🇪🇪 LIVE from Tallinn: Eesti Laul 2020 Final Rehearsals

Costa and Oliver are currently in Tallinn, Estonia for the final of Eesti Laul 2020. As the rehearsals for tomorrow's final are underway, see our reviews of each of the 12 finalists in real-time! After two semifinals, Estonia is ready to select their entry for Eurovision 2020 on February 29th. Last week, ERR released the running order for the final. Eesti Laul 2020 final Inger – Only DreamRasmus Rändvee – YoungStefan – By My SideSynne Valtri feat. Väliharf – MajakadUudo Sepp – I’m Sorry. I Messed UpUku Suviste – What Love IsShira – Out in SpaceAnett x Fredi – Write About MeJaagup Tuisk – Beautiful LieTraffic – Üks kord veelEgert Milder – Georgia (On My Mind)Laura – Break Me The final will take place on Saturday (29th February) at the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn. The winner of Eesti Laul will be selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a jury and televote will choose three entries to proceed to the super final. In the super final, the winner will be selected entirely by the Estonian public. Keep looking through the pages to get the latest from each participant in the final! INGER - Only Dream Everything about this presentation is totally appropriate for the song, which I appreciate. The performance opens with a lovely spiralling visual effect which makes for a compelling start to the show. The choice of lighting is pretty much spot-on for the tone of the song, mostly with yellows, and oranges with occasional spots of blue. Styling-wise, INGER is wearing a pale yellow turtleneck and blazer with a sequinned collar, drawing together her androgynous aesthetic with the lightness of the song. Throughout her run through, the vocal was spot-on from the start. She also seemed extremely comfortable on stage. Overall this makes for a great show opener. Also, this is a far stronger overall package than “Coming Home” last year. Speaking to her afterwards, she noted that opening the show is a challenge, but I think it lifts the song. Rasmus Rändvee - Young Rasmus during his rehearsal While INGER is almost entirely stationary during her performance, Rasmus makes good use of the space around him. He starts on the satellite stage and then makes his way to the main stage for the second half of the performance. The movement, the camera cuts and the lighting all serve to add dynamism to the performance. Rasmus’ casual styling (think classic H&M) reflects the lyrics of the song (he is young, dressed like a stereotypical European man in his early twenties). Having just re-watched the 2013 final last night, “Young” has clicked in a very different way with me today having seen him performing as a 17 year old. Although Rasmus is an excellent performer, the song doesn’t necessarily feel as competitive as I initially thought upon release. Regardless, it doesn’t drag and he sells the hell out of it on stage. Stefan – By My Side Moving towards a more dark and pensive tone, we have Stefan with “By My Side”. Compared to the first two performances, there is a greater intimacy to this staging, with a much tighter crop on the artist. The staging is minimal. He (sorta) uses levels by starting off seating and eventually standing. Otherwise there isn’t a whole lot going on. The large drawing point from the semi-final performance (the mystery lady) has been dismissed and it is now just Stefan by himself. Whether this was the correct decision will divide opinion among fans. Now, the main drawing point visually is his bright red suit, which is admittedly a very striking centrepiece of the performance. As ever, a stripped-back performance is a risky choice in such a highly produced show, but coming before Synne does make for quite the contrast. Synne Valtri feat. Väliharf – Majakad Fans of her semi-final performance will be happy to know that “Majakad” is almost entirely unchanged from the semi. The sequinned dress remains, her hair is still luscious and the sailors are still there (and their shoes are still lost at sea). My favourite production-related element of this staging is the LEDs, which depict striking imagery of waves using dots of light. Otherwise, I’m surprised at how bare the staging is for such an exuberant song and artist. The sailors carry a similar energy to Holly Tandy’s dancing cowboys from Eurovision: You Decide 2019, albeit less chaotic. Coming after three more down-tempo songs, this is the first truly danceable song of the night, so I think the draw works in her favour. Whether a potentially strong televote can carry her into the Super Final, I am not sure. Uudo Sepp – I’m Sorry. I Messed Up In a transition that’ll give you whiplash, we go straight to Uudo with his stripped-back break-up anthem. With a song like “I’m Sorry. I Messed Up”, there are limited options for staging. This is a song you connect to emotionally, and any visual accompaniment needs to be something you can insert your own experiences into. Recognising the many potential pitfalls, Uudo and his team have dodged some, and fell right into others. The LEDs show the lyrics of the chorus and some assorted images conveying heartbreak (sometimes literally). This makes it feel reminiscent of Michael Schulte’s “You Let Me Walk Alone” staging from Lisbon 2018. However, this was a wise reference point and I am by no means making plagiarism claims here. Without sounding too critical, I like the inclusion of a pianist on stage, and the performance isn’t entirely reliant on the LEDs. The fact that the pianist in question is Andrei Zevak (the protagonist from the video) is a nice touch. The lighting is a warm yellow tone and the production team do a great job at creating a sense of crescendo in a song that doesn’t have a huge build. Uku Suviste – What Love Is Uku comes into the final as a favourite, and he does well to live up to the hype with his performance. Unlike with Uudo's song, the grandeur of the official video for "What Love Is" lends itself to epic staging, and Uku does well to achieve a ‘big’, expansive performance. Whilst the running order is otherwise effective in breaking up the finalists to not have similar songs together, I don’t think “What Love Is” itself shines in this position. Between “I’m Sorry. I Messed Up” and “Out in Space”, the song itself doesn’t