The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to review the songs competing in Eesti Laul 2017. Next is Ivo Linna, who previously represented Estonia at Eurovision 1996. He’s back with “Suur loterii”. Did he make us feel like we’d won the lottery? Read on to find out!

Ivo Linna – “Suur Loterii”

“Suur Loterii” reviews

Natalie: Oh how I love those beautiful northern languages — and Ivo Linna delivers one brilliantly here. While I haven’t a clue what the song is actually about, I can feel the sincerity and heartfelt emotion. The instrumentation is pure, rustic and very natural. Unfortunately it does drag on a bit. It may struggle to stand out among a sea of contemporary music, but I’m very happy to have it in the competition and hope it at least does well.

Score: 7/10

Anthony: Buy yourself several tickets, check those numbers, win nothing, then leave disappointed. That’s pretty much the feeling I’ve got after hearing “Suur loterii”. Coming from a former Eurovision representative, I can understand it’s an entry for the older generation. Although it’s got a pleasant retro pop rock melody, Ivo hasn’t quite hit the jackpot this year.

Score: 5/10

William: Having been a performer for more than 50 years, Ivo is putting the old in old school. Sweet, tender, folksy — this song comes from another era and serves Hasse Andersson Melodifestivalen realness. It’d be the perfect accompaniment to a dance in your farmhouse. The thing is: most voters don’t have farmhouses and the target audience — octogenarians — may not have smartphones with which to vote. This is great for variety, but I don’t rate the song.

Score: 4.5/10

Robyn: The inclusion of a beloved music legend and former Eurovision representative is a very Melfest move — and a welcome addition to the Eesti Laul line-up. “Suur Loterii” has a great melody and really delivers on the chorus. The song has a cosy old-style feel to it, and makes a nice change from all the edgy contemporary pop. I’d like to see this in the national final.

Score: 7/10

Chris: There’s something quite charming here, mainly in Ivo’s voice and the fact this feels like a genuine throwback. It’s obviously not suited to Eurovision 2017 and Estonia would be highly foolish to send it. The chorus far outweighs the fairly drab and plodding verses, too, which weigh the song down further still. However, I completely see why this is in the line-up and I would not be averse to seeing Ivo given a shot in the final.

Score: 5.5/10

Bernardo: Take me to the fair, gramps! This takes me back a few years to when I was eating popcorn at a fair. Such a good tune for national consumption, yet so far from what is expected at Eurovision — especially for a comeback artist. Ivo seems lovely, but the song is from another decade. I applaud Estonia for the diversity nonetheless.

Score: 4.5/10

Jason: Ivo has a nice voice and “Suur Loterii” certainly has a charming, feel-good quality to it. All merits aside, unfortunately I could not see this doing very well for Estonia at Eurovision. In recent years the contest has seen very few “joke” acts although Ivo is a Eurovision veteran, I think someone else deserves a chance this year.

Score: 3/10

Josh: One thing I enjoy about Eesti Laul is that it generally pushes the boundaries when it comes to Eurovision, both in its acts and taste in music. Selecting Ivo Linna to compete for Estonia seems like something SVT would do for Melodifestivalen. This spot in the competition could’ve been given to an up-and-coming star with current musical flair, instead of a sweet-old man performing a dated song.

Score: 3/10

In our Eesti Laul Wiwi Jury, we have 20 jurors but only room for 8 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

Antranig: 1/10

Dayana: 4/10

Edd: 3.5/10

Forrest: 3.5/10

Kristin: 6.5/10

Luis:  5/10

Matt: 6/10

Mikhail:  5/10

Patrick:  3/10

Sami: 4/10

Steinunn:  5/10

Zakaria:  3/10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before calculating the average score, the highest and lowest scores are dropped. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 1 and a high of 7.

