Estonia: Eurovision judge rejected from Eesti Laul 2024 due to Israeli citizenship!

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A scandal has apparently been created in the Estonian media after an experienced judge been rejected by the jury of Eesti Laul 2024!

More specifically, Alon Amir had received an accepted an invitation to be a member of the Eesti Laul 2024 judging panel, but he was informed ten days before the competition that he had been excluded due to his Israeli citizenship. More specifically, he was informed by phone about the channel’s decision while the Estonian media is making a reason for exercising a veto on anything related to the state of Israel in this sensitive period, since the channel did not want any negative criticism.

Amir, who has been the spokesperson of Israel in 2009, 2012, 2013 και 2016 and also a judge at many national finals, stated:

“It was done not in a malicious way… I understand them. If they bring an Israeli judge, it will cause a mess.

When I received the invitation, I thought to myself that they were very brave to invite an Israeli at a time like this… The lovely production team wanted me, but the Estonian TV management vetoed it because it would bring unwanted attention in their direction. I understand them. I’m upset on a personal level, but I understand the desire to avoid it.”

Surely, Eurovision 2024 is already a controversial year with Israel being among the countries who are participating in the contest.

Stay tuned in EurovisionFun for all the latest updates of Eurovision 2024!

Source: jpost

Estonia: Eurovisionfun React To Estonia ESC 2024 Entry!

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Eesti Laul 2024, the process through which Estonia selects its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, has just ended!

The big winners of the night are 5miinust ja Puuluup with the song “(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) meda“, and they will be waving the Estonian flag in Malmö.

The Eurovisionfun team once again watched and reacted to the live performance of the country’s entry for the upcoming Eurovision contest! Enjoy Apostolis, Lena and Filippos in a Reaction video with detailed commentary on Εstonia’s participation in Eurovision 2024!

Do you like Estonia’s entry for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest? Tell us in the comments below!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the latest news about the Eurovision Song Contest!

Estonia: Changes in the lyrics of the entry!

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Khover, a member of 5miinust, one of the two acts that are going to represent Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden, gave an interview to the show “Hommik!” of R2 where he shared his impressions after their victory in Eesti Laul 2024 as well as that there should be a change in the lyrics of the entry before the Competition. The goal of this year’s participation, according to Khover, is to finish in the first half of the scoreboard, in the Eurovision final.

“On Saturday we started in such a way that we had two perfectly acceptable scenarios, either fourth or first place. Fourth place would be a big failure and a disaster on a personal level. Magnus Müürsepp, who was supervising us, said that if you lose, all the cameras will be on you, then no one will talk to the winner, so you have to be polite, and I said that I don’t sell my principles for a penny. My mother was also afraid that I couldn’t lose.”

Then Khover, regarding the lyrics, said that they should proceed with the removal of the word Lay’s, the well-known snack brand, as according to EBU regulations lyrics containing brands are not allowed.

In addition, Khover also highlights the points of Estonian participation that need attention. One concerns Pääkoer, a member of the band 5miinust, who has a problem with the rhythm and has therefore acquired a Klick Track device. The other point concerns the verse “Ujee!”

In the end Khover added:

“The plan is to reach the top half of the table in the Eurovision final. The main thing is not to win, second place would be ideal. We’ve got a decent Backstreet Boys-esque song, something that suits everyone’s music taste.”

Estonia will be represented at the upcoming competition in Malmö, Sweden by the bands 5miinust and Puuluup with the song “(Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) meda”. In the first phase Estonia will compete in the second half of the second semi-final on Thursday 9 May, claiming one of the ten tickets to the grand final.

https://youtu.be/htPAhtVgKsI

Source: ERR

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the updates around the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest!

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Estonia: 5miinust ja Puuluup with the song “(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) meda” will be waving Estonian flag in Malmö!

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Eesti Laul 2024, the process through which Estonia selects its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, has just ended!

The big winners of the night are 5miinust ja Puuluup with the song “(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) meda“, and they will be waving the Estonian flag in Malmö.

 

The show was hosted by Greta Kuld and Tõnis Niinemets.

