Estonia ESTONIA 2022 - Stefan - Hope

[escYOUnited]

We let them tell us what to do
Why why why
We live to die for worthy things
Oh ya ya ya

We promised we would never lose our pride
Your word's worth nothing if you lie
We're standing tall and looking up, our Father would be proud
And I'm happy to be working my own ground

We'll be the last ones breathing here

Hey, sing your heart out boy
For all the people great and small
Oh, when all else is lost
The future still remains our own

We're taught that we were born to lose
But why why why
Don't waste your breath, it's time to choose
Oh ya ya ya

We promised we would never lose our pride
Your word's worth nothing if you lie
We're standing tall and looking up, our Father would be proud
And I'm happy to be working my own ground

I said
Hey, sing your heart out boy
For all the people great and small
Oh, when all else is lost
The future still remains our own

I hope

We let them tell us what to do
Why why why
We live to die for worthy things
Oh ya ya ya

No matter what they try, tearing up our lives
I know we will always rise

I said
Hey, sing your heart out boy
For all the people great and small
Oh, when all else is lost
The future still remains our own

I hope

The future still remains our own

I hope
​

 

[henhu]

Maybe I'm in minority but I liked these cowboys hopefully they won't change it for worse. And I'm sure they planned to use that LED side of the sun

 

[laululind]

Maybe I'm in minority but I liked these cowboys hopefully they won't change it for worse. And I'm sure they planned to use that LED side of the sun

I didn't really hate the cowboys either, tho' they were kind of random and slightly pointless. And I can see how they'd be too 'on the nose' for many people/juries. Hopefully whatever they have planned instead (and whatever they can actually do on the wonky stage) will still be nice. I'd like to think the song is strong enough to qualify even with underwhelming staging, but it could certainly influence the end result. Would be a shame if we had something cool planned (Jaagup being on board and all) but the broken stage nonsense means they have to throw together some half-assed replacement on the fly that ends up looking sub-par. We can only speculate at this point tho', so I'm definitely curious to get some interviews from Tomi & co. Oh well, not long until we find out what they've got planned/managed to cobble together.

 

[martin]

I didn't really hate the cowboys either, tho' they were kind of random and slightly pointless. And I can see how they'd be too 'on the nose' for many people/juries. Hopefully whatever they have planned instead (and whatever they can actually do on the wonky stage) will still be nice. I'd like to think the song is strong enough to qualify even with underwhelming staging, but it could certainly influence the end result. Would be a shame if we had something cool planned (Jaagup being on board and all) but the broken stage nonsense means they have to throw together some half-assed replacement on the fly that ends up looking sub-par. We can only speculate at this point tho', so I'm definitely curious to get some interviews from Tomi & co. Oh well, not long until we find out what they've got planned/managed to cobble together.

Good luck i hope it going to be amazing. This songs is one of the best ever in eurovision if you ask me.

Good to see the Cowboy is gone. Everything other in you national final was AMAZING

 

[laululind]

Well, as expected the black void covering up most of our background looks ugly AF. One can only hope it looks better on camera, but given the rest of the 'quality' we've seen so far, I'll believe they can pull off good camerawork when I see it. Guess we'd be best off having the staging be 95% closeups of Stefan's face, at least he's cute enough. Or have him lay on the floor the whole time, if the floor LED works. Why couldn't the stage have been messed up last year, Uku was chanceless anyway. Now we have a potentially competitive song saddled with a wet fart of a staging, and probably not enough time to do anything about it other than micromanage a few camera shots. Lame.

 

[henhu]

I don't understand why did they decide to use blue colors and black outfit... Doesn't make sense at all to me

 

[Looren]

Looked great for me

 

[laululind]

Black outfit might have made sense to stand out against a bright desert backdrop, but now that we've got this giant black eyesore taking up most of the stage, they really should switch back to white. At this rate, you'll have to squint hard to find him whenever there's a long shot. As for the blue colors, I guess it's hard to say whether what they had planned with the backdrop looked nice or not.. now that most of it isn't visible. I hope they won't go overboard with Stefan running & jumping around on stage either, could end up looking kind of silly with him walking back and forth like he can't quite decide where he wants to be. We already had Laura and Koit randomly waltzing around the stage in 2017 and it looked silly then too. Of course there's probably not much else they can do at this point. I already miss the cheesy cowboys! At least there'd be something else to focus on other than broken graphics & Stefan aimlessly wandering around. Oh well, I suppose there's still some hope it might look decent by the end. Not looking very promising ATM tho'.

 

[ollibox]

Exactly. I'm starting to think that they should fly in the cowboys. Not just two of them, the whole squad, to hide this big black hole in the back

 

[hpp0]

I know that they mostly based the performance around the backdrop but I think that if they think of it a bit cleverly, the dead sun might be an advantage for Estonia. I saw a photo from the rehearsals that looked really good and I think that if they manage to do something with the colours or the amount of lights, they can make it seem like a rising sun maybe? I don't know how easy it is or not but they could also do something with the colours in the LED screen to make it look like that too.

Regardless I don't think they are totally screwed but I don't expect them to do as well in the semi as I originally thought. And I agree with the comments that a brighter outfit would definitely help.

 

[henhu]

Double post

 

[henhu]

 

[laululind]

Well, the second rehearsal clip was.. eh. Not the worst I guess, but clearly could be improved. Kind of messy, but at least they're trying different camera angles and stuff, it's going to come down to camerawork to make the empty dark stage look at all interesting. Wish they would blast some more lights out of the sun, since that's the only thing it's capable of. The closeups in front of it looked rather dark. Seems they'll be relying a lot on audience interaction.. hope we'll get a lively audience to sing along. Would be rather unfortunate if they cut to bored looking people sleeping in their seats. At least we're not the only ones to look meh/suffer from stage issues, a lot of the rehearsal clips have a rather amateur feel about them.

