Estonia ESC Selection (Eesti Laul) 2024 Top 20 With Comments (After Show)

Great national final from Estonia this time around, and an excellent winner that could do exceptionally well at Eurovision. I actually really liked all of my top five as potential winners of the selection, but the top two really were a little bit ahead of everything else. And, sorry to my second place, but Estonia did get this choice right, after getting last year's choice wrong in my opinion.
Wasn't all plain sailing though. The idea to prequalify five acts through to the final directly was a disaster because the selectors had no idea what was a bad song or a good song. We ended up with three songs that almost certainly wouldn't have qualified before put into the final and losing songs that deserved to be there so much more. Let's not do this again, Estonia!
Good luck in May. Dare I say, Talinn 2025 is a possibility?
Oh and last note, most of these clips were completed after the semi final show and I have been sitting on them. If any of the comments seem a bit strange, it might be because I wrote some over a month ago!
Tags:
Eurovision 2024, Eurovision 2024 National Selections, Eesti Laul Top 20 2024,
Entries:
5miinust&Puuluup ( ‪@5MIINUST‬ ) - (Nendest) Narkootikumidest Ei Tea Me (Küll) Midag
Anet Vaikmaa - Serotoniin
Antsud - Vetevaim
Brother Apollo - Bad Boy
Carlos Ukareda - Never Growing Up
Cartoon Ft. Ewert Sundja ( ‪@someonestolemynameewertsundja‬ ) - Oblivion
Cecilia Mägi - Fomo
Daniel Levi ( ‪@danielleviband‬ ) - Over The Moon
Ewert And The Two Dragons ( ‪@EwertandTheTwoDragons‬ ) - Hold Me Now
Inga Tislar ( ‪@thisisinga‬ ) - No Dog On A Leash
Ingmar Kiviloo ( ‪@IngmarKing‬ ) - Dreaming
Laura Põldvere - Here's Where I Draw The Line
Nele-Liis Vaiksoo - Käte Ümber Jää
Ollie Mazurtšak ( ‪@olliewoodollie‬ ) - My Friend
Peter Põder - Korra Veel
Silver Jusilo - Lately
Sofia Rubina - Be Good
Traffic - Wunderbar
Uudo Sepp And Sarah Murray - Still Love
Yonna - I Don't Know About You
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
#Eurovision2024 #EestiLaul2024 #EstoniaEurovision

[@yikesgal4117]

Divorced Mens Fitness Club 😭

[@kaleproject3495]

Are the bodies that need the most love. So keep them in shape. ^^

[@shaiaesc8183]

