We were saddened to hear of the recent death of Tarmo Leinatamm, who passed away from cancer on Monday. He was aged 57.
Tarmo was a member of Kreisiraadio, the comedy group that performed in Belgrade on behalf of Estonia. He, along with Hannes Voro and Peeter Oja, sang the song “Leto Svet”, written in mock Serbian, German, and Finnish. Although the group did not qualify, they had one of the most memorable performances that year.
Leinatamm lived an accomplished life, both with Kreisiraadio and without. He was a prestigious conductor, who worked at Tartu’s Vanemuine theater before moving on to the Estonian National Opera and the Tallinn Philharmonic Society.
He joined Estonia’s Reform Party in 1995, and served in parliament periodically from 2003 until his death.
He will be truly missed.
Kreisiiradio was hilarious, but 1996 and 1997 are what he really should be remembered for. He was the conductor for those two beautiful performances. Rest in peace!
RIP … He did such a remarkable job as conductor when he went to Oslo in 1996 and in Dublin the year after for the two entries of Maarja Liis Ilus. Two of my absolute favourite Estonian entries ever … What he did in 2008 is a blur to me because I loved the musician, and the comedian made more sense in a real comedy set and not in Eurovision. Nonetheless all my respect for the musician himself.
RIP
One of the worst ESC songs ever, but RIP 🙁
RIP Tarmo :'( I was a big fan of him and Kreisiraadio back in 2010