Estonia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Goodbye to Yesterday" written by Stig Rästa. The song was performed by Elina Born and Stig Rästa. The Estonian broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) organised the national final Eesti Laul 2015 in order to select the Estonian entry for the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. The national final consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. Ten songs competed in each semi-final and the top five from each semi-final as determined by a jury panel and public vote qualified to the final. In the final, the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a jury panel and a public vote selected the top three to qualify to the superfinal. In the superfinal, "Goodbye to Yesterday" performed by Elina Born and Stig Rästa was selected as the winner entirely by a public vote.
Estonia was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 19 May 2015. Performing during the show in position 7, "Goodbye to Yesterday" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 23 May. It was later revealed that Estonia placed third out of the 16 participating countries in the semi-final with 105 points. In the final, Estonia performed in position 4 and placed seventh out of the 27 participating countries, scoring 106 points.
Background
Prior to the 2015 contest, Estonia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty times since its first entry in , winning the contest on one occasion in 2001 with the song "Everybody" performed by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the , Estonia has, to this point, managed to qualify to the final on four occasions. In 2014, "Amazing" performed by Tanja failed to qualify Estonia to the final where the song placed twelfth in the semi-final.
The Estonian national broadcaster, Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR), broadcasts the event within Estonia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. ERR confirmed Estonia's participation at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest on 26 May 2014. Since their debut, the Estonian broadcaster has organised national finals that feature a competition among multiple artists and songs in order to select Estonia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The Eesti Laul competition has been organised since 2009 in order to select Estonia's entry and on 17 September 2014, ERR announced the organisation of Eesti Laul 2015 in order to select the nation's 2015 entry.
Before Eurovision Eesti Laul 2015 Eesti Laul 2015 was the seventh edition of the Estonian national selection Eesti Laul, which selected Estonia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. The competition consisted of twenty entries competing in two semi-finals on 7 and 14 February 2015 leading to a ten-song final on 21 February 2015. All three shows were broadcast on Eesti Televisioon (ETV) with commentary by Mart Juur and Peeter Oja as well as streamed online at the broadcaster's official website err.ee. The final was also broadcast via radio on Raadio 2 as well as streamed online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.
Format The format of the competition included two semi-finals on 13 and 20 February 2016 and a final on 5 March 2016. Ten songs competed in each semi-final and the top five from each semi-final qualified to complete the ten song lineup in the final. The results of the semi-finals was determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a professional jury and public televoting. The winning song in the final was selected over two rounds of voting: the first round results selected the top three songs via the 50/50 combination of jury and public voting, while the second round (superfinal) determined the winner solely by public televoting. In addition to winning the right to represent Estonia at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest, the winning songwriters were also awarded a monetary prize of €3,000 by the Estonian Authors' Society. The Estonian Performers Association also awarded monetary prizes to the top three entries: the winner and second placed entry each received €1,000 and the third placed entry received €500.
Competing entries On 17 September 2014, ERR opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries up until 1 December 2014. All artists and composers were required to have Estonian citizenship or be a permanent resident of Estonia and each artist and songwriter was only able to submit a maximum of three entries. A record 219 submissions were received by the deadline—breaking the previous record of 189, set during the 2014 edition. An 11-member jury panel selected 20 semi-finalists from the submissions and the selected songs were announced during the ETV entertainment program Ringvaade on 4 December 2014. The selection jury consisted of Erik Morna (Raadio 2 head of music), Toomas Puna (Raadio Sky+ program director), Owe Petersell (Raadio Elmar chief editor), Siim Nestor (music critic), Kaupo Karelson (television producer), Valner Valme (music critic), Lenna Kuurmaa (singer), Ago Teppand (musician and producer), Anne Veski (singer), Ingrid Kohtla (Tallinn Music Week organiser) and Mingo Rajandi (musician).
