This evening I watched the Estonian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, Eesti Laul 2025 Final, on demand, online from the UK, because I missed it Saturday 15 February 2025. Please note that a) I didn’t preview any of the songs, or look at the lyrics beforehand, so my on demand viewing tonight was my first time of seeing / hearing them, b) since I haven’t seen the lyrics, I had difficulty identifying song parts in some cases, and c) since the show ended Saturday night, I’ve managed to avoid accidentally seeing the results anywhere online, so whilst watching I still don’t know the scores until they were announced, and thus was able to judge the songs as if I’d been watching live Saturday evening. This is what I wrote about the songs as they were performed; please read as if they were written if I'd been watching live on the night:
Song 1: Ant - "Tomorrow Never Comes"
It’s difficult judging the first song when one hasn’t’ previewed any of the songs beforehand. During the opening verse, the piano could be heard. A beat could be heard during the second verse and second instance of the chorus. Altogether quite a reasonable ballad; Ant sang the verses powerfully enough, but I think he wasn’t strong enough on the instances of the chorus. The ballerina was a worthwhile addition. This would be a definite non qualifier at Eurovision.
Song 2: Stereo Terror - "Prty Till The End Of The World"
A rock song, so it’s hardly this included someone on the drumkit and someone else with an electric guitar. This was performed on a predominantly dark stage, but white light beams were used at times, and unsurprisingly, strobe lighting was used during the instrumental break. Some red appeared on the background screen at times. Altogether, a lively rock song, the chorus is very powerful and catchy, and this was well performed. For some reason, the lead singer was wearing a silver outfit. If this goes to Eurovision, rock fans would want to vote for this, but those who don’t like rock would be put off by this.
Song 3: Janek - "Frozen"
The introduction featured electronic sounds, with a wobbly effect, which I particularly liked. For some reason, Janek performed inside a glass box. Janek sang each instance of the chorus quite powerfully, and he pitched high on the bridge. The stage was predominantly dark, but strip lights within the box ranged from blue, to green, to red, and back to blue in different parts of the song, and patterns in the same matching colour appeared on the background screen. Altogether, not bad, but I don’t think this would be impactful enough for Eurovision.
Song 4: Räpina Jack feat. Kaisa Ling - "Tule"
The opening verse seemed a bit flat, and it took until the first instance of the chorus for there to be any real impact. The chorus includes plenty of hey-hey-ahh-ahh, hey-ho sounds. I haven’t seen the lyrics yet, so I assume that’s correct. For some mysterious reason, a bonfire / camp fire was present on stage. It sounds to me as though this was an attempt at a Fleetwood Mac style song, but I think this would flop at Eurovision.
Song 5: Johanna Elise - "Eyes Don't Lie"
Well, I’m not sure what this is. Johanna has a nice voice, and she pitched quite high on each instance of the chorus, but I thought the music / beat overpowered her at times. The background lights produced starry effects at times, and the fireworks were a worthwhile enhancement during the closing section. Altogether, not bad, but I don’t think this have much success at Eurovision.
Song 6: Felin - "Solo Anthem"
Now for a lively one. For some reason, the lead singer performed part of this on top of the scaffolding and some parts on the stage. The chorus is very powerful and catchy. The singer has a good voice, and sang well, despite her considerable movement around the stage. Drums and an electric guitar featured in this. There was use of magenta on the background screen at times. Fireworks were the icing on the cake late in the song. Altogether, a lively rock song; this could get a good result here, and perhaps do well at Eurovision.
Song 7: Elysa - "The Last to Know"
Well, the introduction, and background music during the opening verse, reminds me of Latvia’s song from last year. When Elysa started singing, this sounded to me like a country ballad. The chorus was sung in quite a bouncy manner, and I liked the way Elysa performed the bridge. Her dress looked good blown the way it was; presumably this effect was achieved with a wind machine. She performed on a largely dark stage, with subtle lighting. Rising and falling fireworks provided some enhancement near the end of the song. Quite a nice song, if this goes to Eurovision, it could qualify for the final, but would be a likely right-hand side of the scoreboard.
Song 8: Gem98 - "Psycho"
A rock song. Iin terms of staging, this featured plenty of red light, and smoke effects. The verses alright, but the chorus is just oo-oo-oo in rising and falling pitch. That in itself will be easy to remember, though some may think little effort has been put into writing the chorus.
Song 9: An-Marlen - "Külm"
At the start, An-Marlen was on a dark stage, with very little blue light. As the song progressed, more use of blue light was used, and light windows appeared on the background screen. The chorus has a beat; strobe lighting was used with the first instance of the chorus, and lasers were used late in the song. Altogether a reasonable ballad, or power ballad, but it’s questionable whether or not this could succeed at Eurovision.