quite pop like a national final ’WINNER’ often would. What he does offer is one of the more ambitious presentations of the final, and being one of the few artists to use props on stage (a large sign and a few hundred candles, to be precise). One of the big favourites going into tomorrow’s final, this is expected to make it to the super final in the very least. Although I personally prefer “Pretty Little Liar”, Uku remains a formidable threat to Jaagup Tuisk. SHIRA - Out In Space Over half-way-through the running order, SHIRA feels like a breath of fresh air in the line-up. This sensation is reflected by her incredible styling, which forms the visual focal point of the performance. The song itself has a fantastic build and a sense of momentum to it, which is captured by the movement of the garment. SHIRA’s rich vocal tone forms a nice contrast with the bellowing white fabric. Now, I’m aware that I’m talking A LOT about SHIRA’s outfit, but I do think good styling can do a lot for an entry, and the look elevates the song. This is especially true in a final where the fashion is otherwise very understated. Being a televote qualifier, this is a wild card in a sense, but one that feels like an important addition to the final line-up. I’m not just saying this because she is only one of three solo female performers in the show. Anett x Fredi – Write About Me From SHIRA’s icy aesthetic, we then move a performance with a warmer palette. Having followed A LOT of national finals in the past few years, I’m happy to see this gradual movement away from performances with blue lighting and blue lighting alone. Once again, we get some fantastic styling from Anett, who sports a sparkly silver suit with bell-bottom trousers and wedged sneakers. This allows the singer to pop against the orange hues of the lighting. Vocally, Anett sounds fantastic, and manages to capture the bluesy, loungey aesthetic of the song. The cuts to the ‘live’ instrumentation only adds to this cafe lounge vibe. Overall, although this isn’t necessarily a contender, it adds variety to the line-up. Jaagup Tuisk – Beautiful Lie According to the odds, this is the favourite to win by some margin. With this level of hype, there is an expectation to be blown away when seeing the favourite perform. This pressure is both unfair to the artist and a bit flawed. Firstly, just because a song is a favourite to win doesn’t necessarily mean it has a ‘wow factor’ in the context of the main contest. I’d say the majority of Eurovision entries aren’t necessarily ‘wow moment’s, but most are ‘enjoyable’ in the very least. Further, by having incredibly high expectations for a song almost inevitably sets you up for disappointment. I personally understand why this is predicted to do so well, but the inevitable Duncan Lawrence comparisons block me from having a ‘pure’ opinion of the entry. This all said, the performance is visually impressive and stands out massively in the line-up. The striking music video is transferred brilliantly onto the Eesti Laul stage, and seeing Jaagup’s rehearsal affirmed how seriously he is taking this. He is certainly in it to win it. It’s also worth mentioning that “Beautiful Lie” has more staging than the other 11 acts combined, and sports pretty much every visual effect you can think of. Think lighting changes, augmented reality rain droplets, a rotating camera trick, a camera shake…the full works. All these elements shouldn’t work, but the bombast of it all suits the drama of the song itself. I expect this staging to elevate even further if this does make it to Rotterdam. Traffic – Üks kord veel Traffic certainly have a tough act to follow coming immediately after “Beautiful Lie”, but to my surprise, they seem to hold their own in the running order. Though they don’t have as much camera trickery as Jaagup, the staging is very effective. I particularly like the use of one fluid camera cut spinning as the band performs, which is effective at pulling viewers into the performance from the start. The full band set-up is an advantage for the entry also, with the band filling the stage brilliantly and adding to the warmth of the performance. Traffic also have the advantage of being one of only two songs in Estonian, which is another reason why I believe Traffic could make it into the Super Final with Uku and Jaagup. Although I’m not personally a fan of the song, I’m aware that I shouldn’t underestimate the popularity of Stig Rästa… Egert Milder – Georgia (On My Mind) Continuing with the full-band vibe is the wonderful Egert Milder, who delivers one of the most energetic and feel-good performances of the whole show. I’ve always found the song pleasant, but this entry came alive in an unexpected way on stage. It would have been very easy to have stuck some stock images of Georgia on the LED and called it a day. Egert is an exuberant performer and does an excellent job of making ‘meaningful interactions’ with his bandmates on stage whilst still making contact with the camera. Him jumping up on the piano is a mark of showmanship and makes this an incredibly fun performance in a final full of many pensive and emotional songs. It’s not likely but I would love to see this song sneak into the Super Final tomorrow night. Laura – Break Me Closing the show is Eesti Laul veteran Laura Põldvere. Being no stranger to the Eesti Laul stage, Laura owned the entire arena from the moment she entered the rehearsal. She is tasked with bridging between a pre-recorded visuals and her live performance, which is a difficult undertaking. The performance is certainly a show-stopper, both literally and figuratively. The staging is unchanged from the semi-final. The establishing shot is of Laura in a fabulous white leotard in a dream sequence, being thrown around by shadow puppet demons either side of her. I admire the ambition considering how stripped-back most of the staging is this year in Eesti Laul overall. Many viewers of her semi final commented about her vocals being below her usual standard. Having seen the performance from the arena during the rehearsals, we’re glad to say she sounded much better, and should be delivering a far stronger vocal in the final.

🇪🇪 LIVE from Tallinn: Eesti Laul 2020 Final Rehearsals

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