November 2019 was full of Eesti Laul-related surprises. Two weeks ago, ERR dropped the full list of names of the 24 artists and songs participating in the Estonian selection. Since then, we’ve also learnt which artists will participate in which semi-final. Now broadcaster ERR has released the competing songs and their music videos.
Following last year’s format, the songs were again debuted on a dedicated TV special, Eesti Laul 2020. Start. The show was hosted by Karl-Erik Taukar and Tõnis Niinemets.
And again, all the competing entries had a music video ready to go. The acts had just ten days to make their clips.
The semi-finals of Eesti Laul 2019 will be held on 13 and 15 February 2020. The grand final will be held on 29 February.
Eesti Laul 2020 semi-final 1
- Anett & Fredi – “Write About Me”
- Egert Milder – “Georgia (On My Mind)”
- INGA – “Right Time”
- Jennifer Cohen – “Ping Pong”
- Kruuv – “Leelo”
- Laura – “Break Me”
- Little Mess – “Without a Reason”
- Rasmus Rändvee – “Young”
- Renate – “Videomäng”
- REVALS – “Kirjutan romaani”
- STEFAN – “By My Side”
- Synne Valtri feat. Väliharf – “Majakad”
Eesti Laul 2020 semi-final 2
- German & Violina – “Heart Winder”
- INGER – “Only Dream”
- Jaagup Tuisk – “Beautiful Lie”
- Janet – “Hingelind”
- Mariliis Jõgeva – “Unistustes”
- Merilin Mälk – “Miljon sammu”
- SHIRA – “Out In Space”
- Traffic – “Üks kord veel”
- Uku Suviste – “What Love Is”
- Uudo Sepp – “I’m Sorry. I Messed Up”
- Viinerid – “Kapa Kohi-LA”
- Ziggy Wild – “Lean On Me”
Which song is your favourite? And who has the best chances to win? Sound off in the comments below!
I think Kapa Kohi-LA will be placing last this year, sure it’s the most unique but I just kinda find the music video grotesque (probably due to the human faces on sausages). Wtf were they thinking with that music video? I feel the staging is gonna be joke-y. As this is really giving off joke song vibes.
Stig Rästa plagiarizing himself, AGAIN. Traffic has an almost note-by-note remix of “Storm”. Seriously, dude, go home! You are getting repetitive. Take a break and return when you finally learn how to compose a song. “Beautiful Lie” is the best of this year’s Eesti Laul but the entry is very risky. In order to appreciate it, you need to tell the whole audience to shut up. And with 17,000 people screaming in the arena, that can be hard to achieve. But overall it is a very good song! Estonia could achieve another Top 10 with this song. “What Love Is”,… Read more »
Uku !!!
Jaggup – When the Arcade is Over.
Lean on me is my favourite
Top 5 for me:
1. Rasmus Randvee – Young
2. Jaagup Tisk – Beautiful Lie
3. German & Violina – Heart Winder
4. Traffic – Üks kord veel
5. Stefan – By My Side
What I don’t understand is how a small country like Estonia has so much talent! This selection is great and there are so many great options! This is a NF that I will not miss!
https://menu.err.ee/1007923/synne-valtri-feat-valiharf-majakad Is the song I instantly liked and have added to my play list. a lot of sleepy songs that will age quickly before May. wIll listen to them all again. Nice to have some new songs
Why is there hate for this edition? It’s SO much better than last year and in my opinion none of the songs are TERRIBLE. But i’m not a huge fan of Ping Pong…
I bet that Arcade-like ballad will win. That’s the effect of a winning song and we will get many ballads and pop songs this year.
But which in turns mean that a bop will win…
2018’s Eesti Laul had indie pop, mainstream pop, pop-opera, alternative rock… so there was some hope this wouldn’t be the new normal for them. Though I agree that the selection is pretty decent. It doesn’t get me hyped to watch, but I’m not worried about Estonia missing the final for example. And there’s a reasonable chance they’ll pick something that I like more than “Storm”, which actually grew on me with time.
