Edgy, arty, Estonia! Tallinn’s road to Ukraine kicked off tonight with the first semi-final of its national selection Eesti Laul 2017. After taking the stage to sing for survival, ten became five and Elina Born, Ariadne, Ivo Linna, Karl-Kristjan & Whogaux feat. Maian, and Lenna Kuurmaa emerged on top. They’ll compete in the final to be held at Saku Suurhall on March 4.
EESTI LAUL 2017 SEMI-FINAL 1 QUALIFIERS
Elina Born – “In or Out”
Serving 1960s Bond Girl, Elina oozed sex and sass, proving that she is most definitely in. So much so that we keep joking tonight wasn’t a semi-final, but rather The Elina Born Show with nine other acts meant to make her look good. She really owned the stage and should contend on March 4.
Ariadne – “Feel Me Now”
She stood alone, but she stood strong on stage tonight. People have been comparing her to pop starlets Zara Larsson and Ariana Grande, but tonight Ariadne did her. It was simple, but that let the song shine. They might want to reassess those screens though, they so 2000 and late.
Ivo Linna – “Suur loterii”
People (international Eurovision fans) are calling him Estonia’s answer to Hasse Anderson and in the sense that he’s old and a rocker they aren’t too wide of the mark. This was sweet, simple but actually better than both of the other rock efforts. Expect this to perform well on the night, out of Estonian love, but not actually challenge for the win. He’s winning on Instagram though – An account launched during the show added 10k followers in 10 minutes!
Karl-Kristjan & Whogaux feat. Maian – “Have You Now”
This is one of the most chart friendly songs in the competition, but the staging was a little underwhelming. There’s very little eye contact through the performance and the backing dancers are distracting. Making the vocalists less static would give this much more life.
Lenna Kuurmaa – “Slingshot”
The former vanilla ninja served tai chi realness on stage. With slick choreography and slicker vocals, Lenna well and truly earned her place in the final. It helps when you’ve been in the Estonian national final as many times as she has.
EESTI LAUL 2017 SEMI-FINAL 1 ELIMINATED ACTS
Carl-Philip – “Everything But You”
Uku Suviste – “Supernatural”
Laura Prits – “Hey Kiddo”
Janno Reim & Kosmos – “Valan pisaraid”
Leemet Onno – “Hurricane”
Eesti Laul continues next week with a second semi-final, where another five acts will advance to the grand final and five will be shown the door. Tallinn does not mess around y’all!
On March 4 the grand final will take place where one act will win the ticket to represent Estonia in Kyiv. Estonian broadcaster ERR will he hoping to avenge Jüri Pootsmann’s last place finish in the semi-final. After being touted as a potential winner in 2017, perhaps 2017 will be Tallinn’s year.
Who’s your favourite act that qualified tonight? Did someone get knocked out? Let us know in the comments!
Photo: Karli Saul
Having shut myself out from the results long enough, I finally got around to watching the first semi of Eesti Laul. This round was incredibly hard to grade. 9.313 Uku Suviste: “Supernatural” His use of the stage and screens, slightly more than the vocal performance, drove my scores to where it ended up. I thought he was sure to qualify. 9.275 Leemet Onno: “Hurricane” Another non-qualifier who I thought proved himself on stage. I take it they want to avoid the same pitfalls that did Jüri Pootsmann in at ESC, no? 9.25 Carl-Philip: “Everything But You” Based on what I… Read more »
Amazing songs from Elina, Lenna, Ariadne and Ivo but for christ’s sake, ERR turn the microphone volume up!!! It’s hard to hear the singers to be frank!
ARIADNE – FEEL ME NOW
I love this, i like song its so catchy, staging can be better but she SHINES! She let her song do the job. Its different, i never heard this relaxed song do so much! It is gonna make blast at Kyev! I enjoyed, an i see crowd is swinging. GUYS THIS IS THE ONE! VOTE FOR THIS!
P.S.
You can se crowd at Eurovision jumping to this!? ???
Elina and Ariadne were amazing! I want one of them to represent Estonia, because the winner will be they, Kerli or Laura and Koit…
Carl-Philip was my favorite going in, but those vocals were not good, ouch. I expected Elina to do very well so not surprised she was the star tonight. Lenna surprised me with that interesting choreography. Ariadne was my 2nd fav before tonight. Ok singing, empty, boring staging. And the live had that annoying sound effect in the chorus that isnt too noticeable in the studio version, what were they thinking? The electronic group impressed me but I don’t really like the girl’s vocals, I’d like it more with just the guy singing. And well Ivo, not a bad song and… Read more »
Hope Estonia sends Kerli!
