1. Background

2. Before Eurovision
    Eesti Laul 2018  Format  Competing entries   Shows    Semi-final 1    Semi-final 2   Final 

3. At Eurovision
    Dress  Final  Voting  Points awarded to Estonia  Points awarded by Estonia  Split voting results 

4. References

5. External links

Estonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The Estonian broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) organised the national final Eesti Laul 2018 in order to select the Estonian entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal.

Background

Prior to the 2018 Contest, Estonia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-three times since its first entry in {{ESCYr|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 five occasions. In 2017, Estonia failed to qualify to the final, placing fourteenth in the semi-final with the song "Verona" performed by Koit Toome and Laura Põldvere.

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 2018 Eurovision Song Contest on 2 May 2017.^[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.

Before Eurovision

Eesti Laul 2018

Eesti Laul 2018 was the tenth edition of the Estonian national selection Eesti Laul, which selected Estonia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The competition consisted of 20 entries competing in two semi-finals on 10 and 17 February 2018 lead to a ten-song final on 3 March 2018.^[3] All three shows were broadcast on Eesti Televisioon (ETV) as well as streamed online on the broadcaster's official website err.ee.

Format

The format of the competition included two semi-finals on 10 and 17 February 2018 and a final on 3 March 2018.^[4] 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 were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a professional jury and public televoting for the first 4, then the final spot was decided in a second round of voting by televote only. 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.

Competing entries

In early September 2017, ERR opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries up until 1 November 2017.^[5] Eligible artists and songwriters were required to have Estonian citizenship or be permanent residents of Estonia. For the 2018 competition, foreign collaborations were allowed as long as 50% of the song authors were Estonians. Artists and songwriters were allowed to submit up to three songs each with an exception to this rule for songwriters who participated in songwriting camps organised by the Estonian Song Academy in spring and autumn 2017. A jury selected 15 songs for the competition with the remaining 5 entries being chosen by the Eesti Laul Editor. The selected entries were announced on 10 November 2017.^[6]

Shows

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final took place on 10 February 2018. 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. The jury panel that voted in the first semi-final consists of Lenna Kuurmaa, Eeva Talsi, Hanna Parman, Mariliis Mõttus, Kristjan Hirmo, Tomi Rahula, Jaanus Nõgisto, Dave Benton, Rainer Ild, Aleksandr Žemžurov and Erik Morna.^[8]

Semi-final 2

The second semi-final took place on 17 February 2018. 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. The jury panel that voted in the second semi-final consists of Lenna Kuurmaa, Eeva Talsi, Hanna Parman, Mariliis Mõttus, Kristjan Hirmo, Tomi Rahula, Jaanus Nõgisto, Dave Benton, Rainer Ild, Aleksandr Žemžurov and Erik Morna.^[10]

Final

The final took place on 3 March 2017 at the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn. 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 super final. In the super final, the winner was selected entirely by a public televote. The running order was revealed on 20 February 2017.^[11] In the first round, a jury (50%) and public televote (50%) determined the top three entries to proceed to the super final: "La forza" performed by Elina Nechayeva, "Home" performed by Stig Rästa and "Laura (Walk With Me)" performed by Vajé. In the super final, "La forza" performed by Elina Nechayeva was selected as the winner entirely by a public televote.^[12][13] The jury panel that voted in the final consisted of Valter Soosalu, Maiken, Grits Majors, Nicola Caligiore, Laura Prits, Sten Teppan, Joana Levieva-Sawyer, Helena Sildna, Ole Tøpholm, Marina Kesler and Ivar Must.^[14]

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. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 29 January 2018, 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 8 May 2018, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.^[15]

Once all the competing songs for the 2018 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 9, following the entry from Belarus and preceding the entry from Bulgaria.^[16]

Although there were initially some logistical troubles in replicating the projection dress effect from Eesti Laul, they were ultimately resolved by the time the Estonian delegation arrived in Lisbon. Estonia performed ninth in the first semi-final. At the end of the night, Estonia was one of the ten countries announced as having qualified for the final, the first time they had made the final since 2015. Following the semi-final, Elina Nechayeva joined the other qualifying nations for a press conference in which they drew which half of the grand final they would participate in. Estonia was drawn to perform in the first half of the final.

Dress

Nechayeva's dress at the contest measured 52 m² and weighted around 8kg.^[17] Light projections of the song's theme were beamed continuously on the dress. According to Estonia's video artist Alyona Movko, the projections began with an ice queen imagery whose heart is melted by love, as the snow turned into water.^[17] Afterwards a fairytale-like glow followed and then the growing of flowers which were sent out by Nechayeva as a symbol of love.^[17] A team of at least eight people moved Nechayeva's dress onto the stage, in the exact position required by the projectors.^[17] The entire preparation for the performance (finding a dress, creation and generation of the animations, mapping the projections onto the dress, synching with television when captured by a camera and finalising the choreography) took two weeks.^[17]

Final

Estonia performed sixth in the grand final, following Austria and preceding Norway. They received sixth place from the jury vote and ninth from the televote, allowing them to finish eighth.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.^[18] In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to 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 as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.^[19]

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

Points awarded by Estonia

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Estonian jury:

• Eva Palm – Chairperson – head promoter of Live Nation Baltics
• Alan Roosileht – radio host and DJ
• Anett Kulbin – artist
• Karl Killing – artist
• Rainer Ild – artist

References

External links

• Eesti Laul official site

• Cosan
• Cosanfe
• Cosanlije
• Cosanostra
• Cosa Nostra
• Cosa Nostra Never Sleeps
• Cosa Nuestra
• Cosapilla
• Cosapilla River
• Cosa Resta... Un Fiore
• Cosa resta... Un fiore
• Cos, Ariege
• Cosa River
• Cos, Ariège
• Cosarnita River
• Cosaru Porcului River
• Cosas de amigos
• Cosas de Amigos
• Cosas Del Alma
• Cosas del Alma
• Cosas del Amor (disambiguation)
• Cosas De La Vida
• Cosas de la vida
• Cosa, Spain
• Cosas que nos hacen sentir bien