Tonight marked the first round of Estonia’s national selection for Eurovision in May. The Eesti Laul 2024 semi-final saw 15 acts battling for a spot in next month’s grand final.
Only five of them made it through, where they’ll join five automatically-qualified acts who broadcaster ERR chose to put straight into the February final.
The semi-final took place in Tartu, hosted by Tõnis Niinemets and Grete Kuld.
Eesti Laul 2024 semi-final
Results
There were two rounds of voting. In the first stage, a 50:50 combination of jury and public votes determined the first three qualifiers.
Tõnis and Grete first revealed that the jury’s top three (in a random order) were: INGA, Cartoon & Ewert Sundja, Ewert and the Two Dragons.
However, once the public vote was added to the picture, the first three qualifiers were:
- Ewert and the Two Dragons – “Hold Me Now”
- OLLIE – “My Friend”
- 5MIINUST x Puuluup – “(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi”
In the second round of voting, it was entirely down to the public. They could choose two other acts to advance to the grand final, and these were:
- Peter Põder – “Korra veel”
- Anet Vaikmaa – “Serotoniin”
Running order
- 5MIINUST x Puuluup – “(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi”
- INGA – “No Dog On a Leash”
- OLLIE – “My Friend”
- YONNA – “I Don’t Know About You”
- Peter Põder – “Korra veel”
- Cartoon, Ewert Sundja – “Oblivion”
- Traffic – “Wunderbar”
- Ingmar – “Dreaming”
- Anet Vaikmaa – “Serotoniin”
- Laura – “Here’s Where I Draw the Line”
- Sofia Rubina – “Be Good”
- Antsud – “Vetevaim”
- Silver Jusilo – “Lately”
- Cecilia – “FOMO”
- Ewert and the Two Dragons – “Hold Me Now”
What do you think of the Eesti Laul 2024 semi-final? Do you think one of these acts could go on to win the ticket to Eurovision? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
team talharpa here!
i was yesterday witness of one of the best NF semis ever – perfect show with very good sound and mostly excellent acts – that a masterpiece like oblivion is not in the final is a real shame – this silly 5 out 15 (with 5 for me lame ducks seeded) is against fairness.
i also think that antsud,cecilia and inga would have deserved a place in the final.
the broadcaster has failed to set more fair rules – the old rule with two semis with 5 of 10 was a way better.
I’m actually satisfied with the choices.
“Korra veel” and “Hold Me Now” were my favs prior to the show but I wasn’t sure about them qualifying. Ewer & TheTwo Dragons really delivered one of the best performances, very solid and classy. I think it needed some punch by the bridge or the chorus but it worked well on stage.
In this semi, I had 3 songs I liked a lot.
My opinions on them:
Fortunately, the piano was indeed a “prop” – that (video) part was pre-recorded (vocals were live I think) because he didn’t have any piano on stage.
Those who are angry about Cecilia not qualifying did you watch the live performance? It wasn’t vocally strong. To be honest Peter Põder wasn’t either, i would have switched him and Oblivion
Oblivion was my fave 🙁
Ollie has this in the bag, could’ve also been a internal selection tbh
My top three qualified, so am happy about that. Worried about juries in Estonia though. Between the pre-qualified finalists and the results here, they seem clueless.
Next year, please get rid of the semi final or at least the only 5 qualifiers! Estonia only really needs one final anyway!
This is one of the national finals where I’d most hate the field to shrink. I find some of the off-center NQ acts wonderful.
The point of so many songs is to give Estonian artist opportunity to get a large audience for their art. Estonia is a small country. Please understand it is used to benefit local musicians, not to make your life more pleasing.
I’m pretty happy here. I like four of the five qualifiers, and I accept the inevitability of the fifth. Thank you, Cecilia, Inga, Cartoon, and Antsud.
I am a little surprised that Ewert and the Two Dragons made it. Good song, but more “album track” than “hit single.”
