ESTONIA in the Eurovision Song Contest – Participation history

Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
Participating broadcaster
Participation summary
Appearances
First appearance
Language
National Selections National final
Internal selection
Hostings
Highest placement Top 5 FINAL SEMI-FINALS
Highest placement Top 10 FINAL SEMI-FINALS
Worst placement (Bottom) FINAL SEMI-FINALS
Times qualified – Qualifiying rate
Victories
Nul points (Nil points) FINAL SEMI-FINALS

Participation history

Note: Entries scored out signify where Estonia did not compete
Years

1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019 • 2020 • 2021 • 2022 • 2023 • 2024 •
Artists Janika Sillamaa • Silvi Vrait • Maarja-Liis Ilus and Ivo Linna (Maarja-Liis Ilus ja Ivo Linna) • Maarja • Koit Toome • Evelin Samuel and Camille (Evelin Samuel ja Camille Camille) • Ines • Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL (Tanel Padar & Dave Benton) • Sahlene • Ruffus • Neiokõsõ • Suntribe • Sandra • Gerli Padar • Kreisiraadio • Urban Symphony • Malcolm Lincoln (Malcolm Lincoln ja ManPower 4) • Getter Jaani • Ott Lepland • Birgit • Tanja • Elina Born and Stig Rästa (Elina Born ja Stig Rästa) • Jüri Pootsmann • Koit Toome and Laura (Koit Toome ja Laura) • Elina Nechayeva • Victor Crone • Uku Suviste • Uku Suviste • Stefan • Alika • 5MIINUST and Puuluup (5MIINUST ja Puuluup) •
Songs “Muretut meelt ja südametuld” • “Nagu merelaine” • “Kaelakee hääl” • “Keelatud maa” • “Mere lapsed” • “Diamond of Night” (Langevate tähede aeg) • “Once in a Lifetime” • “Everybody” • “Runaway” • “Eighties Coming Back” • “Tii” • “Let’s Get Loud” • “Through My Window” • “Partners in Crime” • “Leto svet” • “Rändajad” • “Siren” (Sireen) • “Rockefeller Street” • “Kuula” • “Et uus saaks alguse” • “Amazing” (Imeline) • “Goodbye to Yesterday” (Hüvasti eilsele) • “Play” • “Verona” • “La forza” (Jõud) • “Storm” (Torm) • “What Love Is” (Mis on armastus) • “The Lucky One” (See õnnelik) • “Hope” (Lootus) • “Bridges” (Sillad) • “(Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi” •
  • Emittente televisiva: ERR / ETV (Eesti Rahvusringhääling, Estonian Public Broadcasting / Eesti Televisioon, Estonian Television)
  • Processo di Selezione: Selezione Nazionale (Eurolaul 1994, 1996–2008 |  Eesti Laul 2009–2019) | Selezione Interna (-) 
  • Organizzazione concorso – Paese ospite: 1 (ESC Tallinn 2002)
  • Numero di partecipazioni: 25 (16 finali)
  • Lingue: Estonio (9), Inglese (13), Võro (1), Serbio / Tedesco / Finlandese (1)
  • Prima partecipazione: ESC Dublin 1994: Silvi Vrait | Nagu Merelaine
  • Miglior piazzamento: Top 5: FI: 1° (2001), 3° (2002), 4° (2000), 5° (1996) | SF: 3° (2009, 2015), 4° (2012), 5° (1993, 1996)
  • Miglior piazzamento Top 10: FI: 6° (1999, 2009, 2012), 7° (2015), 8° (1997) | SF: 9° (2011), 10° (2013)
  • Peggior piazzamento (Bottom): FI: 24° (1994, 2011) | SF: 22° (2007),  Ultimo posto – 18° (2016) 
  • Average place: 11,22
  • Qualificazioni per la Finale: 7 su 16 (dal 2004)
  • Numero di vittorie: 1 (ESC Copenhagen 2001: Tanel Padar, Dave Benton & 2XL | Everybody)
  • Nul points (Nil points): FI: 0 | SF: 0

Estonia made their debut in 1994, having waited an extra year because they weren’t one of the successful countries in the 1993 pre-Contest qualification round ‘Kvalifikacija za Millstreet’ (‘Qualification for Millstreet’).

Silvi Vrait was the first Estonian singer to represent her country, though the song “Nagu Merelaine” (‘Like A Seawave’) failed to make a splash with juries, finishing 24th in a field of 25.

In 2001, Estonia became the first former Eastern Bloc country to win the Eurovision Song Contest thanks to Tanel Padar, Dave Benton, 2XL and their party anthem “Everybody”.

Aruban-born Dave Benton also made history as the first Black participant to win the Contest.

