Semi 1: 07 Estonia

Estonia at Eurovision is often like a tiny planet of their own, doing very much their own thing, seemingly without even contemplating whether the rest of the world will enjoy their songs or not.

Not seldom, the world ends up quite appreciating the quirks of Estonia. And not seldom, their songs are really melodic, easy-going and truly likeable.

This year they really hit the bullseye, managing to be catchy, modern and original at the same time. The fact that it's a duet singing about a broken relationship made several people compare it to the successful Dutch entry of last year, but that's a bit of a lazy comparison. If anything, it is a bit similar to this classy duet between Ville Valo & Natalia Avelon a few years ago.

An early favourite to win the entire contest, but I doubt it will go all that way. The live performance is strong but reflects the distance and coldness of the lyrics, and perhaps a large enough portion of the audience won't get it or will feel rejected in turn.

Qualifier:
Yes. This is the first song of the first semi where I feel fully confident that this is a sure qualifier. And then my guess is that Estonia will have its first top five showing since Tallinn 2002.

Grade: 4/5



Stig Rästa & Elina Born - Goodbye To Yesterday (Estonia 2015)