That thing with the prequalifiers just to hold one semi final instead of two went too far
Cartoon and Cecilia should have qualified instead of Peter (one of worst vocals this evening) and Anet (what a dull boring performance)…even Inga and Antsud would have been better qualifiers… i agree with Ollie, Ewert And Dragon and 5MINUST though.
meeeeeh Cecilia not in? the only one with a show that would stand out on Eurovision.
but im glad Ramo and Marko got in. it is a good anthropological study for Marko to explore the… Eurostuff
What has happened to Eesti Laul? There doesn’t seem to be any artistic vision behind the 5 pre-qualifiers other than “filler written by singers who peaked in 2016” and if they were choosing the most famous or celebrated artists why not the clear favourites 5MIINUST and Ollie who are well established? Why create a show with 2 of the spots virtually pre-decided and force 13 singers to complete for 3 spots only for some of the best songs to be cast aside for seemingly no reason other than not being in Estonian or written by Sven Lohmus. I hope ERR… Read more »
The results are both expected and unexpected, make that make sense :(:
Wait, Oblivion was in the top 3 of the jury? So then I guess the televote screwed this one up.
No, Hold me now was
This article says: „Tõnis and Grete first revealed that the jury’s top three (in a random order) were: INGA, Cartoon & Ewert Sundja, Ewert and the Two Dragons.“
Estonian televoting has always been problematic. The format for this year’s Eesti Laul is awful.
And the worst thing is that we knew this was gonna happen. Estonia ain’t Estonia if they don’t make wrong choices…
At least 5miinust x Puuluup and Ollie qualified. I’m happy about that.
I’m not particular excited with this year’s Eesti Laul and the format is really weird. All my favourites (Inga, Traffic, Cecilia, Cartoon) are out as well, so I’m probably skipping the final.
Pleasantly surprised by these results. I love Seritoniin so very happy to see that go through.
Peter Poder is the bigger surprise. That song has been on my playlist since it came out but it seemed low down in the polls, so it’s really nice to see that a lot of the public likes this song as well.
Peter Põder was my top5 before today, but this live was very weak. I was very surprised that he qualified. I would have preferred Cecilia.
5miinust ja Puuluup ftw!
Oblivion is out!?!??! That was my favourite in Estonia … that is disappointing. But overall a great selection so I understand some will loose out then…
well, 5/15 songs qualifying, that’d certainly disappoint many fans
Yeah, I hope we cancel Eesti Laul, it’s pointless. I think we should try internal selection from now on. What’s the point of doing a contest with a lot of mediocre songs, if we all know in Estonia that the budget is tight. Let’s save the money and just select an artist and a song.
No, look at 5 finalists the jury chose behind the doors, they wouldn’t know who to pick. Fan favorites are all in the semi-final, showing that internal selection would be a fail.
Well I actually don’t even care what we send. I just stopped rooting from my own country for a while now. It’s not that I can vote for my own country at eurovision and Estonia will never win Eurovision again so. Let’s send the worst song this year, 5 miinust. At least it’s in Estonian…
As an estonian i am disappointed Oblivion is out,
but i am happy for 5MIINUST & Puuluup, their song somehow makes me ridicilously happy.
Meh. Oblivion is out. Ewert is still there but I wanted Oblivion. So they decide half of the finalists themselves, leave only 5 spots for 15 entries and out of those 5, they also use a jury to decide some of them? Strangely undemocratic for Estonia.
Sven Lohmus needs to be put in to Eesti Laul retirement RIGHT now because how do his songs qualify every time
I voted for Serotoniin, really like the song and so does my whole family. Its in estonian and very easy to listen to. And we know its not gonna win so its easy to support it
Other than the predictable OLLIE and 5MIINUST & Puuluup qualifications, these results are lowkey unhinged haha
I’m upset about INGA and Cecilia going NQ, I was hoping they’d go through, I actually didn’t expect this at all
Oh well, I guess there’s that
The grand final will be very interesting with some big eurofans’ favorites out already
Apart from Ollie and the Estonian folk dance song, these results are odd. I was sure Traffic and Cartoon, Ewert Sundja were gonna qualify, let alone Cecilia (which i’ll let off because of her live vocals)! Traffic and Cartoon had some of the best live vocals AND staging. Tbh, I dont really like this ‘only 5 songs get through’ format. Hopefully they wont have a semi final next year!
3 shock qualifiers,,,,
FOMO, Oblivion and Vunderbar you will be missed… Too many of the strongest songs were in the Semi’s while the Automatic Qualifiers are all total passes for me.
Wow Hold me Now actually qualified! That’s great I liked that song. Ollie was the best of the night for me.
Please stop it next year with the automatic qualifiers. It’s awful.