My personal top 20 (after show) : 1. ) Ollie Mazurtšak - My Friend 2.) Daniel Levi - Over The Moon 3.) Ewert and The Two Dragons - Hold Me Now 4.) Cartoon feat Ewert Sundja - Oblivion 5.) Inga - No Dog On A Leash 6.) Nele-Liis Vaiksoo - Käte Ümber Jää 7.) Cecilia - FOMO 8.) Traffic - Wunderbar 9.) Carlos Ukareda - Never Growing Up 10.) 5miinust&Puuluup - (Nendest) Narkootikumidest Ei Tea Me (Küll) Midagi 11.) Yonna - I Don't Know About You 12.) Anet Vaikmaa - Serotoniin 13.) Antsud - Vetevaim 14.) Ingmar - Dreaming 15.) Peter Põder - Korra Veel 16.) Laura Põldvere - Here's Where I Draw The Line 17.) Sofia Rubina - Be Good 18.) Silver Jusilo - Lately 19.) Uudo Sepp And Sarah Murray - Still Love 20.) Brother Apollo - Bad Boy Since there are a lot of songs I'll just make some detailed comments on the most ''important'' songs where we don't agree on placings and/or our opinions + some more quick thoughts on some NQ songs and also quickly about the pre qualifiers because I have some things to say about them ^^ It'll probably be a long post but there we go xD - I'll start off with the winner tbh and, it's not for me. It feels like another joke-y wacky entry for me overall but at least with an interesting song underneath (it's better than Finland). I have to admit I do struggle to see what this entry has to attract people's attention SO much though, it's all just quite messy, especially the performance, and I think it is meant to be like this considering what the lyrics are saying but that will not work for me regardless. It feels like a televoters magnet because of the wacky performance only for me for those who like these kind of performances. Their ''hey, hey, hey's'' they do repeatedly are actually annoying over time. Overall, my take on this is the song in itself is interesting despite feeling slightly messy as well but I can't like the package, I can't really take the song seriously with these lyrics and staging/performance while the song actually has got potential and it does feel competitive but there are definite shortcomings for me. - Here, I think it is where we probably disagree the most actually ; I think Ollie definitely deserved much more to win this time, especially since I consider My Friend much stronger than Venom honestly. I personally think they made a good choice with Alika last year (maybe not the BEST, but I think it was better than Venom honestly ^^'). Venom was ''good'' but it wasn't ''great''. I strongly believe My Friend would've been a much better showing for Ollie. I am also honestly surprised that my favourite after the actual final ended up being Ollie xD I'm very picky on the sort of rock I like, I'm rarely a fan of rock songs because I feel like many just don't hit, it's a genre in general I'm less attracted to and I am generally not a fan of. My Friend is a great rock song though and these slight electronic touches are lovely. I love your comment about it because that's literally what I felt like, this actually rocks and it's still drawing me into it xD Never doubted Ollie as a vocalist and performer though, I think he's mostly the reason why Venom was so loved, at least personally I do attribute it to him mostly. All in all, on the night, I felt like this was such a clear choice personally, there was absolutely nothing wrong with this and it's quality on every level you could ask for. Really disappointed he wasn't chosen this time around. - Before the show, Daniel Levi was my winner (just ahead of Ollie, my top 2 was pretty much swapped) but I do think there were slight vocal issues here but it's definitely a demanding song so I guess it was always going to be hard to match the studio version, but it did feel slightly weaker for me. Absolutely beautiful song and it's one of these slow songs that I'd qualify as ''quiet storms'', because I actually feel like there is power in the softness of this song. The lyrics are beautiful as well and it just all comes together as very genuine which I truly appreciate. The staging was good. And actually, I think I do get your point about the song ending abruptly : I feel like I'm in such a journey with this song when I listen to it, and his final notes kinda feel like they'd lead you to something just a bit more but then it ends and it's not really fading away softly or anything, it just does end :s - I'll also note Traffic - Wunderbar here because you seem to really dislike it and... Surprisingly, I liked and enjoyed it but as a personal guilty pleasure XD The staging definitely was extremely questionable between the main staging and the awkward zooming on the smiling star moment but I actually liked their vibe and the song was really enjoyable for me, somehow xD It was the feel-good entry of the selection I guess and this one somehow worked xD I'm very probably not going to revisit it, I'm not going to download it, but it was just enjoyable, it made me smile when it was on xD About some of the NQs I feel like talking about : - Oblivion was such a great song but that staging was not good. I do understand why this didn't qualify there. The creepy people wearing masks around him were really not what I woud have seen for this song's staging ; I know it's a dark song but come on... that didn't work at all :s - Confused why No Dog On A Leash didn't qualify because I thought everything was solid there and I really liked the song, the production was indeed creative. I don't really see what was the issue there tbh. Did people feel like it was too ''experimental'' to vote for it ? - I do think FOMO was definitely overrated but that's also a song I would have had in the final. I think it was good, didn't feel like Cecilia's vocals were actually troublesome like I've seen people saying. They were fine for such a song being performed live, heard much worse. I do think her vocals felt too breathy during the verses though but I thought it was more a vocal style choice that the song also demanded, although that is something I'm not fond of. I just do think it was one of the best songs and while it's not as clear as No Dog On A Leash, I still think it deserved the final. - Finally, I Don't Know About You was a song I really enjoyed in studio version but there definitely was actually something weird with this live. Audio issues, bad mixing or the song was always supposed to be like this ? I don't know but it did feel different. About the pre-qualifiers : I don't think it was a right choice to make such a system, especially since, if they did do it for diversity, you could've 1000% had Ollie pre-qualify over Brother Apollo as the rock song representative xD But anyway, to make a quick point about it, I think 2/3 of the 5 prequalifiers were justified talking about quality/diversity ; Daniel Levi, Nele-Liis Vaiksoo and Carlos Ukareda although the last one I can understand why you'd argue. I just also really respect singer-songwriters and feel like he is genuine with his entries, despite them not being very competitive. I actually enjoyed both his entries. But... Brother Apollo really wasn't the best rock song of the selection and it actually wasn't good in my opinion, while Still Love is just incredibly uncompetitive and didn't actually feel genuine either. Definitely agree we could have had better songs qualify instead of them and overall, I do feel like we could've just had the 5 more spots open in the semifinal, have Daniel Levi and Nele-Liis Vaiksoo quite certainly qualify, Carlos Ukareda probably not which I'm slightly sad about because I thought it did add some diversity and isn't actually bad, but still, have 3 (hopefully) other good songs qualify instead. Overall, I do think this system was unneccessary in my opinion and I do think Estonia should drop it.