Wiwi Jury Verdict: 4.5/10

See our list of Eesti Laul rankings here

Follow all our Estonia Eurovision news

17 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
AngieP
AngieP
7 years ago

Not excited about the song, but it’s good (actually I think I say that for every song of any country, too kind!). I like the fact that it’s in Estonian, enough English. I also like the sounds which seems from another decade, but at the same time it’s not dated. The opposite. Nice songs from Esti Laul in general! Good job Estonia!

Hiro
Hiro
7 years ago

Wow so low rating ;w;
I like this song and this is my guilty pleasure. Even when my winner is Verona, I don’t mind if this song qualify lol
I love the happy melody and Estonian language!

Ari
Ari
7 years ago

C’mon guys! This is my favourite entry from Eesti Laul this year and among my favourites so far across all national selections. The melody is simple yet timeless and the chorus has an anthemic quality. Plus, the Estonian language is beautiful. My favourite Estonian entry of all time, Kuula (2012), was in Estonian.

9.5/10

mikume
mikume
7 years ago

I want him to win in Estonia not only because he has the best song in
this national final but also because this song is unique and other from the trend in this year (inexperience young singers that sing in english).
also like always wiwibloggs dont like older singers
I bet that the next masterpiece (Boogieman Blues by Owe Thörnqvist)
will get similar scores.

DJ Tiggeh
DJ Tiggeh
7 years ago

such a beautiful song. Yes i have no idea what the lyrics are….but brings back memories of the golden eras of Eurovision.

Charles
Charles
7 years ago

I’m not surprised … 2000s Eurovision fans could hardly have any appreciation for someone bringing songs that don’t sound like a load of rubbish or a Rihanna-leftover-rejected-bside-crap. Much less for Eurovision participants before Dana International came in everybody pretended to be married and have kids.

Unofficial Månsters Association
Unofficial Månsters Association
7 years ago

Unfortunately, this is at the bottom of my list. The song takes such a long time to build up to the chorus, and once it gets to the chorus, it sounds dated and boring, though I love his voice. An extra point just for singing in Estonian (which sounds very beautiful) and in your own language.
Score- 3/10

(J)ESC Fanatic
(J)ESC Fanatic
7 years ago

@Purple Mask

Haha, it looks like you did!

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
7 years ago

@(J)ESC Fanatic: Did I just start a “Coming Out Day” for YouTubers? Oh dear!

RodrigoPinto
RodrigoPinto
7 years ago

Polegend Godgarina: I competely agree!! I’m so excited to see this live 😀

(J)ESC Fanatic
(J)ESC Fanatic
7 years ago

Well, I like the instrumentation… and that’s all. “Suur loterii” builds too slowly and when it finally reaches the chorus, you get a tired and repetitive melody that doesn’t do much. It could be good. But it’s not.

4/10

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
7 years ago

@an esc fan: “Tombe La Niege-euhh!” 🙂
Salvatore Adamo has that charisma you just can’t buy.
So, would a more sophisticated and charismatic Ivo Linna constitute a “re-vamp?” Interesting.

an esc fan
an esc fan
7 years ago

@ Robyn Gallagher
It sounds like Salvatore Adamo.

an esc fan
an esc fan
7 years ago

After 2000 winners, and after ”1944” last year, who knows what chances a song like that has. It needs revamp, but must have it’s chances.
I remember somebody said that in the world today, age-ism is the only form of discrimination that people still allow. It is not fair, being young it does not mean you will make a contribution, or have a long career.

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
7 years ago

I’m surprised by all those low scores. His voice is on point. The song is catchy and relaxing. For me it’s a 9.5/10, Ivo Linna still has it all! <3

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
7 years ago

Same as what Colin wrote. 🙂

Colin
Colin
7 years ago

Estonian is one of the loveliest European languages and I would love to hear it on Eurovision again. However, I believe the strongest Eesti Laul candidates this year have the English songs. I think the winner should be among Kerli, Rasmus, Leemet, Verona duo and Elina. Even so, hats down to a seasoned performer Ivo Linna for performing a nice song is his own language. This probably wouldn’t pass ESC semi, but it is likable and would bring some diversity.