Last Monday ERR revealed the first participants for Eesti Laul 2022. Tonight the first Quarter-Final of the Estonian selection show took place. Ten acts previewed their music videos for the first time, in a twist to the usual format, with five Semi-Final spots up for grabs. These were decided through a combination of jury and public voting. Tonight’s jury included – Sissi, Synne Valtri, Egert Milder, Maiken, Olav Osloin, Bert Järvet, Vaido Pannel and Andres Puusepp
Eesti Laul 2022
Earlier tonight ERR, the national broadcaster kicked off national final season with the first Quarter-Final of Eesti Laul 2022. Previously it was announced there would be a change in format for this edition of Estonia’s selection show. This year the broadcaster has expanded the format to include four Quarter-Finals. Each Quarter-Final consists of ten acts, with five acts advancing to the Semi-Finals in February. In total 20 acts will compete in the Semi-Finals. During the show, hosts Tanel Padar and Ines announced the following results.
Eesti Laul Quarter-Final 1 results:
Artist – Song | Result |
Traffic – ‘Kaua veel’ | Eliminated |
Jaagup Tuisk – ‘Kui vaid’ | Qualified (Jury) |
Kéa – ‘Everytime’ | Eliminated |
Fiona and Me – ‘Feel Like This’ | Eliminated |
Peter Põder – ‘Koos lõpuni’ | Eliminated |
Stig Rästa – ‘Interstellar’ | Qualified (Televote) |
Maian – ‘Meeletu’ | Qualified (Jury) |
Little Mess – ‘Hea päev’ | Eliminated |
Boamadu – ‘Mitte Kauaks’ | Qualified (Televote) |
Evelin Samuel – ‘Waterfall’ | Qualified (Televote) |
Over the next few weeks, three more Quarter-Finals will take place. Those that missed the show tonight, can catch up on the following link here. Next week ten more acts will compete in Quarter-Final 2 at 7:35pm GMT, 8:35pm CET, 9:35pm EET and 6:35am AEDT on ETV, which can be viewed here.
Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
The Baltic country made their Eurovision Song Contest debut in 1994, with Silvi Vrait and her song ‘Nagu merelaine’. Since then, Estonia has participated at the Eurovision Song Contest 26 times, reaching the grand final 16 times. Back in 2001 Estonia achieved their first and to date, only victory in the contest with ‘Everybody‘, performed by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton & 2XL.
In 2020, Estonia selected Uku Suviste to represent Estonia with his song, ‘What Love Is’ which was written by Uku, with Sharon Vaughn and produced by Dimitris Kontopoulos. Unfortunately, the contest was cancelled, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rather than re-select Uku internally, they instead gave him an invitation to compete in Eesti Laul 2021, which he accepted. In a field of 24 acts, Uku won Eesti Laul for the second year in a row with ‘The Lucky One‘. However, this success failed to translate in Rotterdam. Performing 2nd in semi-final two, he finished 13th with 58 points.
Did you favourite act of the first Quarter-Final of Eesti Laul 2022 make it through? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to follow us on Spotify for the latest music from your favourite Eurovision acts. As well as YouTube to see our reactions to the news in the run up to the 2022 contest in Turin!