Estonia: Alika with “Bridges” in Eurovision 2023!

After two Semi-Finals and a Grand Final, Eesti Laul 2023, the selection process for the next Estonian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, has just finished.

The big winner of the evening was Alika with the song “Bridges” , who will travel with the Estonian flag to Liverpool.

The Participants:
The presenters of the evening were Grete Kuld and Tõnis Niinemets, and the evening took place at Saku Suurhall in Tallinn.

In today’s Grand Final, twelve songs competed to represent Estonia in Liverpool.

1. Meelik – “Tuju”
2. Inger – “Awaiting You”
3. JANEK – “House of Glass”
4. Elysa – “Bad Philosophy”
5. m els – “So Good At What You Do”
6. Bedwetters – “Monsters”
7. Andreas – “Why Do You Love Me”
8. Alika – “Bridges”
9. Anett x Fredi – “You Need to Move On”
10. OLLIE – “Venom”
11. MIA – “Üks samm korraga”
12. Sissi – “Lighthouse”

The Show:

1. Meelik – “Tuju”

Meelik opened the final of Eesti Laul 2023. They are using a black and white effect for their performance until the third chorus. They have a well thought-out performance.

2. Inger – “Awaiting You”

Second on stage is Inger. He is on a round platform, sitting on a chair. He is very good on TV, but has slight vocal difficulties.

      3. JANEK – “House of Glass”

Janek will follow up Inger with a powerful ballad. His performance for the grand-final is simplistic unlike his semi-final one. There are multiple videos during his performance that show him in a room full of confetti. 

      4. Elysa – “Bad Philosophy”

Elysa was one of the two wildcards. She is accompanied by three dancers that were dressed in red and black. She will not be among the strong vocalists tonight.

5. m els – “So Good At What You Do”

The red colour continues to prevail in m els’ performance. She starts her performance from the front of the stage and ends up on a high platform. She’s a present performer and a good vocalist.

6. Bedwetters – “Monsters”

The first rock song of the final. The Bedwetters have an eccentric performance reminiscent of Winny Puhh. The crowd was going crazy.

7. Andreas – “Why Do You Love Me”

After Bedwetters’s bombastic performance, Andreas sings an ethereal ballad accompanied by a female dancer. Low lighting prevails. Not many changes from his semi-final performance.

8. Alika – “Bridges”

Alika is accompanied by a piano that has the illusion of being played on it’s own. She’s dressed in white. One of the best vocalists from this Eurovision season.

9. Anett x Fredi – “You Need to Move On”

Anett x Fredi are next, an atmospheric and well-staged performance that will get highly appreciated by the jurors.

10. OLLIE – “Venom”

The second rock entry of the night. The performance is very professional. Pink lighting predominates, and Ollie’s vocals are very good.

11. MIA – “Üks samm korraga”

Mia follows Ollie’s energetic performance. She sings in Estonian while wearing a silver jumpsuit. She is accompanied by a pianist and a dancing couple.

12. Sissi – “Lighthouse”

Sissi will close Eesti Laul 2023. She is dressed in white for her Eesti Laul performance. Manages to stand out on her own and gave Alika a run for her money.

The Results:

The winner will be selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, an international jury (50%) and public televote (50%) will determine the top three entries to proceed to the superfinal. The second round will be fully determined by the public televote.

The jury panel that will vote in the first round of the final consists of Alma (Finnish musician), Birgit Simal (Belgian TV producer), Kat Reinhert (Berklee College of Music professor), Lucas Gullbing (Swedish music producer), Deban Aderemi (British journalist, editor at Wiwibloggs), Matther Tryba (American music producer), Anja Roglić (Serbian TV producer, music editor at RTS), Joe Bennett (American musicologist), Tomi Saarinen (CEO of Live Nation Finland) and Yves Shifferele (Swiss Eurovision Head of Delegation).

The results of the juries were as follows:

These are the combined results

In the final round, the country’s representative emerged solely from the people at home.

The Super Final was contested by:

• Bedwetters – “Monsters”
• Alika – “Bridges”
• OLLIE – “Venom”

The final results:

1. Alika – “Bridges”
2. OLLIE – “Venom”
3. Bedwetters – “Monsters”

The winner of Eesti Laul is the one and only, Alika with the song “Bridges”

Estonia will participate in the first half of the second semi-final of Eurovision 2023, claiming one of the tickets leading to the grand final.

Will this year’s will bring Estonia to the final? Stay tuned to Eurovision Fun for all the news regarding Estonia’s participation in Eurovision 2023.

Photo source: Gea Kumpel / ERR