Prior to the 2015 contest, Estonia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty 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 four occasions. In 2014, "Amazing" performed by Tanja failed to qualify Estonia to the final where the song placed twelfth in the semi-final.

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 2015 Eurovision Song Contest on 26 May 2014.^[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 and on 17 September 2014, ERR announced the organisation of Eesti Laul 2015 in order to select the nation's 2015 entry.^[3]

Eesti Laul 2015 edit

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) with commentary by Mart Juur and Peeter Oja as well as streamed online at the broadcaster's official website err.ee.^[4] The final was also broadcast via radio on Raadio 2 as well as streamed online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.^[5][6]

Format edit

The format of the competition included two semi-finals on 13 and 20 February 2016 and a final on 5 March 2016. Ten songs competed in each semi-final and the top five from each semi-final qualified to complete the ten song lineup in the final. The results of the semi-finals was determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a professional jury and public televoting. 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, while the second round (superfinal) determined the winner solely by public televoting.^[7] In addition to winning the right to represent Estonia at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest, the winning songwriters were also awarded a monetary prize of €3,000 by the Estonian Authors' Society. The Estonian Performers Association also awarded monetary prizes to the top three entries: the winner and second placed entry each received €1,000 and the third placed entry received €500.^[8]

Competing entries edit

On 17 September 2014, ERR opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries up until 1 December 2014. All artists and composers were required to have Estonian citizenship or be a permanent resident of Estonia and each artist and songwriter was only able to submit a maximum of three entries.^[8] A record 219 submissions were received by the deadline—breaking the previous record of 189, set during the 2014 edition.^[9] An 11-member jury panel selected 20 semi-finalists from the submissions and the selected songs were announced during the ETV entertainment program Ringvaade on 4 December 2014.^[10] 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 and producer), Anne Veski (singer), Ingrid Kohtla (Tallinn Music Week organiser) and Mingo Rajandi (musician).^[11]

Among the competing artists was previous Eurovision Song Contest entrant Robin Juhkental, who represented Estonia in 2010 as part of the group Malcolm Lincoln together with Manpower 4. Airi Vipulkumar Kansar, Elina Born, Liis Lemsalu, Luisa Värk, Maia Vahtramäe, NimmerSchmidt, Stig Rästa and Wilhelm have all competed in previous editions of Eesti Laul.^[10]

Shows edit

Semi-finals edit

The two semi-finals took place on 7 and 14 February 2015, hosted by Helen Sürje and Indrek Vaheoja.^[4] The live portion of the shows were held at the ERR studios in Tallinn where the artists awaited the results while their performances, which were filmed earlier at the ERR studios on 30 January and 1 February 2015, were screened.^[12][13] In each semi-final 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 in the first semi-final and 38,094 votes in the second semi-final.^[14] The jury panel that voted in the semi-finals 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.^[15]

Final edit

The final took place on 21 February 2015 at the Nordea Concert Hall in Tallinn, hosted by Marko Reikop and Henrik Kalmet. The five entries that qualified from each of the two preceding semi-finals, all together ten 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 superfinal. The public vote in the first round registered 76,087 votes. In the superfinal, "Goodbye to Yesterday" performed by Elina Born and Stig Rästa was selected as the winner entirely by a public televote. The public televote in the superfinal registered 90,417 votes.^[16] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, rapper Suur Papa, the band Junk Riot and the Tartu Rock and Pop Institute performed as the interval acts.^[6] The jury panel that voted in the first round of the final consisted of Genka (musician), Ines (singer-songwriter), Ingrid Kohtla (Tallinn Music Week organiser), Kristjan Hirmo (DJ), 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).^[17]

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (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.^[18] 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.^[19] On 26 January 2015, an 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.^[20]

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.^[21]

The two semi-finals and the final were broadcast in Estonia on ETV with commentary by Marko Reikop.^[22] 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 Tanja who had previously represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014.^[23]

Semi-final edit

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.^[24]

The Estonian performance featured 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 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.^[25][26]

At the end of the show, Estonia was announced as having finished in the top ten and subsequently qualifying for the grand final.^[27] It was later revealed that Estonia placed third in the semi-final, receiving a total of 105 points.^[28]

Final edit

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.^[29] 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.^[30]

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.^[31] 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.^[32][33]

Voting edit

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.^[34]

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.^[35] In the first semi-final, Estonia placed second with the public televote with 129 points and tenth with the jury vote, scoring 60 points.^[36]

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 edit

Points awarded by Estonia edit

Detailed voting results edit

The following members comprised the Estonian jury:^[34]

• Sven Lõhmus (jury chairperson) – songwriter, producer
• Olav Osolin – songwriter, commentator
• Dagmar Oja – singer
• Triin Niitoja – singer
• Egert Milder [et] – singer, musician

• Eesti Laul official site