The National Final season continues on, as tonight is the first semi-final of Estonia’s Eurovision National Final Eesti Laul took place, where ten artists competed for five places to the final.
10 songs competing for five places
| Order | Artist | “Entry” | Result |
| 1 | Elysa | “Fire” | Qualified (Jury + Televote) |
| 2 | Helen | “Vaata minu poole” | Eliminated |
| 3 | Andrei Zevakin feat. Grete Paia | “Mis nüüd saab” | Qualified (Jury + Televote) |
| 4 | Alabama Watchdog | “Move On” | Eliminated |
| 5 | Merilin Mälk | “Little Girl” | Eliminated |
| 6 | Stig Rästa | “Interstellar” | Qualified (Jury + Televote) |
| 7 | Triin Niitoja & Frants Tikerpuu | “Laululind” | Eliminated |
| 8 | Kaia-Liisa Kesler | “Vaikus” | Eliminated |
| 9 | Elina Nechayeva | “Remedy” | Qualified (Televote) |
| 10 | Ott Lepland | “Aovalguses” | Qualified (Jury + Televote) |
Elysa, Andrei Zevakin and Grete Paia, Stig Rästa, and Ott Lepland qualified on the first round of voting. After the second round of voting Elina qualified for the Final.
Ahead of the show, it was revealed that Elysa and Merilin Mälk are unable to perform live, due to falling ill. Their music videos were shown on this round of the competition.
The second semi-final of the competition will take place on Saturday the 5th of February.
Estonia’s Eurovision Journey
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.
What do you make of the results from Estonia tonight? Did your favourite qualify to the final? As always, let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure that you follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for all the news about Eesti Laul 2022!
News Source: ERR
Photo Source: Ken Mürk / ERR
