Estonia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 29 times since making its debut in 1994. Its first appearance would have taken place in 1993 but a qualification round was installed for seven former Eastern Bloc countries hoping to make their debut in the contest, with Estonia failing to qualify. Estonia has won the contest once, in 2001. The current Estonian participant broadcaster in the contest is Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR).
| Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest | |
|---|---|
| |
| Participating broadcaster | Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR; 2008–present)
Formerly
|
| Participation summary | |
| Appearances | 29 (19 finals) |
| First appearance | 1994 |
| Highest placement | 1st: 2001 |
| Host | 2002 |
| Related articles | |
| Eesti Laul | |
| External links | |
| ERR page | |
Estonia's page at Eurovision.tv  | |
 For the most recent participation seeEstonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 | |
Estonia's first participation in 1994 was unsuccessful, finishing 24th (out of 25). Estonia went on to finish in the top eight in six out of seven contests (1996–2002), with "Kaelakee hääl" by Maarja-Liis Ilus and Ivo Linna fifth (1996), Maarja-Liis Ilus returning to finish eighth with "Keelatud maa" (1997), "Diamond of Night" by Evelin Samuel and Camille sixth (1999), and "Once in a Lifetime" by Ines fourth (2000), before "Everybody" by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton, and 2XL gave Estonia its first victory in 2001. With this, Estonia became the first of the new countries that joined Eurovision in the 1990s and won the contest. "Runaway" by Sahlene then finished third for the hosts in Tallinn in 2002.
Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Estonia has failed to reach the final on ten occasions and has reached the top ten five times, with "Rändajad" by Urban Symphony sixth (2009), "Kuula" by Ott Lepland sixth (2012), "Goodbye to Yesterday" by Elina Born and Stig Rästa seventh (2015), "La forza" by Elina Nechayeva eighth (2018), and "Bridges" by Alika eighth (2023). Estonia's total of eleven top ten results is more than any other Baltic country.
History
editEesti Televisioon (ETV) was a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 1 January 1993, thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest since then. It participated in the contest representing Estonia since its 39th edition in 1994. Since 2008, after a restructuring that led to the incorporation of ETV into the current Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) organisation, it is the latter who participates representing Estonia.
Estonia finished 24th (out of 25) on its debut in 1994 and was relegated from the following year's contest. Estonia's record at the contest was a successful one from 1996 to 2002, only failing once to make the top 10 (in 1998 when it ended up in 12th place). Maarja-Liis Ilus and Ivo Linna's fifth-place in 1996 was the first top five ranking for any country, formerly annexed by Soviet Union and therefore unable to participate. Ilus returned to finish eighth in 1997.
The country's first win came in 2001, when Tanel Padar and Dave Benton, along with 2XL, sang "Everybody" and received 198 points, therefore making Estonia the first formerly USSR-annexed country to win the Contest. The 2002 contest was held in Estonia, in the capital city Tallinn, where Sahlene finished third for the hosts (tied with the UK).
From 2004 to 2008 Estonia failed to qualify to the finals, mostly receiving poor results – during that period its best entry was 11th place in the 2004 semi-final by Neiokõsõ with "Tii", sung in the Võro language.
Despite news that Estonia might withdraw from the 2009 contest (set to be held in Moscow, Russia) due to the war in South Ossetia, Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) confirmed that due to public demand, Estonia would send an entry to Moscow.[1][2] After a new national final, Eesti Laul, was introduced to select the Estonian entry, the winner was Urban Symphony with "Rändajad", which had beaten the televoting favourite, Laura, by the votes of a jury.[3][4]
At the second semi-final of the 2009 contest, Urban Symphony qualified Estonia to the final of the contest for the first time since 2003, receiving 115 points and placing 3rd. The group performed 15th in the final, where it received 129 points, placing 6th out of 25 competing entries as well as being the highest placing non-English language song at the 2009 competition.
In 2010, Estonia failed to qualify to the final, with the song "Siren" by Malcolm Lincoln.
In 2011, Estonia was represented by Getter Jaani with the song "Rockefeller Street". She was the bookmakers' pre-contest favorite for victory along with France. She qualified to the final but eventually placed 24th of 25 entries- tying Silvi Vrait's 1994 result for Estonia's worst placing in the contest final.
Since 2012, Estonia has achieved four more top ten results. Ott Lepland qualified Estonia to the final of the 2012 contest, with his song "Kuula", ending up 4th in the second semi-final. In the final, he equalled Estonia's result of 1999 and 2009, placing 6th. Elina Born and Stig Rästa finished seventh in 2015. Elina Nechayeva and Alika finished eighth in 2018 and 2023, respectively.