Among the competing artists was previous Eurovision Song Contest entrant Robin Juhkental, who represented Estonia in 2010 as part of the group Malcolm Lincoln together with Manpower 4. Airi Vipulkumar Kansar, Elina Born, Liis Lemsalu, Luisa Värk, Maia Vahtramäe, NimmerSchmidt, Stig Rästa and Wilhelm have all competed in previous editions of Eesti Laul. Artist Song Songwriter(s) Airi Vipulkumar Kansar "Saatuse laul" Urmas Kõiv, Anneli Kõiv Bluestocking "Kordumatu" Maria Soikonen The Blurry Lane "Exceptional" Kristina Bianca Rantala Daniel Levi "Burning Lights" Daniel Levi Viinalass Demie feat. Janice "Kuum" Raimo Ugast, Jaanika Merelaht Elephants From Neptune "Unriddle Me" Jon-Arnold Mikiver, Robert Linna, Rain Joona, Markko Reinberg Elina Born and Stig Rästa "Goodbye to Yesterday" Stig Rästa Elisa Kolk "Superlove" Vahur Valgmaa Kali Briis Band "Idiot" Alan Olonen Karl-Erik Taukar "Päev korraga" Karl-Erik Taukar, Mark-Eric Kammiste, Fred Krieger Kruuv "Tiiu talu tütreke" Allan Kasuk Liis Lemsalu and Egert Milder "Hold On" Liis Lemsalu, Madis Lett, Egert Milder, Henri Kuusk, Rob Montes Luisa Värk "Minu päike" Mikk Tammepõld, Luisa Värk Maia Vahtramäe "Üle vesihalli taeva" Olav Osolin Mari "Kolm päeva tagasi" Mariliis Jõgeva Miina "Kohvitassi lugu" Miina Rikka NimmerSchmidt "Kellega ma tutvusin?" Fredy Schmidt, Andero Nimmer Robin Juhkental and the Big Bangers "Troubles" Robin Juhkental, The Big Bangers Triin Niitoja and John4 "This Is Our Choice" Jaanus Saago, Triin Niitoja Wilhelm "Light Up Your Mind" Anett Kulbin, Paul Neitsov, Jorven Viilik
Shows
Semi-finals The two semi-finals took place on 7 and 14 February 2015, hosted by Helen Sürje and Indrek Vaheoja. The live portion of the shows were held at the ERR studios in Tallinn where the artists awaited the results while their performances, which were filmed earlier at the ERR studios on 30 January and 1 February 2015, were screened. In each semi-final ten songs competed for five spots in the final with the outcome decided upon by the combination of the votes from a jury panel and a public televote which registered 18,507 votes in the first semi-final and 38,094 votes in the second semi-final. The jury panel that voted in the semi-finals consisted of Owe Petersell, Mare Väljataga, Alar Kotkas, Peedu Kass, Erik Morna, Marie Vaigla, Valner Valme, Grete Paia, Koit Toome, Sander Mölder and Anneliis Kits.
