Jüri Pootsmann from Estonia is playing it cool with his staging at Eurovision 2016. Speaking to wiwibloggs, he says he aspires for a “smooth” finish, and likes to work the geeky-nerdy style both on and off the stage.

We’ve been lucky enough to have a couple of interviews with Jüri, after his first and second rehearsals. And we can say that he keeps his word! After the first rehearsal, the “Play” singer said that he would leave his glasses backstage on subsequent performances. So if Jüri says his performance will be perfect on Tuesday, it will, y’all!

Jüri Pootsmann after 1st rehearsal

The Estonian is going all Casino Royale in his performance, a concept that came up pretty naturally (his song is called “Play”, surprise, surprise). He wanted to up the ante on his Eesti Laul performance, and a card trick is an amazing way of doing it.

In fact, there are multiple cards on stage: on his hand, and another set on the floor with his face. Was it hard to master the card trick? Not really, but he had to practise every day.

Jüri Pootsmann’s first rehearsal reaction

He might be doing a card trick, but in real life Jüri likes to play it safe, so he’s not really a gambler. In fact, you might remember that Jüri was supposed to appear at Israel Calling, back in April. However, he was feeling ill, so he stayed in bed for five days and missed the concert despite being in Tel Aviv for the gig. Health is not something to play with when Eurovision is approaching!

Our second interview with Jüri

Jüri is feeling much better and judging by his performances, he’s also feeling very confident on stage. Those looks to the camera, those moves, and above all, that voice, prove the the Estonian is in it to win it.

“Play” might be the song with which he’s looking for Eurovision gold, but he has another one which you’re going to love if you don’t know it. It’s “I Remember U”, his collaboration with Eesti Laul finalists Cartoon. We don’t like to brag, but he gave us the very first live performance…

Jüri Pootsmann’s second rehearsal

Jüri will welcome a special guest while in Stockholm. His composer Stig Rästa and his “Goodbye to Yesterday” partner Elina Born are both coming to Sweden. We may be looking forward to this more than Jüri himself…

How do you think Jüri will do at Eurovision 2016? Do you like the magic trick? Share your feelings in the comment section below!

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nordlandspils
nordlandspils
7 years ago

My heart bled for this guy. But you could not deny that he was not at his best form last night. 🙁

thepope
thepope
7 years ago

He was off-key during most of his jury semi-final performance. Totally ruining a decent song & staging concept.
Weird that betting odds give him about 40% chance to qualify; should be no more than 10%.

Redfox
Redfox
7 years ago

I am so glad you are doing this article! Thank you! Wiwibloggs seemed to have missed Jüri on Red Carpet, I saw Wiwi RC videos of everyone except him on Youtube. He sang for ESCKaz there though, and that few seconds was probably his best performance of Play yet (check ESCKAZ in Stockholm: Complete red carpet report with interviews of all countries on youtube, at 36:00) and also there is an unplugged version of Play on eurovision dot tv

Colin
Colin
7 years ago

Juri will certainly get my vote. Estonia gets 12 points from me. Deserves to be in finals. 🙂