Last week Vajé, Iiris & Agoh, Sibyl Vane, Stig Rästa and Elina Nechayeva won the first five places in the final of Eesti Laul 2018 and tonight five more acts followed in their footsteps during Eesti Laul 2018 Semi-Final 2. Frankie Animal, Evestus, Karl Kristjan & Karl Killing feat. Wateva and Nika all advanced thanks to jury votes, with Eliis Pärna & Gerli Padar joining them on the basis of the televoting Estonian public alone. They’ll all take to the stage during the final on March 3.
EESTI LAUL 2018 SEMI-FINAL 2 FINALISTS
Nika “Knock Knock”
If Kerli was a white walker last year, here comes Khaleesi! Nika was serving it tonight and may have set herself up as a contender for two weeks time in the final.
Evestus “Welcome to My World”
If Conchita and Lordi had a baby, you’d get Evestus. The song itself wasn’t bad, but the overall package is a bit off putting. It made the final over safer acts though, so perhaps this is a dark horse.
Frankie Animal “(Can’t Keep Calling) Misty”
The song had a neo-noir 60s feel and it’s good that Frankie Animal capitalized on that in the staging, because it helps elevate an otherwise pedestrian song. Estonia clearly loves indie bands, so we should expect this to perform well at the final.
Karl Kristjan & Karl Killing feat. Wateva “Young”
The boys can sing, but the staging is very lightweight – essentially the two wandering around the stage and lyrics being flashed across screens. This needs brushing up to challenge during the final.
Eliis Pärna & Gerli Padar “Sky”
The girls vocals sparkled, the song did not. A classic case of vocal over song quality. Although the mirror staging was intriguging. And yet, it advanced to the final, so perhaps the Estonians know something we do not.
EESTI LAUL 2018 SEMI-FINAL 2 NON-QUALIFIERS
Marju Länik “Täna otsuseid ei tee”
For three minutes on stage tonight it was like Dolly Parton was among us – or at least Estonia’s answer to her. Marju served pleasant country balladry and peppered the performance with cute glances at the camera, but it wasn’t enough to make it to the final.
Rolf Roosalu “Show a Little Love”
Rolf has beautiful blue eyes and spent much of the performance blue steeling straight down the camera lens. Which is fortuitous as it distracted from the dated schlager number he was serving on stage.
Indrek Ventmann “Tempel”
Weird sound effects, weirder staging and people ripping open his t-shirt. One of the most promising songs in this year’s lineup marred by distinctly odd staging. What a missed opportunity.
Metsakutsu “Koplifornia”
You can only assume that a lot of questionable substances were involved in all aspects of this. Choppy camera angles and neon overlays can’t compensate for a hideous song. It is a real blessing Estonia didn’t send this through to the final tonight.
Girls in Pearls “Spellbound”
Icy, haunting and electro this really elevated on stage tonight. Unfortunately it may be a case of too little too late, as the song failed to make the final.
There are two weeks now until the final of Eesti Laul 2018, where from the ten finalists, Estonia will pick one act to represent them at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon in May. Estonia’s act will compete in the first half of the first semi-final.
I feel so sorry for Girls in Pearls, one of my early playlist additions. Their dresses, the facial expressions, the light, the camera shots, the sick backdrop – everything worked for me here. Thanks ERR for including this in the line-up!
so much negativity in this article lmao
i loved koplifornia but thanks for just blatantly calling it hideous
(very happy for nika and frankie animal btw)
Koplifornia scares me 😐
Frankki and Nika slayed! So much better than La Forza. I would even say that almost all the entries in this SF is better than fake opera stuff lika La Forza. Just a shame that Indrek didn’t make it. Anyway, Eesti Laul rocks. Estonia shoud export it musical talents to half of the ESC participants and make such a more interesting thing.
I think I might be the only Eurovision Fan on the planet that really doesn’t want La Forza to win. I find the song overrated to all hell!
Stig Rasta or Vaje would be great!
Elina has this… To be honest I haven’t heard anything this year in absolutely loving
Wow, Nika was great! She served some “airport security realness” ^^
Anyway the winner is probably from SF1. Will they still have the “superfinal” system this year?
Yes, there will be the superfinal.
That’s a good Line up, instead of “welcome to my world”. Nika has a good song but the staging was weird. Frankie animal were great. Liked the performance and the atmosphere. “young” had also a weird staging but good vibes. “sky” welcome was a just ok song with great voices.
I don’t think we’ll see anything from this semi in next week’s superfinal…
Nika and Frankie Animal qualified and that is all I cared about in this semi-final. Now I have all of the finalists I wanted, they should practise their applause for when Elina wins (I hope!).
The first semifinal was way stronger but the good thing is that Eesti Laul is very entertaining this year. Even something weird and annoying like Koplifornia brought something interesting to the contest. “Tempel” staging was another good example of how a non-qualifying song can hold someone’s attention with a crazy idea. I wish “Girls in Pearls” had qualified. They are cool. How fun it will be to have something like Evestus on the final? Frankie Animal has a cool indie rock song. The Karls are cute. Ellis & Gerli had a very dated song, but their vocals and the mirror… Read more »
Spellbound was completely on point from all possible angles, how come it didn’t qualify??
Short answer: There were other acts that stood out more.
Long answer: In my opinion, their performance left me a bit cold. I know they are supposed to be under someone’s spell, but it was rather like watching girls who were catatonic – It was a bit uncomfortable. Also, the vocals didn’t come through enough in places.
I’m happy that Evestus qualified. While I don’t think the song is going to land in the top three, I’ve been expecting it to make it to the final for months so I’m happy that it did. I’m really dossaponted that Tempel didn’t make it though.
Since this SF had nothing great, they should’ve sent Indrek to the final, at least the staging was entertaining.
Frankie Animal are amazing and should do well in the final, dont care for the rest
Evestus brought a watered down, pop version of NIN which still looked good.
In fact, it may be no less successful potentially than everyone’s favourite, it has something really different to offer.
I’m glad Eliis Pärna & Gerli Padar qualified. Beautiful and underrated song.
Agreed! Yey, I’m not alone! 🙂
Since I’m supporting “Misty” this year, I watched this one. Surprisingly I really enjoyed it all! 🙂 The song “Sky” was staged very beautifully with a mirror and absolutely deserved to qualify, well done to Eliis & Gerli. Evestus aren’t to everyone’s taste but again the staging of the song was very good. I wasn’t sure what “Koplifornia” was supposed to be about; I’m glad that’s gone. Lastly a shout-out to Nika, who has brought creepy risky choreography to her song, oh my word! 😀 A lot of fun tonight. The final should be great. Remember, can’t keep calling Misty.… Read more »
I love the fact that Evestus qualified, I guess nobody saw that coming 😀 Nothing too unexpected, but the first semi was better… We all know it’s going to be Elina anyway.