Eesti Laul 2024

                                Eesti Laul 2024

This was the running order of the show:

  1. Βrother Apollo – “Bad Boy” 
  2. Carlos Ukareda – “Never Growing Up”
  3. Ewert and The Two Dragons – “Hold Me Now”
  4. Anet Vaikmaa – “Serotoniin” 
  5. Ollie – “My Friend”
  6. Daniel Levi – “Over The Moon”
  7. Uudo Sepp, Sarah Murray – “Still love” 
  8. Peter Põder – “Korra veel”
  9. 5miinust ja Puuluup – “(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi”
  10. Nele-Liss Vaiksoo – “Kate Umber Jaa”

Results

The selection process consists of two rounds. In the first round, the audience and committees (50-50) were granted the opportunity to decide which three songs would qualify for the Super Final.

These were the results of the jury voting:

Eesti Laul 2024 - Jury Votes

In the Super Final, only the audience could vote:.

The final results of the Super Final were as follows:

  1. 5miinust ja Puuluup – “(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi”
  2. Ollie – “My Friend”
  3. Nele-Liss Vaiksoo – “Kate Umber Jaa”

The winners of Eesti Laul 2024 are 5miinust ja Puuluup with the song “(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) nothing”.

 

Estonia will perform in the second half of the Second Semi-Final of Eurovision 2024.

Will 5miinust ja Puuluup bring Estonia to the Final this year? Tell us in the comments!

Stay tuned to Eurovision Fun for all the developments regarding the Estonian participation in Eurovision 2024.

 

Estonia: Tonight Wraps Up Eesti Laul 2024!

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Estonia is set to choose its representative for the Eurovision Song Contest as the Eesti Laul 2024 concludes officially tonight. For yet another year, the Baltic country will utilize Eesti Laul as the method to select its Estonian ambassador to the Eurovision Song Contest.

Format

For another year, the leaders of Estonian public television have decided to make changes to the format of Eesti Laul. Thus, this year’s edition of the Estonian national final will take place over just two nights, the semi-final and the grand final.

In the semi-final of Eesti Laul 2024, 15 singers participated, of which five advanced to the grand final on February 17th. The 5 artists who qualified from the semi-final of the Estonian process will compete alongside another five artists who have already qualified directly for the grand final of this year’s Eesti Laul.

Nevertheless, the voting format remains unchanged for Eesti Laul. Thus, the final will feature two rounds of voting. In the first round of voting, both the audience and the jury jointly decide, with half the weight given to the results from which the first finalists for the grand final will emerge. In the second round, the Estonian public alone has the first and final say, deciding which song will win this year’s Eesti Laul.

Final

Ten artists will compete tonight in the grand final of Eesti Laul 2024. These artists are:

  1. Βrother Apollo – “Bad Boy” 
  2. Carlos Ukareda – “Never Growing Up”
  3. Ewert and The Two Dragons – “Hold Me Now”
  4. Anet Vaikmaa – “Serotoniin” 
  5. Ollie – “My Friend”
  6. Daniel Levi – “Over The Moon”
  7. Uudo Sepp, Sarah Murray – “Still love” 
  8. Peter Põder – “Korra veel”
  9. 5miinust ja Puuluup – “(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi”
  10. Nele-Liss Vaiksoo – “Kate Umber Jaa”

The hosts of this year’s edition of Eesti Laul 2024 will be Tõnis Niinemets and Grete Kuld.

Naturally, a national final wouldn’t be complete without guests. Thus, taking the stage at Eesti Laul will be the big names of Estonian pop music, Silvi Vrait and Lea Dali Lion. Additionally, for the first time at the Eesti Laul stage, rapper Arop will perform his brand new single, “A.I.A. (Forgive the Person).”

You can watch the final of Eesti Laul 2024 at 18:30 CET through the official website of Estonian public television by clicking HERE, or through the channel of our beloved contest on YouTube.

The winner of Eesti Laul 2023 and thus the representative of Estonia in Eurovision 2023 was Alika with her song “Bridges.” Alika finished in 8th place in the final rankings, marking her country’s best result in the competition since 2018.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments regarding Estonia’s participation in Eurovision 2024!

