The Ultimate Eurovision Nation? (I Was There - Eesti Laul 2019)
Everybody has a special place they have always wanted to go. For some, it is the glamour of Los Angeles, for others, it is the culture unlike any other that is Japan and for me, it has been for many years the small nation of Estonia. To rewind a bit, having watched back through every Eurovision Song Contest, I not only came to find that Estonia was responsible for sending many of my favourite songs to the main contest itself but also for hosting one of my favourite shows in 2002. This caused me to read deeper into the history and culture of both music and theatre and sure enough, the results are astonishing. Whilst I won't go into the full details of this idea, let me summarise it by saying that culture has defined the direction of Estonia as a nation and shaped its history drastically. For more details, send me an email at finlay26may@yahoo.com and I will happily send you in the right direction for how to learn more.
So when the opportunity came up not only to visit Estonia but also to be in Tallinn on the day of Eesti Laul taking place, it was an opportunity that was impossible to pass up. Having listened to every entry on the day it came out, this was a very special national line-up with a fantastic combination of genres, styles, languages and for the first time in a while, nationalities of singers. Of the numerous options, many songs were good but the two that particularly stood out for me were Sandra Nurmsalu's 'Soovide Puu' and Victor Crone's 'Storm' (otherwise known as the Stig Rasta special).
Weirdly enough, my day begun in a hostel bed in central Helsinki. Having needed to be at work on Friday morning and be in the Saku Suurhall for Saturday night, my travel logistics creativity came out and I opted to fly to Helsinki, stay overnight and then get the ferry over the Baltic sea first thing the following morning. Helsinki now has a weird place in my travel adventures as the one city I haven't experienced in daylight. The ferry ride over was lovely with some beautiful views over Helsinki at the beginning and then Tallinn bay at the end.
As the boat docked into Tallinn, I took out my ipod and listened to 'Keelatud Maa', a song that whilst not only being my favourite Estonian entry of all time and the entry in the year I was born, is also a song about a forbidden land. I suppose in many ways, Estonia is the ultimate forbidden land, having been hidden behind the iron curtain during the period of the Soviet Union, Estonian language and culture had been repressed for many years until the collapse of the USSR in 1991. For me, Estonia had felt like a forbidden land because this was a country I had wanted to visit for a long time. It had felt in the midst of life beginning and work-life starting to kick in that perhaps I wouldn't get the chance to come but having gotten a week off work, I knew that the timing was perfect to finally make the trip (especially having managed to coincide my first day with the Eesti Laul grand final).
I disembarked the ferry and walked the ten minutes into Tallinn's old town. The old town of Tallinn is a UNESCO World Heritage-protected area and the reason for that is clear from the moment you begin walking its labyrinth of curved streets and back passages. The city-centre takes influences from the many rulers it has had over its existence from the German Hanseatic League then the Danes then the Swedes then the Russians (with some exchanging back with the Germans and a short spell of Estonian independence over that period). What is fascinating about the multi-cultural influence of the city is that it isn't something that the Estonians try to hide. In fact, they celebrate the many cultures who have come to their nation and left their imprint on the fabric of what Estonia is today. This can be seen not only in the architecture and the many flags flying but also in the plaques about the city history, the different theatres and museums dedicated to specific cultures and even the country's cuisine. As a Brit, this is a fascinating contrast to my country in which we easily forget that London was founded by Italians, that our national dish (Fish & Chips) came from the Netherlands and that even our royal family is German. Patriotism in Estonia doesn't equate to ignoring those different cultural influences but instead celebrating them and acknowledging that they made Estonia what it is today.
In considering this, I thought back to a certain Victor Crone who had pulled off a fantastic performance in the Semi-Final in Tartu a couple of weeks earlier. This year had been the first in a while the Eesti Laul had opened up submissions to foreign songwriters and singers. It had only been that rule change that allowed Victor Crone compete and now he was coming into tonight's final as the favourite. However with Uku Suvitse and STEFAN also popular with the Estonian public, it wasn't easy to figure out who Estonia were going to choose to represent them in Tel Aviv. Were the Estonians going to allow a Swede with little connection to the country to represent them even if they liked the song? In Uku Suvitse they had a more than capable alternative that would be set to do very well on the Eurovision stage and who was Estonian. The release of the running order with Victor in third whilst many of the favourites were down near the end of the show, added to the questions that the broadcaster might prefer an Estonian artist to represent them!
