Once again Estonia is using it’s popular Eesti Laul format to select not only Estonia’s representative at the Eurovision Song Contest, but as a showcase for local talent. With not long to go until the live shows begin, we took the opportunity to speak to a few of the contestants, and today we speak to one of Estonia’s newest bands; The Blurry Lane.
escXtra: Hey guys! Thanks for taking some time to speak to us today! Firstly we’d like to congratulate you all on your qualification to the semi-finals of Eesti Laul 2015. As you guys are new to the Estonian music scene, here’s your chance! Can you introduce yourselves and tell us what your role is in the band?
X: How did The Blurry Lane form?
BL: The author of the song invited her friends tohether from three different small towns to record the song “Exceptional”. And so we decided to try to enter Eesti Laul, but we had no idea that we would actually make it to the semi-finals.
X: Is there a special story behind your name?
BL: “The Lane” stands for the journey of life and “Blurry” means that we are still young, the road to our dreams is long and we have to stay strong and go through all obstacles that might get in the way of accomplishing what we want.
X: Where were you and how did you feel when you found out that you had made it to the Semi-Finals of Eesti Laul? Who found out first?
X: Was your song “Exceptional” made specifically with Eesti Laul in mind, and what was the inspiration to create it?
BL: The song “Exceptional” is written by Kristina Bianca Rantala who is 15 years old [Editors Note: Don’t worry everyone, she will be 16 in February!]. The inspiration for the song was the will to motivate people to believe in yourselves, stay strong and work hard to accomplish everything you want.
X: Can you give us a hint as to what we might expect to see from your live stage performance?
BL: We will be in swimming suits and there will be two tigers on stage! To see if this is a joke or not, watch our performance 😉
X: What are your feelings on the fact that if you win you will be representing your nation at Eurovision in Vienna in May?
BL: We are thrilled about it! It seems so unreal, it has been a dream of ours for a very long time.
X: Now some questions to get to know you all a little better! How did you each spend your most recent birthdays?
Kristi: I spent it with my friends and family, we threw a big party.
Bianca: I was in rehearsals and performing all day. In the late evening I was with my family.
Maksim: I got drunk in a pub with my friends.
Steven-Martin: I have spent them mostly with my family.
Triinu: I spent it with my family and closest friends.
Taavi: I had a huge party of which I’d rather not talk about.
X: Can you tell us a secret about yourself that very few people know?
Kristi: If I tell it, it wouldn’t be a secret any more.
Bianca: Sometimes when I get nervous I start to think in Finnish, and so every word that I say in Estonian comes out completely wrong or with an accent.
Maksim: I have no secrets.
Steven-Martin: I’ve learned that we’re all entitled to our secrets.
Triinu: The fact I’m a musician but I can’t sing.
Taavi: It’s not a secret, but I can juggle.
X: Where is your favourite place in Estonia and/or where would you recommend someone visiting Estonia go see?
Bianca: I would recommend people go to Tallinn because if you want to get to know Estonia, you have to get acquainted with its capital first.
Maksim: My favourite place is a small town named Räpina (The place where I live), because there is nothing to do, and this is the reason why I started to play guitar.
Steven-Martin: I think my favourite places in Estonia are the beaches of West Estonia in Summer.
Triinu: I like Southern Estonia the most because of its picturesque nature. I would recommend foreigners visit Meenikunno bog and the Suur Munamägi Mountain.
Taavi: It’s hard to tell what’s my favourite but I really love the nature of Southern Estonia and the fact that there is always something new to discover makes it even better.
X: What is your favourite food to cook?
Kristi: Pasta.
Bianca: Frozen pizza.
Maksim: I love all of Jamie Oliver’s 15 minute meals.
Steven-Martin: To be honest, I’m a terrible cook but my favourite food is Napoleon cake.
Triinu: Due to my fast living tempo I’m often forced to eat instant noodles. By when I have enough time I like to cook muffins or some cakes.
Taavi: I think it would be old-fashioned baked potatoes.
X: If you could have any animal in the world as a pet, what would you choose?
Bianca: I would love to have a sloth!
Maksim: I’d choose a goat.
Steven-Martin: Definitely a dog.
Triinu: Dog because I believe that dogs are humans’ best friends and companions.
Taavi: I would choose a black tailed prairie dog if I could.
X: What is your favourite colour?
Kristi: My favourite colour is white.
Bianca: All bright colours are my favourite.
Maksim: My favourite colour is green.
Steven-Martin: My favourite colour is blue.
Triinu: I think red and blue.
Taavi: Black and grey.
X: What is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you that you don’t mind sharing?
Kristi: We had a sports day in our school, and we had to do a long jump. Instead of doing a normal jump and not humiliating myself, I was diving into the sand like I wanted to go to Narnia.
Bianca: Once a long time ago I was singing at a performance with a really tight skirt on, and in the middle of the song the buttons came off and then the skirt fell down. But still I never stopped singing and pulled the skirt up not until after the song.
Maksim: Back in the days when I used to breakdance a funny incident happened. My trainer whom I was performing with jumped on my head while doing a backflip at the same time my pants split between my legs. After that I had to dance for several minutes in those pants.
Steven-Martin: I remember when in middle school we used to play soccer during the breaks and once when there was winter outside and the round was very slippery my classmate thought it was a good idea to go play soccer outside. Everything was going well until I started to kick the ball and I slipped to the ground. There were many people around when I fell ant it was a pretty funny and humiliating experience.
Triinu: I have a funny story about how I went to visit my granny. I was about 6 years old and it was my first bus ride. I didn’t know how to ask for a ticket, so I somehow managed to sneak into the bus without buying a ticket. During the bus ride I was so afraid that the ticket controller would find out that I didn’t have a ticket. Fortunately there wasn’t a ticket controller, and that’s how I had my first stowaway ride.
Taavi: A long time ago I had a birthday party and all the guests had arrived. What makes it embarrassing is the fact that the only one missing was me. My father had forgotten to pick me up from kindergarten.
X: Finally, do you have a message for our readers?
BL: We hope that you like our song! Also we wish everybody happiness and that you will not give up on your dreams!
The Blurry Lane take part in the first semi-final on Saturday, February 7th with the song “Exceptional” which you can hear below. On behalf of everyone at escXtra we would like to thank them for their time and wish them all the best in the contest and beyond.