+ Semi-final 1 – 7 February 2015 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points Votes Points 1 Karl-Erik Taukar "Päev korraga" 59 6 1,522 6 12 6 2 Miina "Kohvitassi lugu" 44 3 719 1 4 10 3 The Blurry Lane "Exceptional" 48 4 2,657 9 13 3 4 Liis Lemsalu and Egert Milder "Hold On" 81 7 1,115 2 9 7 5 Airi Vipulkumar Kansar "Saatuse laul" 37 2 1,186 3 5 9 6 Maia Vahtramäe "Üle vesihalli taeva" 53 5 2,444 8 13 4 7 Robin Juhkental and the Big Bangers "Troubles" 81 8 1,377 5 13 5 8 Elephants From Neptune "Unriddle Me" 100 10 1,207 4 14 2 9 Elisa Kolk "Superlove" 82 9 4,263 10 19 1 10 Bluestocking "Kordumatu" 20 1 2,017 7 8 8
+ Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total 1 "Päev korraga" 3 3 7 7 4 6 1 7 9 7 5 59 2 "Kohvitassi lugu" 7 6 1 5 2 5 3 3 3 5 4 44 3 "Exceptional" 4 8 6 4 1 3 4 4 5 3 6 48 4 "Hold On" 10 5 8 9 5 7 5 8 7 10 7 81 5 "Saatuse laul" 2 2 5 3 3 8 6 2 2 2 2 37 6 "Üle vesihalli taeva" 6 4 3 6 7 2 8 6 4 4 3 53 7 "Troubles" 5 10 4 8 6 9 10 5 6 9 9 81 8 "Unriddle Me" 8 7 10 10 10 10 9 10 8 8 10 100 9 "Superlove" 9 9 9 2 9 4 7 9 10 6 8 82 10 "Kordumatu" 1 1 2 1 8 1 2 1 1 1 1 20
+ Semi-final 2 – 14 February 2015 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points Votes Points 1 Wilhelm "Light Up Your Mind" 75 8 766 1 9 8 2 Kruuv "Tiiu talu tütreke" 38 2 1,601 7 9 6 3 Demie feat. Janice "Kuum" 42 3 851 2 5 10 4 NimmerSchmidt "Kellega ma tutvusin?" 63 6 980 3 9 7 5 Elina Born and Stig Rästa "Goodbye to Yesterday" 99 10 23,966 10 20 1 6 Daniel Levi "Burning Lights" 75 7 3,524 9 16 2 7 Triin Niitoja and John4 "This is Our Choice" 60 5 2,240 8 13 3 8 Kali Briis Band "Idiot" 76 9 1,174 4 13 4 9 Luisa Värk "Minu päike" 43 4 1,572 6 10 5 10 Mari "Kolm päeva tagasi" 34 1 1,420 5 6 9
+ Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total 1 "Light Up Your Mind" 8 6 9 8 2 10 2 10 6 6 8 75 2 "Tiiu talu tütreke" 1 2 1 2 1 6 5 5 5 7 3 38 3 "Kuum" 4 3 2 1 10 1 8 1 8 2 2 42 4 "Kellega ma tutvusin?" 2 4 3 7 8 9 6 3 4 8 9 63 5 Goodbye to Yesterday" 10 9 8 10 9 8 9 9 10 10 7 99 6 "Burning Lights" 3 10 10 5 6 7 7 8 9 4 6 75 7 "This is Our Choice" 7 5 7 6 5 4 3 7 7 5 4 60 8 "Idiot" 9 8 4 9 7 5 10 4 1 9 10 76 9 "Minu päike" 6 7 6 3 4 2 1 6 2 1 5 43 10 "Kolm päeva tagasi" 5 1 5 4 3 3 4 2 3 3 1 34
Final The final took place on 21 February 2015 at the Nordea Concert Hall in Tallinn, hosted by Marko Reikop and Henrik Kalmet. The five entries that qualified from each of the two preceding semi-finals, all together ten songs, competed during the show. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a jury (50%) and public televote (50%) determined the top three entries to proceed to the superfinal. The public vote in the first round registered 76,087 votes. In the superfinal, "Goodbye to Yesterday" performed by Elina Born and Stig Rästa was selected as the winner entirely by a public televote. The public televote in the superfinal registered 90,417 votes. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, rapper Suur Papa, the band Junk Riot and the Tartu Rock and Pop Institute performed as the interval acts. The jury panel that voted in the first round of the final consisted of Genka (musician), Eda-Ines Etti (singer), Ingrid Kohtla (Tallinn Music Week organiser), Kristjan Hirmo (DJ), Els Himma (singer), Priit Hõbemägi (culture critic), Koit Raudsepp (Raadio 2 presenter), Iiris Vesik (singer), Reigo Ahven (drummer), Kristjan Randalu (pianist and composer) and Tanja (musician and choreographer).