Whilst Tallinn is a beautiful city and Estonia a fantastic culture, all I could think about as I walked the ice-coated streets was about who was going to win in what was admittedly a very tight contest. With that in mind, I got on the bus out to the Saku Suurhall and arrived not long after the doors opened. The Suurhall is 20 minutes outside the city-centre by bus and is located next to a massive shopping mall with much action going on as the various attendees of the concert were trying to park their cars and get some food before the show. As a football fan who has been to many stadiums around England, I am quite used to seeing grounds be next to big retail establishments in order for there to be something in the area happening when there isn't some sort of spectacle taking place (for anybody keeping track, Coventry and Milton Keynes are classic examples of this). And yet despite the structure of the Suurhall not quite being as creative and iconic as the recently-visited Scandinavium, the small colourful windmills placed outside the entrance to the venue gave the night a special charm. Entire families were coming to watch the show and engage in the special moment of Estonia choosing its entry for Tel Aviv. A nation of 1.3 million people and just under 10,000 of them were coming to this hall where in 2002 Estonia's hosting of Eurovision was a broadcast to the world of who they were and what they were capable of as a nation. Even stepping into the arena itself, you could tell that this was a special place for the nation and that tonight was going to be a particularly special edition of their biggest show.
Before the show started, I noticed many Eurovision fans in the crowd who had made the trip out to Tallinn specifically for Eesti Laul. Seeing this reminded me not only how special the Eurovision fan community is, but also how nice it is that National Finals can generate enough hype and excitement to attract people to make this pilgrimage. It gets me excited about doing similar Eurovision tourism trips next year with Norway's Melodi Grand Prix the main one in my sights.
The show itself was marvelous in terms of the sheer quality of music and performances. From the moment the hosts turned up to perform the opening number to every single competing act on the night and the incredible array of interval performance from artists as varied as Elina Nechayeva performing 'La Forza' backed by a finely tuned boys choir to Elina Born, Juri Pootsmann and Getter Jaani. Lest we forget that competing this year were three previous Eurovision representatives for Estonia in Sandra Nurmsalu, Tanja Mihhailova-Saar and Birgit Oigemeel. This is without mentioning that enjoying the show from the Green Room was not only Stig Rasta but legendary Eurovision winner Dave Benton supporting his daughter Sissi in what will surely be her first of many attempts to represent Estonia. And this is all without mentioning that one of my favourite national final moments ever came in Tartu during the Semi Final on a quiet Thursday when who should come out to wow the crowd with her incredible voice and song but a certain Maarja-Liis Ilus performing her 1997 entry 'Keelatud Maa'. This year's Eesti Laul (as I'm sure are most years' edition of the show) was an ultimate celebration of Estonian language, Estonian culture, amazing Estonian musical talent and with the help of some bizarre cartoons in between the acts even a thick slice of Estonian irony.
But then the jury votes came out and it was back to the business of Eurovision. Whilst the debate on overseas voting juries at national finals became particularly heated the following day when Romania picked their act in Bucharest, eyebrows began getting raised at the Suurhall that night as a largely Non-European set of jurors turned up STEFAN as their winner with Uku in 6th and Victor in 9th. Was this going to reflect the choice of the Estonian public? Nervously, the televotes were announced in ultimate place that the act finished, meaning that nobody wanted any of names to be called out as we made our way towards the top 3. Given the result of the jury vote, it was little surprise that Stefan, Victor and Uku rounded out an all-male top three (though as it later conspired, Victor only qualified by a margin of 1 jury vote so it was definitely fine margins).
It was perhaps even less surprising when after some performances and a second opportunity for televoting, that it came down to Victor or Uku to win that year's edition of Eesti Laul. As the hall awaited the result nervously, I was surprised to hear the name being cried not of the local boy Uku but of the newly-adopted Swede. The Eesti Laul hosts had spent the show making his Swedish roots very clear from asking him how long in total he had spent in the country to asking him to say a sentence in Estonian all in a live broadcast to the nation in a final that could define his music career. He got three gifts from the evening in the end. Firstly, he received an Estonian ice-hockey shirt with his name on the back. Secondly, he got the admiration of the Saku Suurhall crowd who despite loving both songs were clearly supporting him over Uku. Thirdly, he won the Estonian ticket and in so doing was lucky enough to win one of the most competitive editions of Eesti Laul as a foreigner.
So what can we say about Estonia as a nation from the whole experience? In the title of this piece I have asked if Estonia is the ultimate Eurovision nation and here's why. What does being a Eurovision fan mean to us? I suppose answers will differ but for me, it means celebrating our differences. It is obvious that every country and community in Europe has different cultures and different ways of interacting with each other. At that point, we have two options, either we withdraw into our own cultures and shut out everybody else's and pretend it's not there or we open our arms and celebrate all the wonderful things that different cultures can bring to a global society. Estonia not only does that with every part of their country, their culture and their way of life but they also celebrate their identity through song. This July, the Estonians will hold their National Song Festival which only takes place every five years and which sees choirs and singing groups from around the country come to a dedicated Song Festival Ground in Tallinn to perform traditional songs in Estonian over three days. Be it not for plans in July that I have already sorted, I would be there to watch what will be a unique cultural experience like no other when hundreds of thousands of people come to a hill to sing their language, celebrate their heritage and dare to dream (Eurovision motto reference intended) about what the future might hold for their young nation. Patriotism shouldn't represent an idea that one way of being is by definition better than all others, it should celebrate the elements of a culture to get excited about. In the case of Estonians on the night of February 16th 2019, celebrating that culture meant televoting in their numbers and cheering on as a Swede won the right to represent the magical nation of Estonia in Tel Aviv.