Estonia: Eesti Laul contestants reveal who would choose for Eurovision 2024!

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Over the past two weeks, participants who have qualified for the Eesti Laul 2024 final were invited to vote for their favorite song for the Estonian Final.

Specifically, they were asked which of their fellow competitors they would like to represent Estonia in Malmö, with the candidates answering:

  • Cartoon & Ewert Puuluup -> Ollie
  • Carlos Ukareda -> Daniel Levi
  • Nele-Liis Vaiksoo -> Daniel Levi
  • Anet Vaikmaa -> Ollie, 5miinust x Puuluup ή Daniel Levi
  • Daniel Levi -> 5miinust x Puuluup
  • Ewert & the 2 Dragons -> 5miinust x Puuluup
  • Uudo Sepp -> 5miinust x Puuluup
  • Brother Apollo -> Daniel Levi ή 5miinust x Puuluup
  • Peter Põder -> Nele-Liis Vaiksoo
  • Ollie -> Ollie
  • 5Miinust -> Cartoon & Ewert
  • Puuluup -> Ollie

We remind you that the running order of the ten artists who will compete in the grand final of Eesti Laul 2024 is as follows:

  1. Βrother Apollo – “Bad Boy” 
  2. Carlos Ukareda – “Never Growing Up”
  3. Ewert and The Two Dragons – “Hold Me Now”
  4. Anet Vaikmaa – “Serotoniin” 
  5. Ollie – “My Friend”
  6. Daniel Levi – “Over The Moon”
  7. Uudo Sepp, Sarah Murray – “Still love” 
  8. Peter Põder – “Korra veel”
  9. 5miinust ja Puuluup – “(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi”
  10. Nele-Liss Vaiksoo – “Kate Umber Jaa”

The Grand Final of Eesti Laul 2024 is going to takes place on this Saturday 17th of February at Tondiraba Ice Hall in Tallinn hosted by Tõnis Niinemets and Grete Kuld. There will be two rounds of voting. The first round will determine the three entries that will advance to the Super Final, which are determined by 50% of the jury and 50% of the televote. There the Estonian representative will be selected exclusively through televoting.

Last year in Liverpool Estonia was represented by Alika and her song Bridges finishing in the 8th place of the Grand Final marking the best result of this Baltic Nation since 2018!

Source: ERR

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the updates around the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest!

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Estonia: These are the guest artists of “Eesti Laul 2024”!

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On this Saturday, February the 17th, the National Final of Estonia will take place, through which the official entry for the country’s participation in Eurovision 2024 will be determined, of it is all about the famous “Eesti Laul 2024“.

It is important to note that this year Estonia celebrates its thirty (30) years of participation in Eurovision Song Contest, since its first entry back in 1994, by Silvi Vraid. Thus, the national Estonian broadcaster, ERR, just a few hours ago, announced a fully glamorous list of names and celebrities that are going to be present at the Grand Final.

This specific list of course includes the one and only Silvi Vraid, who represented Estonia in 1994 for the very first time with her song “Nagu Marelaine” and also the famous singer Lea Dali Lion. Furthermore, the famous metal band HND, rapper Gameboy Tetris, pop singer Eleryn Tiit, the drum duo Muteko Taiko and the dancers from Dance Republic Tantsukooli will also be present in order to entertain the audience and to celebrate also Vraid’s talent and contribution to the Estonian music scene.

 

Moreover, for the very first time, rapper Arop will perform his new single “A.I.A. (Anna Inimesele Andeks)”, which was recorded almost four years ago by Arop and the late Lea Dali Lion, who would have celebrated her 50th birthday.

 

Until then, let’s remember the running order of the ten (10) artists who are going to perform at Eesti Laul 2024:

  1. Brother Apollo – “Bad Boy“
  2. Carlos Ukareda – “Never Growing Up“
  3. Ewert and the Two Dragons – “Hold Me Now“
  4. Anet Vaikmaa – “Serotoniin“
  5. Ollie – “My Friend“
  6. Daniel Levi – “Over the Moon“
  7. Uudo Sepp, Sarah Murray – “Still Love“
  8. Peter Põder – “Korra Veel“
  9. 5miinust ja Puuluup – “(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi“
  10. Nele-Liss Vaiksoo – “Käte ümber Jää“

The Grand Final of “Eesti Laul 2024” will take place at Tondiraba Ice Hall in Tallinn, while the main hosts Tõnis Niinemets and Grete Kuld. There are going to be two voting rounds, while the first one is the one that is going to determine which entries will be qualified for the Super Final; the qualification will be determined by a split voting system among the public’s vote (50%) and jury’s vote (the rest 50%), while the winner will be determined by the public only.