Participation overview
edit| 1 | First place |
| 3 | Third place |
| ◁ | Last place |
| X | Entry selected but did not compete |
| † | Upcoming event |
| Year | Artist | Song | Language | Final | Points | Semi | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Janika Sillamaa | "Muretut meelt ja südametuld" | Estonian | Failed to qualify[a] X | 5 | 47 | |
| 1994 | Silvi Vrait | "Nagu merelaine" | Estonian | 24 | 2 | No semi-finals | |
| 1996 | Maarja-Liis Ilus and Ivo Linna | "Kaelakee hääl" | Estonian | 5 | 94 | 5 | 106 |
| 1997 | Maarja | "Keelatud maa" | Estonian | 8 | 82 | No semi-finals | |
| 1998 | Koit Toome | "Mere lapsed" | Estonian | 12 | 36 | ||
| 1999 | Evelin Samuel and Camille | "Diamond of Night" | English | 6 | 90 | ||
| 2000 | Ines | "Once in a Lifetime" | English | 4 | 98 | ||
| 2001 | Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL | "Everybody" | English | 1 | 198 | ||
| 2002 | Sahlene | "Runaway" | English | 3 | 111 | ||
| 2003 | Ruffus | "Eighties Coming Back" | English | 21 | 14 | ||
| 2004 | Neiokõsõ | "Tii" | Võro | Failed to qualify | 11 | 57 | |
| 2005 | Suntribe | "Let's Get Loud" | English | 20 | 31 | ||
| 2006 | Sandra | "Through My Window" | English | 18 | 28 | ||
| 2007 | Gerli Padar | "Partners in Crime" | English | 22 | 33 | ||
| 2008 | Kreisiraadio | "Leto svet" | Serbian, German, Finnish | 18 | 8 | ||
| 2009 | Urban Symphony | "Rändajad" | Estonian | 6 | 129 | 3 | 115 |
| 2010 | Malcolm Lincoln | "Siren" | English | Failed to qualify | 14 | 39 | |
| 2011 | Getter Jaani | "Rockefeller Street" | English | 24 | 44 | 9 | 60 |
| 2012 | Ott Lepland | "Kuula" | Estonian | 6 | 120 | 4 | 100 |
| 2013 | Birgit | "Et uus saaks alguse" | Estonian | 20 | 19 | 10 | 52 |
| 2014 | Tanja | "Amazing" | English | Failed to qualify | 12 | 36 | |
| 2015 | Elina Born and Stig Rästa | "Goodbye to Yesterday" | English | 7 | 106 | 3 | 105 |
| 2016 | Jüri Pootsmann | "Play" | English | Failed to qualify | 18 ◁ | 24 | |
| 2017 | Koit Toome and Laura | "Verona" | English | 14 | 85 | ||
| 2018 | Elina Nechayeva | "La forza" | Italian | 8 | 245 | 5 | 201 |
| 2019 | Victor Crone | "Storm" | English | 20 | 76 | 4 | 198 |
| 2020 | Uku Suviste | "What Love Is" | English | Contest cancelled[b] X | |||
| 2021 | Uku Suviste | "The Lucky One" | English | Failed to qualify | 13 | 58 | |
| 2022 | Stefan | "Hope" | English | 13 | 141 | 5 | 209 |
| 2023 | Alika | "Bridges" | English | 8 | 168 | 10 | 74 |
| 2024 | 5miinust and Puuluup | "(Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi" | Estonian | 20 | 37 | 6 | 79 |
| 2025 | TBD February 2025 †[5] | Upcoming † | |||||
Songs by language
edit| Songs | Language | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | English | 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, |
| 9 | Estonian | 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2024 |
| 1 | Võro | 2004 |
| 1 | Serbian | 2008 |
| 1 | German | 2008 |
| 1 | Finnish | 2008 |
| 1 | Italian | 2018 |
Hostings
edit| Year | Location | Venue | Presenters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Tallinn | Saku Suurhall | Annely Peebo and Marko Matvere |
Related involvement
editConductors
edit| Year | Conductor | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Peeter Lilje | [c] | |
| 1994 | Urmas Lattikas | ||
| 1996 | Tarmo Leinatamm | ||
| 1997 | |||
| 1998 | Heiki Vahar |
Heads of delegation
editEach participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the performers, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others.[6]
| Year | Head of delegation | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–2008 | Juhan Paadam | |
| 2009–2015 | Heidy Purga | |
| 2015–2018 | Mart Normet | |
| 2019–2023 | Tomi Rahula | |
| 2024– | Riin Vann |
Costume designers
edit| Year | Costume designers | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Karolin Kuusik |
Commentators and spokespersons
edit| Year | Television commentator | Radio commentator | Russian commentator | Spokesperson | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Ivo Linna and Olavi Pihlamägi | Unknown | No broadcast | Did not participate | [12][13] |
| 1993 | Unknown | [14] | |||
| 1994 | Vello Rand | Marko Reikop (Raadio 2) | Urve Tiidus | ||
| 1995 | Jüri Pihel | No broadcast | Did not participate | ||
| 1996 | Marko Reikop (Raadio 2) | Annika Talvik | |||
| 1997 | Helene Tedre | ||||
| 1998 | Reet Linna | Urve Tiidus | |||
| 1999 | Marko Reikop | Vello Rand (Raadio 2) | Mart Sander | ||
| 2000 | Evelin Samuel | ||||