Thank you for reading this far! If you like what you read, please subscribe to the blog and you will receive new posts as and when they come out. We will have a lot more content as we build towards Tel Aviv, we have an update on the state of play in the current Eurovision season coming in the next week or so and we have an exclusive interview with a special figure in the Eurovision world coming soon!
So when the opportunity came up not only to visit Estonia but also to be in Tallinn on the day of Eesti Laul taking place, it was an opportunity that was impossible to pass up. Having listened to every entry on the day it came out, this was a very special national line-up with a fantastic combination of genres, styles, languages and for the first time in a while, nationalities of singers. Of the numerous options, many songs were good but the two that particularly stood out for me were Sandra Nurmsalu's 'Soovide Puu' and Victor Crone's 'Storm' (otherwise known as the Stig Rasta special).
Weirdly enough, my day begun in a hostel bed in central Helsinki. Having needed to be at work on Friday morning and be in the Saku Suurhall for Saturday night, my travel logistics creativity came out and I opted to fly to Helsinki, stay overnight and then get the ferry over the Baltic sea first thing the following morning. Helsinki now has a weird place in my travel adventures as the one city I haven't experienced in daylight. The ferry ride over was lovely with some beautiful views over Helsinki at the beginning and then Tallinn bay at the end.
As the boat docked into Tallinn, I took out my ipod and listened to 'Keelatud Maa', a song that whilst not only being my favourite Estonian entry of all time and the entry in the year I was born, is also a song about a forbidden land. I suppose in many ways, Estonia is the ultimate forbidden land, having been hidden behind the iron curtain during the period of the Soviet Union, Estonian language and culture had been repressed for many years until the collapse of the USSR in 1991. For me, Estonia had felt like a forbidden land because this was a country I had wanted to visit for a long time. It had felt in the midst of life beginning and work-life starting to kick in that perhaps I wouldn't get the chance to come but having gotten a week off work, I knew that the timing was perfect to finally make the trip (especially having managed to coincide my first day with the Eesti Laul grand final).
I disembarked the ferry and walked the ten minutes into Tallinn's old town. The old town of Tallinn is a UNESCO World Heritage-protected area and the reason for that is clear from the moment you begin walking its labyrinth of curved streets and back passages. The city-centre takes influences from the many rulers it has had over its existence from the German Hanseatic League then the Danes then the Swedes then the Russians (with some exchanging back with the Germans and a short spell of Estonian independence over that period). What is fascinating about the multi-cultural influence of the city is that it isn't something that the Estonians try to hide. In fact, they celebrate the many cultures who have come to their nation and left their imprint on the fabric of what Estonia is today. This can be seen not only in the architecture and the many flags flying but also in the plaques about the city history, the different theatres and museums dedicated to specific cultures and even the country's cuisine. As a Brit, this is a fascinating contrast to my country in which we easily forget that London was founded by Italians, that our national dish (Fish & Chips) came from the Netherlands and that even our royal family is German. Patriotism in Estonia doesn't equate to ignoring those different cultural influences but instead celebrating them and acknowledging that they made Estonia what it is today.
In considering this, I thought back to a certain Victor Crone who had pulled off a fantastic performance in the Semi-Final in Tartu a couple of weeks earlier. This year had been the first in a while the Eesti Laul had opened up submissions to foreign songwriters and singers. It had only been that rule change that allowed Victor Crone compete and now he was coming into tonight's final as the favourite. However with Uku Suvitse and STEFAN also popular with the Estonian public, it wasn't easy to figure out who Estonia were going to choose to represent them in Tel Aviv. Were the Estonians going to allow a Swede with little connection to the country to represent them even if they liked the song? In Uku Suvitse they had a more than capable alternative that would be set to do very well on the Eurovision stage and who was Estonian. The release of the running order with Victor in third whilst many of the favourites were down near the end of the show, added to the questions that the broadcaster might prefer an Estonian artist to represent them!