Song 10: Frants Tikerpuu - "Trouble"
Another song in which the stage was dark at the start, with just a little red light. The stage was predominantly dark the rest of the song, with alternating red / white neon effect on the floor. The chorus is a bit repetitive, but it’s memorable enough. I’m not sure what genre this is; it sounds like soul to me, but anyway, I don’t think this would make it to the final if this goes to Eurovision.
Song 11: Anna Sahlene - "Love Me Low"
To start with, I like the way in which she sang the first verse and first instance of the pre-chorus. The chorus is quite powerful, and sung in a bouncy manner. For some reason, the colour scheme used on the background screen was golden tan for this entry. Some white lights appeared at times. Altogether, quite a pleasant ballad, probably the best of the ballads so far, and Anna has an amazing voice.
Song 12: Tuuli Rand - "Rem"
It seems to me that this is a country song, but I don’t like the way the verses are sung, and the chorus is too overpowering (almost as though Tuuli is butchering it). I’s hardly surprising some flashing graphic patterns were used in some places during some instances of the chorus, and strobe lights put in an appearance on the final instance of the chorus. Not my cup of tea at all, but some would like this.
Song 13: Minimal Wind - "Armageddon"
Another song performed on a largely dark stage, with subtle green lighting. Lliked the music that could be heard during the introduction and first verse. Some parts of the song have a gentle beat. Near the end of the song strobe lighting and smoke effects were used. This sounds like a mix of country and rock, with amazing, but unusual music. The lead singer has a beautiful voice, and sang this well. It’s difficult to tell how well, or badly, this would do at Eurovision.
Song 14: Andrei Zevakin ft. Karita - "Ma ei tea sind"
Well, there’s a catchy beat during the introduction. The first verse sounds rather distorted. The chorus is very lively and powerful, but that seems to have some distortion to. Has the distortion been created with a Vocoder, or in the sound mixer? This was performed on a largely dark stage; strobe lighting and flame effects enhanced this song at times. Some strange images appeared on the background screen at times. This could well win this national final, and could make a good impact in Basel in May.
Song 15: Tommy Cash - "Espresso macchiato"
Unsurprisingly, this started with Tommy holding a coffee cup. As the song progressed, falling coffee cups, a tablecloth pattern, names of coffee types and coffee beans appeared on the background screen. The chorus is very catchy and memorable; it sounds to me like it’s sung in Italian. Tommy has a good voice, and sang all the parts of the song well. This could do well at Eurovision, just because it’s themed around coffee.
Song 16: Marta Lotta - "Tantsin veel"
The final song already. There’s a good musical introduction, and a beat can be heard throughout this song. The chorus is very catchy. This song was enhanced by the dancers, and a disco ball overhead. For some reason, the bridge sounded like it was sung in French. Altogether a memorable, catchy, disco song; the perfect entry to round-off the line-up. Furthermore, Marta has a good voice, and sang well. The only snag is, this sounds like something from the 1970s or early 1980s, and could be seen as too behind the times for success at Eurovision.
So these three made it to the Super Final:
Song 9: An-Marlen - "Külm"
Song 14: Andrei Zevakin ft. Karita - "Ma ei tea sind"
Song 15: Tommy Cash - "Espresso macchiato"
The winner is Tommy Cash - "Espresso macchiato". I’m glad that won, because that was the one I put top of my ranking in My Eurovision Scoreboard. "Espresso macchiato" has a very catchy chorus, Tommy has a good voice, and sang all the parts of the song well. I see this as a novelty song, a fun song, themed around coffee, and for that reason, it could do well in Eurovision. I’ve seen the full results on Wikipedia, and found that Tommy Cash won the jury vote, televote and overall, which shows consistency. So Tommy Cash will represent Estonia with "Espresso macchiato" at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in Basel in May. Estonia is drawn to perform in the first half of the First Semi-Final on Tuesday 13 May 2025. I won’t be able to vote that evening, as the United Kingdom doesn’t vote that evening. Good luck to Tommy Cash in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 First Semi-Final, and in the Grand Final if she gets there.
Well done to the other 15 artists, no matter what their scores, and where they placed, in both halves of the voting and overall. In particular, well done to An-Marlen and Andrei Zevakin ft. Karita for making it to the Super Final, that in itself was an achievement to be proud of. I must admit, I was amazed and surprised at this result. When Tommy was one of the last two, against Andrei Zevakin ft. Karita, I felt sure Andrei Zevakin ft. Karita – would win, because their song "Ma ei tea sind" is a lively rock song, featuring strobe lighting and flame effects.
Altogether a good show. My one dislike was the fact that the lines were still open, and they had one final recap of all 16 songs after the jury scores had been announced. I think that’s unfair, because people may vote for songs which scored low in the jury vote. Public voting lines should have been closed before starting to announce the jury points, just like in the ESC.