Estonia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 29 times since making its debut in 1994. Its first appearance would have taken place in 1993 but a qualification round was installed for seven former Eastern Bloc countries hoping to make their debut in the contest, with Estonia failing to qualify. Estonia has won the contest once, in 2001. The current Estonian participant broadcaster in the contest is Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR).

Estonia’s first participation in 1994 was unsuccessful, finishing 24th (out of 25). Estonia went on to finish in the top eight in six out of seven contests (1996–2002), with “Kaelakee hääl” by Maarja-Liis Ilus and Ivo Linna fifth (1996), Maarja-Liis Ilus returning to finish eighth with “Keelatud maa” (1997), “Diamond of Night” by Evelin Samuel and Camille sixth (1999), and “Once in a Lifetime” by Ines fourth (2000), before “Everybody” by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton, and 2XL gave Estonia its first victory in 2001. With this, Estonia became the first of the new countries that joined Eurovision in the 1990s and won the contest. “Runaway” by Sahlene then finished third for the hosts in Tallinn in 2002.

Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Estonia has failed to reach the final on ten occasions and has reached the top ten five times, with “Rändajad” by Urban Symphony sixth (2009), “Kuula” by Ott Lepland sixth (2012), “Goodbye to Yesterday” by Elina Born and Stig Rästa seventh (2015), “La forza” by Elina Nechayeva eighth (2018), and “Bridges” by Alika eighth (2023). Estonia’s total of eleven top ten results is more than any other Baltic country.

History

[edit]

Eesti Televisioon (ETV) was a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 1 January 1993, thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest since then. It participated in the contest representing Estonia since its 39th edition in 1994. Since 2008, after a restructuring that led to the incorporation of ETV into the current Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) organisation, it is the latter who participates representing Estonia.

Estonia finished 24th (out of 25) on its debut in 1994 and was relegated from the following year’s contest. Estonia’s record at the contest was a successful one from 1996 to 2002, only failing once to make the top 10 (in 1998 when it ended up in 12th place). Maarja-Liis Ilus and Ivo Linna‘s fifth-place in 1996 was the first top five ranking for any country, formerly annexed by Soviet Union and therefore unable to participate. Ilus returned to finish eighth in 1997.

The country’s first win came in 2001, when Tanel Padar and Dave Benton, along with 2XL, sang “Everybody” and received 198 points, therefore making Estonia the first formerly USSR-annexed country to win the Contest. The 2002 contest was held in Estonia, in the capital city Tallinn, where Sahlene finished third for the hosts (tied with the UK).

From 2004 to 2008 Estonia failed to qualify to the finals, mostly receiving poor results – during that period its best entry was 11th place in the 2004 semi-final by Neiokõsõ with “Tii“, sung in the Võro language.

Despite news that Estonia might withdraw from the 2009 contest (set to be held in Moscow, Russia) due to the war in South Ossetia, Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) confirmed that due to public demand, Estonia would send an entry to Moscow.[1][2] After a new national final, Eesti Laul, was introduced to select the Estonian entry, the winner was Urban Symphony with “Rändajad“, which had beaten the televoting favourite, Laura, by the votes of a jury.[3][4]

At the second semi-final of the 2009 contest, Urban Symphony qualified Estonia to the final of the contest for the first time since 2003, receiving 115 points and placing 3rd. The group performed 15th in the final, where it received 129 points, placing 6th out of 25 competing entries as well as being the highest placing non-English language song at the 2009 competition.

In 2010, Estonia failed to qualify to the final, with the song “Siren” by Malcolm Lincoln.

In 2011, Estonia was represented by Getter Jaani with the song “Rockefeller Street”. She was the bookmakers’ pre-contest favorite for victory along with France. She qualified to the final but eventually placed 24th of 25 entries- tying Silvi Vrait’s 1994 result for Estonia’s worst placing in the contest final.

Since 2012, Estonia has achieved four more top ten results. Ott Lepland qualified Estonia to the final of the 2012 contest, with his song “Kuula“, ending up 4th in the second semi-final. In the final, he equalled Estonia’s result of 1999 and 2009, placing 6th. Elina Born and Stig Rästa finished seventh in 2015. Elina Nechayeva and Alika finished eighth in 2018 and 2023, respectively.

Participation overview

[edit]

Table key
1 First place
3 Third place
◁ Last place
X Entry selected but did not compete
† Upcoming event

Note: Edizione | # | Artista (i) | Canzone [Musica (m) / Texto (t)] | Lingua (Traduzione) | Punteggio | Posizione | Processo di Selezione

NOTES.

  1. a^ A qualifying round was held for new countries looking to make their debut at the 1993 contest. Estonia failed to progress from this round; entries which failed to progress have subsequently been discounted by the EBU and do not feature as part of the countries’ list of appearances.
  2. b^ The 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  3. c^ Conducted the Estonian entry at Kvalifikacija za Millstreet.