Oops, mistyped email.
Got it. It’s not that you disagree that more diversity would be good to the contest (and I never thought that, based on your comments here, of course), but that you understand the selection reflects well the decisions made by their audience recently. It makes sense. And then they indeed had improved their game, since no song is a disaster and about a third of them is very respectable. What worries me is the possibility we’ll see more and more national finals doing this. Eesti Laul was one of my favorites exactly for bringing unexpected things. Even if they hadn’t… Read more »
But we had examples that you can go with a pop sound and still be creative, bold and/or genuine. It had paid off for Israel (2018) and the Netherlands and Italy (2019). I guess beyond deciding to go mainstream or alternative, countries should invest on people who are writing songs to express something and not just to sell tracks to producers around Europe. A national final is the perfect occasion to have both safer and bolder things side by side, trusting the audience and the chosen jury will be wise to find something that can check more than one box.
I was scared reading the comments but to be honest I don’t find the selection that bad. Some pretty strong contenders, my favorites being Rasmus, Traffic, & Shira.
I don’t get how some people are saying that Beautiful Lie sounds like a copy of Arcade, IMO Jaagup is miles ahead of the rest. However, pulling off the choir sound live could be tricky. Maybe ERR should spend their budget on Pentatonix as backing vocals to satisfy the six-person limit XD
In all seriousness, if they choose Jaagup and are able to replicate the choir effect live, I see them *easily* reaching the top 10.
But I think Pentatonix could be problematic, not because of getting them in the first place, but because they are 5 and you need at least one spot for the dancer to achieve the theatrical effect of the dancing. Therefore, I think Estonia would need to arrange the choir for only 4 people
I still have to listen to the other songs, but I listened to Beautiful Lies first after reading all the comments here. Yep, that’s a signed-sealed-delivered qualification and top ten if he sings it as well as he does in the studio recording and the staging reflects the video somewhat with the sharp ballet dancing. The really crucial thing would be having a powerful backing group, since at most it’d be about five people trying to recreate that massive choral sound that works so well in the recording. But yeah, very good stuff. Like the happy medium between Arcade and… Read more »
I’m also curious to find out how the silences during the song will be perceived by a live audience.
I feel like Laura’s song isn’t being given enough credit, I can see her bringing it to life live and doing very well.
I don´t really get the hate for this edition of eesti laul. Sure there isn´t any winner vibes and the selection overall is heavily tailored towards radio pop, but overall it´s much much higher quality than last year´s eesti laul. Plenty of these songs are shoe in qualifiers with decent staging, which couldn´t be said for last year. And theres a number that could do very very well with the juries, potentially bringing them to the left hand side. It´s far from a bad selection, especially for a country which has struggled with wild inconsistency for the greater part of… Read more »
Seeing that I agree with the majority gives me hope oof. Must be jaagup, Rasmus or shira, with jaagup being the clear favourite tbh
Okay, where has Jaagup been, because I think he is INSANELY good. Listened though SF1 and honestly didn’t find any of them that good, and then in comes SF2 and Jaagup and yasssssss!! Beautiful Mess? No, Beautiful LIE <3
I have to say I always take hearing the studio versions with a pinch of salt because at the end of the day I definitely think the live performance can elevate or let down the song. Anyway based on the studio version I think the song who should go to Rotterdam are Jaagup Duisk with Beautiful Lie ( No doubt about it that it has Arcade vibes about it but I think it would have a good chance to qualify to the final) Rasmus Randvee with Young ( I was hoping something more memorable from Rasmus but the song does… Read more »
Every year it’s the same story: When the songs come out everyone complains and then in May they don’t understand how they did well.
Uku has the best change of winning IMO, He has the whole package: strong melody, great lyrics, good voice and good looks.
You had me in the beginning, but Uku is awfull this year.
You had me at the beginning, but Uku’s song is just not good at all.
