ERR has just revealed the names of the first 10 acts and song titles that will compete as part of this year’s Eesti Laul for the chance to represent Estonia at Eurovision 2022. The national final has seen a significant overhaul this year, introducing quarter-finals and significantly expanding the number of competing artists. Prior to this announcement, ERR revealed that 202 songs had been submitted for consideration. Today ERR revealed the acts competing in the first quarter-final airing on Saturday 20th November.
The competing acts and songs are:
- Jaagup Tuisk – “Kui vaid”
- Boamadu – “Mitte kaukas”
- Evelin Samuel – “Waterfall”
- Fiona and Me – “Feel like This”
- Kéa – “Everytime”
- Little Mess – “Hea päev”
- Maian – “Meeletu”
- Peter Põder – “Koos lõpuni”
- Stig Rasta – “Interstellar”
- Traffic – “Kaua veel”
Who you may recognize!
Eesti Laul often has returnees! In this first quarter-final we have a few:
Jaagup Tuisk
Jaagup competed in Eesti Laul back in 2020. Jaagup was a huge fan favorite with his song “Beautiful Lie”. The song placed second in the competition. Can he go one better in 2022?
Kéa
Kéa competed in last year’s competition! Unfortunately, her song “Hypnotized” failed to make it past the semi-final. Can she do better this year with her song “Everytime”?
Traffic
This is Traffic’s fifth appearance in Eesti Laul having competed in 2009, 2012, 2014, and most recently 2020. They have reached the final on all four occasions, their best result coming in 2009 with the song “See päev”.
Stig Rästa
Stig is also back. Stig has competed in Eesti Laul as a singer and a composer. In 2015 Stig represented Estonia alongside Elina Born with the song “Goodbye To Yesterday”, the song placed 7th in the Eurovision Final with 106 points.
What else do we know about Eesti Laul this year?
Eesti Laul has undergone significant format changes this year. No longer just two semi-finals and a grand final, ERR has expanded the format, with 40 songs in competition instead of last year’s 24. Quarterfinals will take place in November and December 2021, where five songs from each of the four semi-finals will be selected to move forward to the semi-finals in February 2022. The quarter-finals will not involve live performances from the artists – instead, music videos will be shown. The grand final will take place on 12th February 2022.
Previously, ERR revealed statistics about the songs which had been submitted to take part in the competition. 84 songs were submitted in Estonian, though English, French, Spanish and Italian were also represented amongst the submissions. There was also a song in an imaginary language amongst the selection!
Estonia at Eurovision
Estonia has appeared at almost every Eurovision since their debut in 1994. They have won the contest once with Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL in 2001, singing Everybody. Other notable Estonian entrants include 3rd placer Sahlene with Runaway in 2002 and Ines with Once In A Lifetime in 2000, who placed 4th. More recently, their highest-placing entries have been Urban Symphony with Randajad in 2009 and Ott Lepland with Kuula in 2012, both of whom finished in 6th place. In 2021, they elected to resend 2020 representative Uku Suviste through Eesti Laul to the contest with The Lucky One. He failed to qualify for the final.
Estonia has used Eesti Laul to decide their competing entry every year since 2009. Before then, they used another national final format, Eurolaul, dating back to their first attempt at participation in 1993, where they failed to make it through the pre-qualifying round.
Who’s songs are you excited to hear at Eesti Laul this year? Who would you like to see represent Estonia in Turin next year? Let us know in the comments below! Don’t forget to follow ‘THAT Eurovision Site’ over at Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
News source: ERR
Photo source: ERR