Photo gallery

Hostings

[edit]

Year Location Venue Presenters
2002 Tallinn Saku Suurhall Annely Peebo and Marko Matvere

[edit]

Conductors

[edit]

Year Conductor Notes Ref.
1993 Peeter Lilje [c]
1994 Urmas Lattikas
1996 Tarmo Leinatamm
1997
1998 Heiki Vahar

Heads of delegation

[edit]

Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU’s contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the performers, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others.[5]

Year Head of delegation Ref.
1997–2008 Juhan Paadam
[6]
2009–2015 Heidy Purga
[7]
2015–2018 Mart Normet
[8]
2019–2023 Tomi Rahula
[9]
2024– Riin Vann
[10]

Costume designers

[edit]

Year Costume designers Ref.
2013 Karolin Kuusik
[11]

Commentators and spokespersons

[edit]

Year Television commentator Radio commentator Russian commentator Spokesperson Ref.
1992 Ivo Linna and Olavi Pihlamägi [et] Unknown No broadcast Did not participate [12][13]
1993 Unknown [14]
1994 Vello Rand Marko Reikop (Raadio 2) Urve Tiidus
1995 Jüri Pihel No broadcast Did not participate
1996 Marko Reikop (Raadio 2) Annika Talvik
1997 Helene Tedre
1998 Reet Linna Urve Tiidus
1999 Marko Reikop Vello Rand (Raadio 2) Mart Sander
2000 Evelin Samuel
2001 Ilo-Mai Küttim (Elektra)
2002
2003 Ines
2004 Maarja-Liis Ilus
2005 Mart Juur (Raadio 2)
Andrus Kivirähk (Raadio 2)
2006 Evelin Samuel
2007 Laura Põldvere
2008 Sahlene
2009 Marko Reikop and Olav Osolin (final) Laura Põldvere
2010 Marko Reikop and Sven Lõhmus (final) Rolf Roosalu
2011 Marko Reikop Piret Järvis
2012 Ilja Ban, Dmitri Vinogradov and
Aleksandra Moorast (Raadio 4)		 Getter Jaani
2013 No broadcast Rolf Roosalu
2014 Lauri Pihlap
2015 Tanja
2016 Aleksandr Hobotov Daniel Levi Viinalass
2017 Aleksandr Hobotov and Julia Kalenda Jüri Pootsmann
2018 Ott Evestus
2019 No broadcast Kelly Sildaru
2021 Sissi Benita
[15][16]
2022 Tanel Padar
2023 Ragnar Klavan
[17][18]
2024 Birgit Sarrap
[19][20]

Estonia’s average distribution of the given points (2010-2016)

# 2010 2010 SF1 2011 2011 SF2 2012 2012 SF2 2013 2013 SF1 2014 2014 SF1 2015 2015 SF1 2016 2016 * 2016 SF1 2016 SF1 * Total Partici-
pations		 Average
1 Sweden X X 12 12 12 12 1 X 10 7 10 X 12 10 X X 98 10 9,80
2 Russia 10 12 5 X 8 X 12 10 1 1 12 8 12 1 12 104 14 7,43
3 Netherlands X X X X 7 7 7 12 12 X 5 6 12 8 76 11 6,91
4 Latvia X 6 X 8 X X X X X 6 6 X 8 7 X X 41 6 6,83
5 Denmark 5 X 10 10 2 X 8 12 X X 7 X X X X 54 8 6,75
6 Australia X X X X X X X X X X 5 X 10 4 X X 19 3 6,33
7 Ukraine X 7 1 5 10 6 8 10 X X 7 8 X X 62 11 5,64
8 Finland X 10 7 X X X X 6 X X 4 X X 7 34 7 4,86
9 Hungary X X X X 4 X 7 8 8 12 5 5 49 11 4,45
10 Norway 7 X X X 8 3 X 3 X 4 X X X X X 25 6 4,17
11 Belgium 3 8 X 1 X X 2 8 X 7 10 X X 39 10 3,90
12 Lithuania X X X 3 10 4 X X 2 X 5 5 X X 29 8 3,63
13 Iceland 4 7 X 6 X 6 X 2 X X X X 4 3 32 9 3,56
14 Cyprus X X X X 2 X X X 4 3 10 6 25 9 2,78
15 Germany 12 X X 10 X X X X X X 22 8 2,75
16 Georgia 8 X 3 X X 4 X X X 1 6 X X 22 8 2,75
17 Turkey 6 X X X 2 X X X X X X X X X X 8 3 2,67
18 Malta X 3 X X 3 5 X X X X 2 8 2 23 9 2,56
19 Austria X X 2 X X X 1 4 X X 6 10 23 9 2,56
20 Italy X X 6 X 7 X X X 3 X X X 16 7 2,29
21 Slovakia X X X 6 X X X X X X X X X X 6 3 2,00
22 San Marino X X X X X X X X 3 X X X X 4 7 4 1,75
23 Azerbaijan X 8 X X X 4 X 7 19 11 1,73
24 Ireland 2 X 3 X 5 X X X X X X X X 10 6 1,67
25 Czech Republic X X X X X X X X X X X X 6 6 4 1,50
26 Armenia X X X X X X 5 5 2 1 13 10 1,30
27 Portugal 5 X X X X X X X X X X X X 5 4 1,25
28 Romania X 1 6 X X X 3 X X X X 10 8 1,25
29 Spain X 4 X 4 X X 2 X X X X 10 8 1,25
30 Slovenia X X 2 5 X X X X X X X X 7 6 1,17
31 Belarus 4 X 4 X X X X X X X 8 8 1,00
32 United Kingdom X X 5 X X X X 3 X X 8 8 1,00
33 France 1 X X X X X X 1 2 X X 4 8 0,50
34 Croatia X X X X X X X X X X 3 3 6 0,50
35 North Macedonia X X X X X X X 2 X X X X 2 5 0,40
36 Greece 2 X X X X 1 X X 3 10 0,30
37 Moldova X 3 X X X X 3 11 0,27
38 Poland X X X X X X X X X 1 X X 1 5 0,20
39 Serbia 1 X 1 X X X X X 2 10 0,20