Hence, only a few days separate us from finding out who is going to be Alika’s successor, who ended at the 8th place, singing her song “Bridges”.

Source: ERR

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun for even more news regarding Estonia’s entry in Eurovision Song Contest 2024!

Estonia: Eesti Laul 2024 final show line-up!

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A while ago, Estonian broadcaster ERR announced the line-up of the 10 artists who will compete in the final of Eesti Laul 2024!

Brother Apollo will open the curtain with the song “Bad Boy“, while Nele-Liss Vaiksoo will appear in the finale with the song “Kate Umber Jaa”.

The order of appearance of the final is as follows:

  1. Βrother Apollo – “Bad Boy” 
  2. Carlos Ukareda – “Never Growing Up”
  3. Ewert and The Two Dragons – “Hold Me Now”
  4. Anet Vaikmaa – “Serotoniin” 
  5. Ollie – “My Friend”
  6. Daniel Levi – “Over The Moon”
  7. Uudo Sepp, Sarah Murray – “Still love” 
  8. Peter Põder – “Korra veel”
  9. 5miinust ja Puuluup – “(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi”
  10. Nele-Liss Vaiksoo – “Kate Umber Jaa”

The Grand Final of Eesti Laul 2024 will be held on February 17 at Tondiraba Ice Hall in Tallinn hosted by Tõnis Niinemets and Grete Kuld. There will be two rounds of voting. The first round will determine the entries that will advance to the Super Final, which are determined by 50% of the jury and 50% of the televote. There the Estonian representative will be selected exclusively through televoting.

The winner of Eesti Laul 2023 and therefore Estonia’s representative at Eurovision 2023 was Alika with her song “Bridges“. Alika finished in 8th place in the final ranking, marking her country’s best result in the competition since 2018.

https://youtu.be/HsbC-OYMA3s?si=HTKRHu0xDb-fsvOv

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all developments regarding Estonia’s participation in Eurovision 2024!

Source:  ERR

Eurovision 2024: The Semi-Final Allocation Draw Results!

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Malmö with a very nice event hosted a few minutes ago the draw for the semi-finals of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest.

The analyzes of the fans and not only, have been on fire for a few minutes now. Since the theories based on the pre-history of the countries in the competition, it is a first insight into how passable the qualification to the final is or not. In other words, it’s time to make our predictions, about who will go through to the final and who are the favorites to say goodbye to Malmö early…

The presenters and the handover ceremony

Presenters of the Eurovision 2024 semi-final draw were Pernilla Månsson Colt and Farah Abadi. It is worth mentioning that Pernilla Månsson Colt was also the presenter of the corresponding draw in 2013, eleven years ago when Malmö hosted the Eurovision Song Contest for the last time. Both of them are part of the SVT staff, being some of the most beloved faces of the Swedish state broadcaster.

During the draw, the ceremony of handing over and accepting the emblem of the contest took place. The mayor of Liverpool, Steven Rotheram, formally handed over the “keys to the event” to the mayor of Malmö, Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh.

Draw Procedure

Big 5 and Sweden

With the big winner of last year’s competition, Sweden, directly in the final, along with the Big 5 (UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain), the first part of the draw determined the semi-final that the direct finalists would vote for.

Will vote in the 1st Semi-Final:

  • Sweden
  • United Kingdom
  • Germany

Will vote in the 2nd Semi-Final:

  • Spain
  • Italy
  • France

In the semi-final that the six aforementioned countries were drawn to broadcast and vote for, the video from their dress rehearsal will also be shown. This was done at Eurovision 2016 for the first time, for reasons of equal exposure of the countries directly in the final and the countries that qualify from the semi-finals. Essentially, viewers see each entry twice during the shows.