| 2001 | Ilo-Mai Küttim (Elektra) | ||||
| 2002 | |||||
| 2003 | Ines | ||||
| 2004 | Maarja-Liis Ilus | ||||
| 2005 | Mart Juur (Raadio 2) Andrus Kivirähk (Raadio 2) |
||||
| 2006 | Evelin Samuel | ||||
| 2007 | Laura Põldvere | ||||
| 2008 | Sahlene | ||||
| 2009 | Marko Reikop and Olav Osolin (final) | Laura Põldvere | |||
| 2010 | Marko Reikop and Sven Lõhmus (final) | Rolf Roosalu | |||
| 2011 | Marko Reikop | Piret Järvis | |||
| 2012 | Ilja Ban, Dmitri Vinogradov and Aleksandra Moorast (Raadio 4) |
Getter Jaani | |||
| 2013 | No broadcast | Rolf Roosalu | |||
| 2014 | Lauri Pihlap | ||||
| 2015 | Tanja | ||||
| 2016 | Aleksandr Hobotov | Daniel Levi Viinalass | |||
| 2017 | Aleksandr Hobotov and Julia Kalenda | Jüri Pootsmann | |||
| 2018 | Ott Evestus | ||||
| 2019 | No broadcast | Kelly Sildaru | |||
| 2021 | Sissi Benita | ||||
| 2022 | Tanel Padar | ||||
| 2023 | Ragnar Klavan | ||||
| 2024 | Birgit Sarrap |
Photo gallery
edit
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See also
editNotes
edit- ^ A qualifying round was held for new countries looking to make their debut at the 1993 contest. Estonia failed to progress from this round; entries which failed to progress have subsequently been discounted by the EBU and do not feature as part of the countries' list of appearances.
- ^ The 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- ^ Conducted the Estonian entry at Kvalifikacija za Millstreet.
References
edit- ^ Floras, Stella (2008-08-22). "Estonia: Minister discusses possible boycott of Eurovision in Moscow". ESCToday. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
- ^ Floras, Stella (2008-09-17). "Estonia will participate in 2009". ESCToday. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
- ^ Calleja Bayliss, Marc (2009-03-07). "Urban Symphony to represent Estonia in Moscow". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 2009-03-10. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
- ^ Webb, Glen (2009-03-07). "Urban Symphony win Eesti Laul in Estonia". EBU. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
- ^ "Laulukonkursi "Eesti Laul 2025" reglement" [Regulations of the song contest "Eesti Laul 2025"] (in Estonian). ERR. 2024-09-16. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
- ^ "Heads of Delegation". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
- ^ a b "FOTOD: Legendaarne eurolaulu produtsent Juhan Paadam köitis oma mälestused üheks suureks raamatuks". kroonika.delfi.ee. 9 March 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
- ^ Welsh, Eleanor (22 January 2018). "Estonia: Head of Delegation Mart Normet to step down after Lisbon 2018". esctoday.com. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
- ^ Maddalozzo, Riccardo (23 June 2018). "Estonia: ERR appoints Tomi Rahula as new head of Eesti Laul". escxtra.com. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
- ^ Kuningas, Rasmus (29 April 2024). "Marko Veisson: loodetavasti ei sünni Eurovisiooni laval kaost". menu.err.ee. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
- ^ Eleanor Cooper (May 4, 2013). "Estonia: Birgit reveals her outfit for Malmö". esctoday.com.
- ^ "Televisiooni nädalakava 4. mai–10. mai" [Television weekly schedule 4 May–10 May]. Päevaleht (in Estonian). 1 May 1992. p. 14. Retrieved 28 October 2022 – via DIGAR Eesti artiklid.
- ^ "ETV 1992 | ajalugu". Eesti Rahvusringhääling. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- ^ "Televisiooni nädalakava 10. mai – 16. mai". Päevaleht (in Estonian). 10 May 1993. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 28 October 2022 – via DIGAR Eesti artiklid.
- ^ ERR (2021-05-18). "Eurovisiooni lauluvõistlus 2021 | ETV". ERR (in Estonian). Retrieved 2021-05-07.
- ^ ERR (2021-05-18). "Евровидение-2021 | ETV+". ERR (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-05-07.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (2023-01-05). "Estonia: ERR Eurovision 2023 Coverage Revealed". Eurovoix. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
- ^ "Eesti punktid Eurovisioonil edastab sel aastal Ragnar Klavan". err.ee (in Estonian). ERR. 2023-05-02. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
- ^ Conte, Davide (2024-04-27). "Estonia: Estonian and Russian Commentators for Eurovision 2024 Announced". Eurovoix. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
- ^ Avelino, Gerry (9 May 2024). "Estonia: Birgit Announced as Spokesperson for Eurovision 2024". Eurovoix. Retrieved 9 May 2024.