Estonia’s average distribution of the received points (2010-2016)

# Country 2010 2010 SF1 2011 2011 SF2 2012 2012 SF2 2013 2013 SF1 2014 2014 SF1 2015 2015 SF1 2016 2016 * 2016 SF1 2016 SF1 * Total Partici-
pations		 Average
1 SK Slovakia 10 10 X X X X X X X X X X X 20 4 5,00
2 LV Latvia 12 4 8 8 X 10 X 10 6 X X X X 46 11 4,18
3 FI Finland 12 7 X 10 X 6 X X 10 8 1 12 X 54 14 3,86
4 LT Lithuania X 7 X 8 8 3 4 X 8 X X X X 38 11 3,45
5 PT Portugal 4 X 7 12 X X 1 X X X X X X 20 6 3,33
6 IE Ireland X 7 10 8 X 8 X X X X X 33 11 3,00
7 SE Sweden X 6 8 12 6 5 3 X X 40 17 2,35
8 BY Belarus 1 1 4 4 5 X 7 8 X X X 29 13 2,23
9 NO Norway X 2 X 7 8 X X 3 X X X X 20 10 2,00
10 RU Russia X 6 X 5 7 10 2 X 30 16 1,88
11 FR France 4 10 10 X 4 4 X 32 17 1,88
12 NL Netherlands X 7 8 4 4 8 X 31 18 1,72
13 AT Austria X 5 X 3 X 6 10 1 X 25 16 1,56
14 DK Denmark X 2 3 X 1 6 8 X X X 20 13 1,54
15 ES Spain X 6 X X 2 3 12 X 23 15 1,53
16 GB United Kingdom X X 4 7 4 X X X X X 15 11 1,36
17 AU Australia X X X X X X X X X 3 5 X X X 8 6 1,33
18 IL Israel X 5 5 X X X 3 X X X X 13 10 1,30
19 UA Ukraine X 2 8 1 3 1 X X X X X 15 12 1,25
20 BE Belgium 2 6 X 1 2 5 X X X 16 13 1,23
21 DE Germany 4 7 X X 2 X X X X 13 11 1,18
22 IS Iceland 2 X 10 X X 5 1 X X 16 14 1,14
23 GE Georgia X X 7 X X 2 3 X X X 12 11 1,09
24 MD Moldova 6 2 X 5 2 2 1 X 18 17 1,06
25 HU Hungary X X X X 7 8 X 15 15 1,00
26 AZ Azerbaijan X X X X 5 4 X 1 2 X 12 14 0,86
27 BG Bulgaria X 4 3 X X X X X X X X 7 9 0,78
28 AM Armenia X X X X X 5 4 X 9 14 0,64
29 IT Italy X X 5 X 2 X X X X 7 11 0,64
30 MT Malta X X X 3 X 2 X 5 14 0,36
31 RS Serbia X X X 2 2 X X X 4 11 0,36
32 AL Albania 1 X X X 4 X X X 4 11 0,36
33 MK North Macedonia X X 2 2 X X X 4 12 0,33
34 PL Poland 5 X X X X X X 2 X X X X 2 7 0,29
35 RO Romania X X X X 2 X X X X X 2 7 0,29
36 GR Greece 1 X X X X 4 X 4 14 0,29
37 CY Cyprus X X X X 2 X X 2 14 0,14
38 SI Slovenia X 1 X X X X X 1 12 0,08
39 ME Montenegro X X X X 1 X X 1 14 0,07

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