while with the jury vote, Estonia scored 53 points. In the first semi-final, Estonia placed second with the public televote with 129 points and tenth with the jury vote, scoring 60 points.

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:

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Estonian jury: