Estonia ESTONIA 2024 - 5miinust & Puuluup - (nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi

[ESC United Mod Team]

 

[Chalphon]

Any chance we get to see Elina Born again?

 

[lasse braun]

already posted at the 2023 thread but this song is a real grower for me.

 

[Chalphon]

already posted at the 2023 thread but this song is a real grower for me.

I really like her voice, but I prefer Bridges to be honest.

 

[lasse braun]

i wish desiree a more luck than in 2022 - her new song.

 

[estonia]

Would you like to see Laura in Eesti Laul/Eurovision with something along these lines?

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

Here Laura performed in a local new song competition.

I like the power, show and vocals here, but not the song. I'd love her to compete with something where she can put on a good energetic show, but with a song of a different kind.

 

[laululind]

Eh, surely we have other singers to pick than Laura for the umpteenth time. She'd have to have a really strong song for me to be team Laura, and even then, many of her previous live performances in Eesti Laul have been very mediocre. I wouldn't mind her taking part in Eesti Laul again, but have some big doubts she'd be a good choice for the win.

The whole Uus Laul show was rather mid IMO. If it had been an edition of Eesti Laul, it would've been a pretty weak one. Pološywa was probably the most interesting, wouldn't mind her taking part in Eesti Laul someday. Her song gave me some Seis vibes.

 

[Loindici]

I want to hear an entry in Estonian language again. It has been a long time (10 years!) since a song in Estonian represented the country.

 

[simori95]

I am hoping for an Egert Milder Comeback, I love his music.

 

[eerik]

No details yet, but ERR announced that Eesti Laul with continue with an updated format and a new team.

Without Tomi Rahula, good riddance!

 

[laululind]

Going to hold my celebrations until we actually see who the next HOD is and what they are going to change. Eesti Laul certainly has it's flaws and dud years, but things could always get worse.. Not like we have a guarantee the next HOD will be better than Rahula. So I won't be breaking out the champagne just yet. Here's hoping we'll get someone cool who knows about music and big TV shows, has passion for his (or her) job and actual good ideas! And keeps the things that work instead of going crazy with changes for change's sake. I guess I'm a bit of a pessimist, but I can think of so many ways for them to mess it up even more! So fingers crossed we'll get good and positive changes & fresh awesome ideas instead. Hope we get some more info soon, but probably going to be months until we do.

 

[outsynk]

Anet Vaikmaa could make her debut this year with a Sven Lõhmus song after coming 2nd at Uus Laul.

 

[EddySe]

Hi, Eurofans! I'm songwriter and big fan of ESC. My dream is to write a song that will sound from the Eurovision stage. Perhaps you know local artists who would like to take part in this competition. I would offer them a song to sing.

 

[eerik]

Going to hold my celebrations until we actually see who the next HOD is and what they are going to change. Eesti Laul certainly has it's flaws and dud years, but things could always get worse.. Not like we have a guarantee the next HOD will be better than Rahula. So I won't be breaking out the champagne just yet. Here's hoping we'll get someone cool who knows about music and big TV shows, has passion for his (or her) job and actual good ideas! And keeps the things that work instead of going crazy with changes for change's sake. I guess I'm a bit of a pessimist, but I can think of so many ways for them to mess it up even more! So fingers crossed we'll get good and positive changes & fresh awesome ideas instead. Hope we get some more info soon, but probably going to be months until we do.

Sure, I don't want to get too excited before the first edition of the new Eesti Laul actually arrives. I remember it all too well when Rahula first took over and how hopeful I was. He was my favourite out of the final 3 candidates that ERR revealed. I liked what he said in the interviews during that autumn. I agreed with the first changes he implemented by making the submissions cost a symbolic amount of money -- cutting down pre-jury work by eliminating complete garbage that was submitted just for shits and giggles; raising a bit of money for the budget, while also giving Estonian-language entries preferential treatment with lower fees. But that was about it. When Eesti Laul 2019 arrived, it was a big disappointment in the direction it had gone...

To be fair, I haven't really followed Eesti Laul in the past 4 years, so I do not have a complete overview of the current state of it. Looking from outside, it feels like "Pean saama Eurovisioonile, muidu suren" (I must get to the Eurovision or else I will die) comedy skits from 2010 have become reality. Those skits were produced as a response to the criticism the first two editions of Eesti Laul had received, about how it distanced itself from ESC and how some people wanted good old Eurolaul back. Remember when Kanal 2 hosted their own competition for all the Eesti Laul rejects because "Põgenen" by Koit Toome & Birgit Õigemeel, one of the dullest songs ever, was not selected? I remember... Well that is what the Eesti Laul of recent years has felt like to me.

I agree that the new direction doesn't automatically guarantee Eesti Laul will get better, I also don't think it could get any worse for me.

 

[laululind]

Sure, I don't want to get too excited before the first edition of the new Eesti Laul actually arrives. I remember it all too well when Rahula first took over and how hopeful I was. He was my favourite out of the final 3 candidates that ERR revealed. I liked what he said in the interviews during that autumn. I agreed with the first changes he implemented by making the submissions cost a symbolic amount of money -- cutting down pre-jury work by eliminating complete garbage that was submitted just for shits and giggles; raising a bit of money for the budget, while also giving Estonian-language entries preferential treatment with lower fees. But that was about it. When Eesti Laul 2019 arrived, it was a big disappointment in the direction it had gone...

To be fair, I haven't really followed Eesti Laul in the past 4 years, so I do not have a complete overview of the current state of it. Looking from outside, it feels like "Pean saama Eurovisioonile, muidu suren" (I must get to the Eurovision or else I will die) comedy skits from 2010 have become reality. Those skits were produced as a response to the criticism the first two editions of Eesti Laul had received, about how it distanced itself from ESC and how some people wanted good old Eurolaul back. Remember when Kanal 2 hosted their own competition for all the Eesti Laul rejects because "Põgenen" by Koit Toome & Birgit Õigemeel, one of the dullest songs ever, was not selected? I remember... Well that is what the Eesti Laul of recent years has felt like to me.

I agree that the new direction doesn't automatically guarantee Eesti Laul will get better, I also don't think it could get any worse for me.

Well, looking at some other NFs like Ireland or Denmark, I'd say things could definitely still get worse. I'd say 2019-2021 were very beige and underwhelming years, with maybe 1-2 interesting songs at best, but last two years have been an improvement. With less completely boring radio filler and some more interesting entries. But your mileage may vary of course. Anyone looking for the indie/alternative vibe early Eesti Laul had will still be disappointed I guess. But without hearing all the songs that are entered, it's hard to say whether such songs aren't picked or just not really entered anymore. Without Purga & co to invite such acts to take part personally & being active in that community. At least we've gotten some decent rock songs for variety. That Uus Laul show also had barely any indie songs, and mostly mid-tier unremarkable stuff and old familiar names from Eesti Laul. And having all the songs in Estonian didn't seem to raise the quality any. So maybe that's just what our music scene has to offer these days. But perhaps a new team and fresh ideas will encourage more indie artists to take part again & be selected.

I guess, for all his faults, Rahula had a pretty decent qualification record, with 3/4 songs making the final (no point counting 2020) & one top 10. Tho' I think that had more to do with luck than anything he personally did. But yeah, here's hoping the new team goes in the right direction! Personally I'd change the pre-selection process a little (back to picking top 20 rather than rating each song), lower the voting costs (would get voting numbers back up), get rid of the new extra pointless voting round from last year. Some might say lower the number of entries, but I don't trust the pre-selection juries enough for that. At least two semis seems fine, tho' I didn't even mind the quarter-finals myself. I also hope they don't go for any language rules, considering the Uus Laul example was a bit of a flop. If they're strapped for cash, maybe go back to semis being in studio? Tho' getting more 'big stage' experience is probably nice for the artists. I do wonder what else they might change. Direct invites for certain artists? Could lead to bigger names taking part, but could also lead to another Kreisiraadio. Changing the juries? Voting system? Will there be any big changes or just small adjustments? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[eerik]