Surprise qualifier from ewert and the two dragons. Curious to see the last two although i am 90% sure traffic will be one of them. I’ve accepted the fact that cecelia probably won’t qualify it’s a bit jarring for the estonian public i feel like
Ewert+ Two Dragons, 5MIINUST ja PUULUUP and OLLIE qualified from the first round of voting
Two spots left in the televote only second round
Nice to know! Thanks!
I’ve been checking and waiting here but when comes the results?
5miinust, Ollie, Cartoon, Traffic, and Cecilia should qualify imo
I voted for these five songs.
Ok my qualifiers
5MIINUST x Puuluup – “(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi”
Cartoon, Ewert Sundja – “Oblivion”
Cecilia – “FOMO”
Antsud – “Vetevaim”
INGA – “No Dog On a Leash”
(Ollie is my 6th place, but we only get 5 here. He’s more likely to qualify than some of my picks so if the stans can be chill for a moment…)
As someone who didnt put My Friend first, I gotta say Ollie’s really improved.
Song 15 (Ewert and the Two Dragons – “Hold Me Now”) – This is a nice song. I love the guitar chords and the solid “double beats to 4”. Black-and-white filming is an interesting choice; not my personal favourite style. When it turns to colour in the end, I feel relieved.
I actually really liked the last song although I know it won’t have mass appeal. The three songs I liked the most are My Friend, Serotoniin and Hold Me Now. Now off to MGP (just in time 🙂 )
Thanks. See you there.
Song 14 (Cecilia – “FOMO”) – Dramatic presentation. Bravo, it’s one of the best we have seen tonight. This song requires a wide vocal range with agility and power; it’s almost there, except during some choreo moves. This performance had rough edges, but I appreciated the effort that was made. It made it feel like a bit more than “just another dark dance track.”
She needs to work on her singing first, then dance moves. I like how dark it is. When have Estonia ever sent a dark girl bop? I think it’s got a LOT of potential on the Eurovision stage if she can polish it. But i’m glad they listened to us regarding the staging. Queen’s chair and darkness was GREAT for it.
Okay, Cecilia fan here. Her song is my favourite out of ALL OF THEM and even I thought there were some pitching issues there. It sounded like there was either heavy playback or backing singers who were A) Out of tune slightly with her or B) She was out of tune with them! But only slightly, because she was able to get back to the notes towards the end. The end bit is always the best bit, but yeah the high notes were a bit off. I was expecting something much different. Like she even looks different to how I… Read more »
Song 14, this is good!!!!
If you can’t dance – don’t dance.
Song 13 (Silver Jusilo – “Lately”) – A lovely man, with an edgy song. The sound mixing wasn’t to my taste here; I would have preferred to hear more of his voice rather than the thumping beats. Plus there wasn’t really any staging here. Visual effects were an afterthought. Nice try, but it’s a “no from me”.
Omg I missed the whole thing! Going to read your commdnts guys…
Viva Ollie!!!!
I didnt like venom, but i like my friend, somehow slightly more appealing to my more easy listening tastes
I prefer My Friend aswell! He brings so much passion! My winner <3
Song 12 (Antsud – “Vetevaim”) – Another one I’m a personal fan of, so it’s hard for me to be non-biased. 6/4 time signature yaas. Sparklers at the end. I mean, I’d just send them to ESC for Estonia now if I could. But that’s just me.
Apparently it’s not a 6/4 time, I have been corrected! It is compound time signature (6/8 + 3/4). Sorry Antsud.
I’ll take 1 Katerina (Go-A) over whatever this is.
Why are the results not being shown yet, hurry up
there are still 3 acts to go??
Song 11 (Sofia Rubina – “Be Good”) – Purple is my favourite colour to wear. Motown influences are in this song. Wearing the “I Am Soul” hat I see. Yeah, this was alright. I love a bit of soul. 🙂
Song 11, this is dreadful.
Coochie-Choohie, ya-ya — Lady Marmalade.
Song 10 (Laura – “Here’s Where I Draw the Line”) – It’s wonderful to see Laura again. I’m always enchanted by her star power. Of course I enjoyed the performance. I can’t really fault it, except perhaps for some of the lyrics not reaching the TV audience; so that’s probably a sound mixing adjustment to be had. Perfect otherwise. 🙂
She’s actually SO underrated.
I don’t think I’ve ever liked one of Laura’s songs. This one is not helping her case
It was much better than expected despite all the negative attacks.
To be fair, her biggest problem is always that her songs are boring. She’s a good singer, and not bad on the performance aspect. But she’s never exciting