Semi-Final Allocation Draw

The allocation draw for the two semi-finals had two parts. In the first part the 31 countries participating in the semi-finals were drawn in which of the two they will compete in. Fifteen countries will compete in the first semi-final and sixteen in the second semi-final.

In the second part, each country learned whether it will appear in the first or second half of the semi-final in which it will compete. The exact order of appearance will be determined by the EBU and the show’s producers at a later date.

1st Semi-final (May 7):

1st Half

  • Ukraine
  • Cyprus
  • Poland
  • Serbia
  • Lithuania
  • Croatia
  • Ireland

2nd Half

  • Slovenia
  • Iceland
  • Finland
  • Portugal
  • Luxembourg
  • Australia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Moldova

2nd Semi-Final (May 9):

1st Half

  • Austria
  • Malta
  • Switzerland
  • Greece
  • Czechia
  • Albania
  • Denmark
  • Armenia

2nd Half

  • Israel
  • Estonia
  • Georgia
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Latvia
  • San Marino
  • Belgium

Malmö will host the 68th Eurovision Song Contest from 7 to 11 May at the Malmö Arena. The motto of this year’s event, as chosen by the organisers, is “United by Music“, retaining the motto first chosen for last year’s contest in Liverpool.

You can see the draw again through the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_-2hMEq5sk

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments regarding Eurovision 2024!

 

Eurovision 2024: Tonight the Allocation Draw!

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At 19:00 CET and live from Malmö, Sweden, the draw for the Eurovision 2024 semi-finals will take place tonight.

During today’s event, there will also be a handover of the event’s banner from the city of Liverpool to the city of Malmö. For this reason, both the Mayor of Liverpool, Steven Rotheram, and the Mayor of the Swedish city, Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh, will be present at today’s draw.

The hosts

The hosts of tonight’s draw for the semi-finals of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest will be Pernilla Månsson Colt and Farah Abadi. It is worth mentioning that Pernilla Månsson Colt was the presenter of the equivalent draw in 2013, eleven years ago when Malmö hosted the Eurovision Song Contest for the last time.

The draw procedure

The first part of the draw will determine which semi-final will be broadcast and voted for by each of the six countries that are directly in the final on 11 May (Sweden, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom).

The second part of the draw will determine which semi-final and which half the other 31 participating countries will compete in. As in recent years, the exact order of appearance will be determined by the event producers at a later date.

The 31 countries have been divided into five pots, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by Eurovision’s official voting partner, Digame.

Drawing countries from different pots aims to reduce the likelihood of so-called neighbour voting and increases the suspense in the semi-finals.

Pots

Pot 1
  • 🇦🇱 Albania
  • 🇦🇹 Austria
  • 🇨🇭 Switzerland
  • 🇭🇷 Croatia
  • 🇷🇸 Serbia
  • 🇸🇮 Slovenia
Pot 2
  • 🇦🇺 Australia
  • 🇩🇰 Denmark
  • 🇪🇪 Estonia
  • 🇫🇮 Finland
  • 🇮🇸 Iceland
  • 🇳🇴 Norway
Pot 3
  • 🇦🇲 Armenia
  • 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan
  • 🇬🇪 Georgia
  • 🇮🇱 Israel
  • 🇱🇻 Latvia
  • 🇱🇹 Lithuania
  • 🇺🇦 Ukraine
Pot 4
  • 🇨🇾 Cyprus
  • 🇬🇷 Greece
  • 🇮🇪 Ireland
  • 🇲🇹 Malta
  • 🇵🇹 Portugal
  • 🇸🇲 San Marino
Pot 5
  • 🇧🇪 Belgium
  • 🇨🇿 Czechia
  • 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
  • 🇳🇱 Netherlands
  • 🇲🇩 Moldova
  • 🇵🇱 Poland

https://twitter.com/Eurovision/status/1751972070479565001

So in the evening, we all tune in for the draw of the semi-finals of our favourite contest. You can watch the draw on the official Eurovision channel on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_-2hMEq5sk

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments regarding Eurovision 2024!