From the few that I gave a try: Young (Rasmus): Almost there, but there’s something missing Only a dream (Inger): cute as her previous attempt, but a bit stronger Beautiful lie (Jaagup): Sorry but, this is Arcade 2.0. It will probably win tho and maybe do well, since it’s a clear jury bait Out in space (Shira): very interesting, but it requires a lot of stage presence to sell it live I’m sorry. I’m messed up (Uudo): Probably the best song in the selection Overall: My faves: 1. I’m Sorry. I’m Messed Up 2. Out in Space 3. Only a… Read more »
Already added Uudo’s song in my playlist.
My favourites are guaranteed to not win, unfortunately… Kruuv and Ziggy Wild
Jaagup
Good morning, December and happy ESC season 2020!!! 🙂
As we’ll get much less NF songs this year, I won’t just listen to them all in a row and comment on them right away. I’ll do that in my own tempo and comment later or in a first poll.
I am so glad Estonia gave us our first ESC songs to listen to. As Eesti laul usually has good songs on average, I am hopeful. As several of these artists previously had songs I loved, I am even more hopeful. Good luck to everyone!
Happy Eesti Laul to you, Colin!
I think there might be a couple of songs you’ll like here. Looking forward to hearing what you think of them!
Thanks! Only eight songs in and so far I am generally quite happy!
Rasmus Randvee and Stefan didn’t disappoint. I love both of their songs from the first listening (which isn’t always the case for me). 🙂
Looking forward to your thoughts too, Briekimchi!
Stefan’s song is an example of how a simple minimalistic song can be touching and beautiful yet current, unlike Uku Suviste’s dated and cheesy mess.
Pretty sleepy selection with a few gems:
– SHIRA (the best imo)
– Stefan
– Jaagup
I also enjoyed Rasmus and Synne Valtri.
Most else of the songs sounded the same generic pop/ballad type unfortunately.
Rather sleepy selection but it has a few gems:
– SHIRA – “Out In Space” – beautiful, hunting, great voice.
– Jaagup Tuisk – gives you the “wow” factor, emotional heartful, changes paces and keeps things fresh.
– STEFAN – Probably his best entry so far, minimalistic and well put, emotional, I can picture this song in a romantic movie soundtrack.
Am feeling the Stefan song the most but there are five I really like.
Why is everyone sleeping on Merlin? Her song is great and it’s in Estonian.
Jaagup’s song is FUEGO ! I love it !
I’m a little surprised to see so many people sleeping on ‘Write About Me’. Maybe because it’s the first on the list?
The singer has a beautiful voice and it’s a pleasant song, and while it isn’t a potential Eurovision winner I think it deserves to do well at Eesti Laul.
While I do think Beautiful lie is a great song it is similar to Arcade in its sound and Beautiful Mess in its lyrics, especially when he says “Wish we could live in this beautiful lie”. Its a great song but if Estonia is looking to send something unique they should send SHIRA with “Out in Space”. Indie is a genre thats isnt often sent to Eurovision and her voice is magical and would surely stand out in Rotterdam.
From the second semi final:
Beautiful Lie – Jaagup (although I fear the echos of Arcade are too strong to have a real change)
What love is – Uku Suviste
Üks kord veel – Traffic
Heart winder – German & Violina
Unistustes – Mariliiis
Not the biggest fan of how unabashedly Jaagup has taken the influence of Billie Eilish and incorporated it into the song, not just the feel but straight up ripping some of the lyrics.
I know it sounds nitpicky but the “Call me friend but keep me closer” is just a tad too reminiscent. Around the same part of the song, slightly more triumphant sounding but otherwise the same tone and speed. I don’t know. I don’t like it when people so obviously try to rip off the style of something that has been popular in the past year.
From the first Semi final:
Majakad – Synne Valtri ft. Väliharf
By your side – Stefan
Videomäng – Renate
Without a reason – Little Mess
Leelo – Kruuv
Wow SHIRA’s song is incredible, and her voice is just beautiful and unique. My clear favourite of the selection.