I assume demanding the initial submissions to be final studio versions killed the indie vibes that old Eesti Laul had? Get rid of that requirement ASAP (if it still exists). I know Rahula liked to talk a lot about "professionalism", but having entry fees for each submission should be enough of a filter to trim out complete garbage. There is a huge difference between paying 50-100 euros to submit a demo in which the artist believes in vs. outright spending thousands on studio sessions, mixing and mastering. Besides that, it's a known fact that even the big and experienced names have continued working on their songs after submissions. "Rändajad", for example, by Sven Lõhmus' own admission initially had a completely different production (and the performer was Sandra Nurmsalu solo, not Urban Symphony); "La Forza" also sounded quite a bit different, I should have the demo laying around somewhere. Just my theory, with nothing to back it up with, but knowing who your competitors are might also give you an extra motivation to work and improve your entry. (:

Another thing, from the opposite end of indies, are the major record labels that have established themselves in Estonia (or in Baltics in general, for that matter) in the recent years. That's something we did not have 15 years ago when Eesti Laul started. Universal, Sony and Warner all have their subsidiaries here now. Have they had any notable presence in Eesti Laul in the last 5 years? (Serious question, as mentiened earlier, I have not followed EL in the last 4 years or so.) If not, then the new head of EL should work on that.

 

[laululind]

I suppose that could be part of it. Then again, do the requirements state you need to have it recorded in some expensive studio? Can't someone with enough know-how make a polished finished version of their song on their PC/home studio too? I guess the main idea was to get rid of half-baked songs and early demos, but I can see how it could discourage some artists. From the organizer point of view, I can also see why they'd like that rule. Having all the songs already done and ready for publishing, not having to wait on artists to then start scrambling to polish up their demos on time. Also there's the fact you don't really know what you'll get in the end, some songs might actually end up sounding worse in their finished form. Do the organizer have the right to tell the artists "yeah, go back to the old version please"? No idea. But yeah, maybe giving the selected songs another few weeks to make some changes if need be would be nice. Kind of doubt they'll do that tho'.

I've no real idea what labels have been represented in recent Eesti Laul editions. Haven't really done such research on my own & it's not really something that gets mentioned during the shows. Only know Alika is with Universal, so there's that. But doing a quick check to educate myself, Andreas Poom and Karl Killing are with Warner, and Universal has several familiar names (Maian, Jüri Pootsmann, Merilyn Mälk), as does Sony (Eleryn Tiit, Ariadne, kaw, pluuto, Andrei Zevakin, Jaagup Tuisk). All of these have taken part in the last 4-5 years, so I guess there's some representation after all (and possibly more I missed). But probably still room for improvement. Hope they can somehow strike a good balance between established big names and cool new artists and interesting more underground stuff.

 

[eerik]

Well, I checked the 2023 rules and they don't specifify where or how the entries should be recorded and produced, they just require the submissions to be the final versions and masters of the songs. Sure, it alleviates Eesti Laul organizers from extra commitments and surprises, but I don't see anything wrong if they would need to continue working with the artists through the process. I remember Mart Normet talking about it rather fondly during his years. For example, "Seis" by Mick Pedaja did not have intelligible lyrics in the submitted demo, writing those was one of the conditions set for him, and the end result was fantastic. Heck, I am pretty sure that during Eurolaul era, some of the songs even credited Juhan Paadam as the producer. Just to be clear, I do not want to force anybody to (re)work their songs with the Eesti Laul team, but I think judging the submissions as demos, and giving artists a month or two to finalize their songs after they have passed the pre-selection, is very much a good thing.

 

[eerik]

So, apparently, there won't be any new lead producer for Eesti Laul this year, it will be helmed by "a TV production team".

There will be changes in the rules, but nothing revealed yet. Submissions will open on 15th September and will be open until the end of October.

I have zero confidence in this, but ERR is free to prove me wrong.

 

[rasmuslights]

So, apparently, there won't be any new lead producer for Eesti Laul this year, it will be helmed by "a TV production team".

There will be changes in the rules, but nothing revealed yet. Submissions will open on 15th September and will be open until the end of October.

I have zero confidence in this, but ERR is free to prove me wrong.

interesting