I finally had the chance to watch these all back. 1. Elina is miles ahead of the competition – that staging is PERFECT for the song! It will probably be her v. Kerli in the final. Other mentions: 2. Lenna Kuurma was my second favourite of the night – a beautiful performance with dancers and great choreography. 3. Ivo Linna was spot-on excellent – he had a very good night. I’m both surprised and pleased for him. 4. Whogaux were better than I expected, although having the singers face away from each other made it look like they were singing… Read more »
Elina definitely the front of the pack. Leemet and Lenna were my next favourites. While I didn’t like his song I have a soft spot for all the old people so Ivo managed to work his way into my top 5. I feel like I’m the only one who will say this but I liked Uku’s Supernatural but the visuals killed it for me
Elina, totally objectively (and expectedly), slayed the pack here. This semi was hers for the taking. Glad she delivered, both vocally as well as visually. My only issue with the performance was the first 10 seconds – I don’t think she should be going that low live. It sounds ok on the studio version but it doesn’t really convey as well live. Wish her team would change that. Everything else was perfection. Lenna’s staging and good live vocals really elevated this song. I love her to death and found her entry this year to be a little boring but now… Read more »
My fav was Slingshot before Show, but it felt bland on stage, it’s only my 5th now :0 Ivo Linna is my new fav, it’s just so charming, and i feel like i am the only one who likes it.
Carl-Philip shouldhave qualified, I’m sad for him…
First of all, Elina was amazing! The song is good and her performance was better.
Glad Ariadne went through, though the performance was dissapointing.
I didn’t expect Ivo Linna and Lenna Kuurmaa. Don’t really like “slingshot”.
Karl-Kristjan & Whogaux feat. Maian had a nice performance, though I am not still a fan.
In our out, This love and Feel me now, according to studio versions, are by far my favs in Estonia, but Feel me now performance just left me bored 🙁
Elina, on the other hand, S L A Y E D. And all of you criticising her for being too sexy
Deal. With. It. She’s just so good, both vocally and looking 😉
Lenna didn’t dissapoint me, but I expected that she’ll make it through. ‘Feel Me Now’ was almost a flop live, lazy lazy job.
I have to say I don’t like the stage this year, so flat. Elina even had to roll around ring-0 to mask bad song with sassy sex-appeal, that’s how bad stage was.
Semi 2 winners should be Kerli, Rasmus and Laura/Koit. 🙂 They are the only ones who could challenge Elina for the win.
I liked Carl-Phillip’s song, BUT, his live is…below mediocre. I would never want to hear that again live.
“This Love” is my winner. See ya in two weeks Eesti, make the wise choice.
I really like Ariadne’s song but I have to admit live it was a bit disappointing. I guess it’s just not meant for a TV show, it’s more like a radio song.
If y’all thought this semi was bad, semi final two next week is gonna be BRUTAL! Get your handkerchiefs ready, cause it ain’t gonna be pretty!
Carl Philip… 🙁
After all the class of Goodbye to Yesterday, I felt a bit put out by the staging and presentation of In or Out, didn’t like it at all.
Was anyone else a thoroughly amused by the Mans Zelmerlow wannabe as I was? The only thing that was more cringeworthy were the lyrics to his song.
So glad Ariadne made it through, her song is my favourite, but she really has to work on that lackluster staging.
Really annoyed Ariadne made it over Carl-Philip. Her song never goes anywhere.
But yay for Elina, Ivo, and Lenna.
So HAPPY for Elina! The performance was SO SEXY! 🙂
Yet, I am disappointed Leemet Onno didn’t make it :-\
@Marx: Lennas´ song sounded, in some parts, like Through My Window recycled. well, she is trying to save the planet, after all.
@TOMMY: and Rasmus. the only song I would listen to if it wasnt an Eesti laul song
Now Kerli, Koit & Laura and Liis need to qualify next week and we’ll have an amazing Eesti Laul final!
Elina’s performance was the sexiest thing ever.
Sad that Carl didn’t got in.. Honestly Lenna didn’t deserve a spot because her song is sadly quite forgetable and stage presence doesn’t improving it as much as it should..
ugghhh. Ariadnes´ song is not good at all. But I don´t much care, second semi is so much stronger.
I’m happy Ariadne made it through, although her stage presence isn’t the most compelling in the world… And I could have lived without ‘In or Out’…
I think you meant to say that 2018 will be Tallin’s year? Also – were there results of the televote? For the love of God let Elina take this out – because while Ariadne’s song sounds fine, that performance was D-U-L-L
Ariadne was only saved by the second round voting. All 4 other acts got more votes in the first round.
Happy for the older men! Great song! Als happy for my two faves Elina and Lenna. 🙂
Ugh, the Closer ripoff and the H&M background tune passed through. But I won’t be too salty since Ivo Legendinna and Lenna Kuurmaa are also in the final.
I wanted Carl-Philip to qualify. Other than that, I’m happy with the results.