Amazing and beautiful song my Winner
I liked miljon Sammu more than any of the English ones but it sounds repetitive
They got a nice chorus but didn’t build up on it
Beautiful lie doesn’t have a sing along quality at all , it’s artistic and intimate but its difficult to connect with a song you can’t sing along to
I think Traffic´s song can really be elevated live
They have the fanbase and could very well wind up as a surprise winner.
Am i the only one really digging Synne Vatri’s song. To me it’s a real bop and I can imagine the (older) crowd clap along. It’s fun and in some weird way original. The other songs seem to me quite… bland.
But the staging means a lot. Some of the slower songs might grow with some live atmosphere.
And congrats Estonia and Eesti Laul. For making videos for all songs and release them already. In a time of interval selection; let openness and democracy rule <3
Jaagup is the best here. I’m scared Uku will win, that song is horrible but it sounds very expensive as if he’s trying super hard to get the ticket.
Very true! I only disagree that it sounds expensive, I dont think it could sound more generic and cheap. I also agree with Polegend that its dated. If Estonia chooses Uku they deserve non qualification.
I can see Uku winning this year.
He has the song that live can sound very powerful.
you’re right but it’s dated asf…
Dated!??!? It’s not dated . It’s an all time classic ballad . This kind of songs don’t have a date on them , like a product.
idk which year y’all live in but that type of power ballad hasn’t been cool since the beginning of the decade in the real world
Il Volo did the same and they won the televoting. Tamara last year won the jury vote. So what are you talking about?
Its not really dated, the production is great.
The problem is the god-awful lyrics.
Same thing as last year – all of these songs sound identical! There’s not a single memorable track out there, nothing that would grab the potential viewer’s attention. After listening to them all in full I just feel like I’ve wasted my time. It was a hard and tiresome process, but the top 10 I came up with is as follows: 10. Janet 4/10 (boring, but at least it promises an energetic performance) 9. Renate 4/10 (it’s alright. Just alright.) 8. Synne Valtri 4.5/10 (laughably corny, yet memorable) 7. Viinerid 5/10 (mediocre, but I gotta give it credit for trying… Read more »
Haven’t mentioned them (the fact it was the first song hasn’t helped me to recall), but I also liked Annet & Fredi. I like how it sounds like a “live studio recording”.
I was expecting for more diversity, but Eesti Laul is still surfing the Spotify-friendly wave from last year. The exception here is Jaagup, who imo went for something between Duncan and Paenda. It’s the most interesting track of the bunch, but it hasn’t sounded as genuine to me as “Arcade” and “Limits”. Maybe with the right live performance, it’ll get there. The others who caught my attention at first were Rasmus and SHIRA. Loved their vocals and the tracks are very enjoyable. Stefan and Uku also delivered good vocals, but I’m not into their songs.
Right? I’ve already found the whole “Spotify trend” alarming this year and haven’t liked the winner one bit, but at least there were songs (namely Sandra’s, INGER’s and Kaia’s) that made the overall experience of watching the show enjoyable. With this selection of entries I don’t feel like watching the show at all. Being middle of the road is not the way to succeed at Eurovision, but it seems like people responsible for organising Eesti Laul keep forgetting about it.
Actually, my first impression was a little better this year. But I agree that there are maybe even more similar songs this time. Unless someone gives a performance that overshadows everyone else, I imagine staging will play a big part again.
i’m mad only 6 of these songs are on spotify. there needs to be a rule that forces u to upload all the songs on streaming services right away, we’re in the 2020s next month !
tea! break me would fit perfectly in miley cyrus’ younger now tracklist.
I am Estonian and my top is:
1. STEFAN – “By My Side”
2. Uku Suviste – “What Love Is”
3. Rasmus Rändvee – “Young”
TASTE!
Bad taste
Then I put my faith in juries.
Jaagup has to win. wow what an amazing song!
just got done listening to the songs n i’m gonna say there are no awful songs but no great ones either, it’s all very middle of the road and the selection is lacking in diversity. there’s potential for a decent result for estonia like last year but they ain’t contenders for anything
Why the heck am I listening to a touristic amateurish jingle for the country of Georgia from Estonia on a saturday evening?