Whilst Tallinn is a beautiful city and Estonia a fantastic culture, all I could think about as I walked the ice-coated streets was about who was going to win in what was admittedly a very tight contest. With that in mind, I got on the bus out to the Saku Suurhall and arrived not long after the doors opened. The Suurhall is 20 minutes outside the city-centre by bus and is located next to a massive shopping mall with much action going on as the various attendees of the concert were trying to park their cars and get some food before the show. As a football fan who has been to many stadiums around England, I am quite used to seeing grounds be next to big retail establishments in order for there to be something in the area happening when there isn't some sort of spectacle taking place (for anybody keeping track, Coventry and Milton Keynes are classic examples of this). And yet despite the structure of the Suurhall not quite being as creative and iconic as the recently-visited Scandinavium, the small colourful windmills placed outside the entrance to the venue gave the night a special charm. Entire families were coming to watch the show and engage in the special moment of Estonia choosing its entry for Tel Aviv. A nation of 1.3 million people and just under 10,000 of them were coming to this hall where in 2002 Estonia's hosting of Eurovision was a broadcast to the world of who they were and what they were capable of as a nation. Even stepping into the arena itself, you could tell that this was a special place for the nation and that tonight was going to be a particularly special edition of their biggest show.
Before the show started, I noticed many Eurovision fans in the crowd who had made the trip out to Tallinn specifically for Eesti Laul. Seeing this reminded me not only how special the Eurovision fan community is, but also how nice it is that National Finals can generate enough hype and excitement to attract people to make this pilgrimage. It gets me excited about doing similar Eurovision tourism trips next year with Norway's Melodi Grand Prix the main one in my sights.
The show itself was marvelous in terms of the sheer quality of music and performances. From the moment the hosts turned up to perform the opening number to every single competing act on the night and the incredible array of interval performance from artists as varied as Elina Nechayeva performing 'La Forza' backed by a finely tuned boys choir to Elina Born, Juri Pootsmann and Getter Jaani. Lest we forget that competing this year were three previous Eurovision representatives for Estonia in Sandra Nurmsalu, Tanja Mihhailova-Saar and Birgit Oigemeel. This is without mentioning that enjoying the show from the Green Room was not only Stig Rasta but legendary Eurovision winner Dave Benton supporting his daughter Sissi in what will surely be her first of many attempts to represent Estonia. And this is all without mentioning that one of my favourite national final moments ever came in Tartu during the Semi Final on a quiet Thursday when who should come out to wow the crowd with her incredible voice and song but a certain Maarja-Liis Ilus performing her 1997 entry 'Keelatud Maa'. This year's Eesti Laul (as I'm sure are most years' edition of the show) was an ultimate celebration of Estonian language, Estonian culture, amazing Estonian musical talent and with the help of some bizarre cartoons in between the acts even a thick slice of Estonian irony.
But then the jury votes came out and it was back to the business of Eurovision. Whilst the debate on overseas voting juries at national finals became particularly heated the following day when Romania picked their act in Bucharest, eyebrows began getting raised at the Suurhall that night as a largely Non-European set of jurors turned up STEFAN as their winner with Uku in 6th and Victor in 9th. Was this going to reflect the choice of the Estonian public? Nervously, the televotes were announced in ultimate place that the act finished, meaning that nobody wanted any of names to be called out as we made our way towards the top 3. Given the result of the jury vote, it was little surprise that Stefan, Victor and Uku rounded out an all-male top three (though as it later conspired, Victor only qualified by a margin of 1 jury vote so it was definitely fine margins).
So what can we say about Estonia as a nation from the whole experience? In the title of this piece I have asked if Estonia is the ultimate Eurovision nation and here's why. What does being a Eurovision fan mean to us? I suppose answers will differ but for me, it means celebrating our differences. It is obvious that every country and community in Europe has different cultures and different ways of interacting with each other. At that point, we have two options, either we withdraw into our own cultures and shut out everybody else's and pretend it's not there or we open our arms and celebrate all the wonderful things that different cultures can bring to a global society. Estonia not only does that with every part of their country, their culture and their way of life but they also celebrate their identity through song. This July, the Estonians will hold their National Song Festival which only takes place every five years and which sees choirs and singing groups from around the country come to a dedicated Song Festival Ground in Tallinn to perform traditional songs in Estonian over three days. Be it not for plans in July that I have already sorted, I would be there to watch what will be a unique cultural experience like no other when hundreds of thousands of people come to a hill to sing their language, celebrate their heritage and dare to dream (Eurovision motto reference intended) about what the future might hold for their young nation. Patriotism shouldn't represent an idea that one way of being is by definition better than all others, it should celebrate the elements of a culture to get excited about. In the case of Estonians on the night of February 16th 2019, celebrating that culture meant televoting in their numbers and cheering on as a Swede won the right to represent the magical nation of Estonia in Tel Aviv.
Thank you for reading this far! If you like what you read, please subscribe to the blog and you will receive new posts as and when they come out. We will have a lot more content as we build towards Tel Aviv, we have an update on the state of play in the current Eurovision season coming in the next week or so and we have an exclusive interview with a special figure in the Eurovision world coming soon!
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