I think/hope the song itself & Stefan's decent vocals will be enough to get us to the final. There's not too much competition in the 'catchy polished pop song' category. Many songs that might appeal to televoters could suffer with juries and vice versa. Stefan could have a chance to at least be lower top 10 with both. But hard to really predict before seeing the whole thing on stage. And if we do make the final, where we end up is anybody's guess. Top 10 potential might be sabotaged by the staging, but maybe a midtable result? Anyway, making the final would be a win after this whole staging kerfuffle.

 

[midnightsun]

I don't understand why did they decide to use blue colors and black outfit... Doesn't make sense at all to me

I love the song and I HOPE it will qualify but it’s a tough field now with that staging. I‘d say Estonia is the only country that is really harmed by the sun issues and even less I don’t understand their choice of staging. Make it more red and orange and yellow to create a Western - country - dessert mood, why didn’t they use more lights on the black sun.

 

[spinachpie]

It's a really fun song and just wish the staging could have been more ... exciting.

 

[aef]

This song is so underrated! I'm currently listening to the official playlist and this song was one of the highlights tbh. I have a feeling he could become this years Keiino. It does sound like a potential winner imo. 12 points.

This was before the black sun issue Back then I also thought it could surprise a lot and be top 10 or even top 5.

 

[laululind]

According to rehearsal descriptions, they do use more 'desert colors' for parts of the song, but switch between that and blue. I guess I can see why they might want to change it up so it's not too samey, but it remains to be seen how well it works overall. Certainly makes the staging darker.

Overall feedback from people who saw the whole performance hasn't been too negative from what I've read, we haven't plummeted in the odds or anything, so I suppose there's hope yet it might not look too terrible. 99% of people watching Eurovision won't have any comparison moment with the Eesti Laul performance either. If they can get the camerawork down & use enough different angles so the black sun isn't constantly looming in the background, it could at least be serviceable. I'd like to hope subpar staging won't be enough to turn a potential top 10 song into a NQ, but I guess we'll have to see how it all comes together in the end. Maybe at least the juries will appreciate the 'simple' staging after the big props overload.

Hope they use these last few days & rehearsals to refine what they can. At least make the best of what we've got! Have Stefan practice his jumps too, don't want him falling on his ass on stage. It'll be a shame if this stage nonsense costs us a top 10 spot in the final, but eh, even getting there will still be a good result for us. I guess we'll know what chances we might have in the final (if any) after Thursday!

 

[ollibox]

Wanted to share this. Brings tears to my eyes....

STEFAN "Hope" - Live Acoustic Performance To Support Ukraine | Estonia ESC 2022

Estonian Eurovision singer for the contest happening in Turin this year, Stefan, performed his ESC 2022 entry "Hope" among other songs as about 30 000 people...

www.youtube.com

 

[laululind]

Well, big night tonight! Best of luck to Stefan!

Had a sneaky peek at his jury show performance, and eh.. I guess the staging is serviceable, but that's about it. It's not outright tragic I guess, so hopefully it won't cost us a spot in the final, but there's so much more they could have done with it IMO. Hard to say what their original staging would have looked like so I guess this will have to do in a pinch. But it is certainly kind of empty, dark and slightly random. Whether due to stage problems or just very unambitious ideas, it's a missed opportunity to elevate a good song. If we do make the final, it'll be mostly down to Stefan & the song, staging isn't really pulling much weight here.

I'm cautiously optimistic about our chances for tonight. Don't see why he couldn't at least be lower top 10 in both rankings. No guarantees for anything tho', I guess we'll find out soon enough. I'll be happy if we get to the final! Even if the end result won't be what it could have been, it'll be nice to be there. Maybe at least do better than Victor. But first things first, fingers crossed for tonight! Here's hoping Stefan's charm & catchy song can overcome any staging related hurdles.

 

[martin]

Well, big night tonight! Best of luck to Stefan!

Had a sneaky peek at his jury show performance, and eh.. I guess the staging is serviceable, but that's about it. It's not outright tragic I guess, so hopefully it won't cost us a spot in the final, but there's so much more they could have done with it IMO. Hard to say what their original staging would have looked like so I guess this will have to do in a pinch. But it is certainly kind of empty, dark and slightly random. Whether due to stage problems or just very unambitious ideas, it's a missed opportunity to elevate a good song. If we do make the final, it'll be mostly down to Stefan & the song, staging isn't really pulling much weight here.

I'm cautiously optimistic about our chances for tonight. Don't see why he couldn't at least be lower top 10 in both rankings. No guarantees for anything tho', I guess we'll find out soon enough. I'll be happy if we get to the final! Even if the end result won't be what it could have been, it'll be nice to be there. Maybe at least do better than Victor. But first things first, fingers crossed for tonight! Here's hoping Stefan's charm & catchy song can overcome any staging related hurdles.

I think he going to be fine. Nearly any songs is close to him songs and he get right after Macedonia and right before Romania. Is no other country song in the semifinal and not any songs i would call EDM other than Czech Republic. Also he should get good scores from UK, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Poland and Czech Republic. Also Romania, Belgium, Australia and Malta could give him points. I would not be shocked if he get points from some other country too

 

[laululind]

Yeah, I'm certainly more hopeful than I was last year with Uku. Would like to think the slightly lackluster staging won't be enough to sink what is a reasonably strong song & performance. I would feel more confident if we had awesome staging to top things off, but we rarely seem to get all the components right. At least among the song/vocals/staging trifecta, staging seems to me the least likely to have massive effect, unless it's really terrible. So fingers crossed people will like us enough!