It’s Estonia’s national day and it’s time to say Hello to yesterday (pun intended) and remember the country’s Eurovision journey over the years.
Estonia counts 30 participations in the contest and 1 victory! They made their debut in 1994 in Dublin, finishing 24th and as a result relegating from the next year’s contest. However, they made a strong return and in the years 1996-2002 they finished in the top 10 6 out of 7 times. They won the contest in 2001 with Tanel Padar and Dave Benton & 2 XL and their song ‘Everybody’. This made them the first former Soviet country to win the contest. As a result, they hosted the contest in Tallin in 2002.
Unfortunately, their successful years didn’t carry on and they failed to qualify to the final for 5 consecutive years between 2004-2008. They had to do something about it, and that’s how Eesti Laul was born. Eesti Laul is the Estonian national selection that happens every year since 2009, where many artists participate to win the much-desired Eurovision ticket. It is one of the most popular television shows in Estonia and a place to discover new talent in the country. Eesti Laul was proven successful and Estonia finished in the 6th place in 2009 with Urban symphony and ‘Randajad’.
This year Estonia will participate in Malmo with 5miinust & Puuluup and the longest song title in this year’s contest so far. The two bands won the final of Eesti Laul 2024 with almost double the points from the runner up and will represent Estonia with the song ‘(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (kull) midagi’ (= We (sure)know nothing about (these) drugs). The song is in Estonian and was inspired by a comment made by a band member about drugs during a car trip. It is not a song about drug usage but more a song about not knowing what these drugs are! They will compete in the second half of semi-final 2. We wish them luck!