[@kaleproject3495]

With Ollie, we agree but disagree. It's a bit strange. I think "My Friend" is clearly a better song than "Venom". The instrumental is richer and has more going for it, it's heavier in general, and the lyrical content is less divisive. My issue is that I find "Venom" so much better than "Bridges" and "My Friend" not to be as strong as this year's winner. I'm never going to buy into this narrative that "Bridges" was a great choice for Eurovision because of its result. It was really close to NQing. My main issue with Wunderbar is that I have actually consistently liked Traffic at Eesti Laul. I rated both their last two attempts highly and they have a certain style to them. This didn't fit for me at all, and honestly, this sort of Eurodance isn't really something I want a band capable of better putting out there. Objectively, it's probably stronger than a couple of songs I had ahead of it, but I did actually dislike it, so had to put it there. As for the pre-qualifiers, awful system. I'm looking at it now through the lens of genre diversity and am wondering if they deliberately picked five songs that they thought would struggle to get through a semi. If that's the case, just don't have the semi at all. Agree with you about Daniel and Nele-Liis being deserving. Carlos would be borderline. I could see why they might want him in the final but it wasn't a competitive song. I feel less strongly about the pre-qualifiers being particularly wrong since the SF voting still sent Anet and Peter Poder through over much better options. So who knows? Maybe they'd have ended up voting for Carlos there, anyway? We don't know the reason for this system, but based merely on the quality of the potential lineup in terms of songs, it should go.

[@shaiaesc8183]

@@kaleproject3495 Yeah I know, the issue being I personally think Ollie was a bit overrated last year and wasn't the best option for the reasons I said. In my opinion, Lighthouse (Sissi's entry), Bridges and probably a bit more by personal taste than being the most competitive, Why Do You Love Me (Andreas Poom) were better entries than Venom and I do believe Lighthouse/Bridges were better Eurovision choices. I loved Why Do You Love Me because it felt a bit like the Daniel Levi of last year to me I guess, but not the most competitive, I know xD And I personally think My Friend is better than this year's winner of Eesti Laul so that's where we'll disagree. Well I don't know tbh. The thing is I believe power ballads are always going to be underrated/less voted by people most of the time so I'm not too surprised it was the tenth qualifier, but I personally believe it was better than some of the other qualifiers of last year's semi they were in and I'd still grant it the benefit of being such an entry still qualifying in a televote entry semi. As said though, I don't think Bridges was the BEST choice to make at Eesti Laul and for Eurovision (Sissi would've been my pick), but I still believe it was better than Venom, Venom lacked something that My Friend happened to have, for me. Venom would probably have done better with televoters but I don't think it would've been a massive televote still and I believe juries would have not been as supportive as they were with Bridges either, I would have guessed it would've achieved a worse result than Bridges or Lighthouse overall because of this, not getting massive points in any of the vote but being ''mid'' table. And I think televoters would have connected better to Sissi's Lighthouse than Bridges if it had been chosen but we will never know. That's my opinion on it though ^^ I see, I don't remember having been a fan of Traffic personally, unfortunately. Yeah, don't have anything else to say about that, definitely agree with you there ^^

[@wystxrr]

Their choice is actually way too good why do I like this so much 😭 lowkey the best new song we got this weekend

[@kaleproject3495]

As someone who likes, but does not love, the Lithuanian entry, I am in agreement.

[@wystxrr]

@@kaleproject3495 I kinda hate it 😭 it’s in my bottom 3 with Moldova and finland

[@Agju]

There seems to be a raucous quality to this year's ESC (Bambie Thug, Gate, 5miinust, etc) and i rather like it

[@kaleproject3495]

If only there were some act that did well last year that we could attribute this to? o.O

[@Zakrusta]

Inga was a big shocker to me honestly. I absolutely loved everything that happened in the live that she managed to be my winner over Ollie. I've always had Inga surprisingly high in my tops, and I'm glad that didn't stop this year too when I least expected it. 5miinust & Puulup is still a great winner, definitely, but I really damn wished it was Ollie's year. I finally noticed just how much better My Friend actually is compared to Venom. Oh well, I can't get everything can I.

[@kaleproject3495]

There was one entry of Inga's that I didn't really like but this was completely different to that. So it was never an issue here. I really liked how creative this one was and how different it was to the other songs in the lineup. It took the live performance to really separate it from the other female soloist offerings but, in the end, it was clearly the best. Was it winner level? Probably closer than many would think had they given it a proper chance. I think almost everyone is in the same boat with Ollie. It's like, you should have won in 2023, and you came back with an even better song, yet, you're not winning again AND it's the right decision. When you say it like that, it almost doesn't make sense. Yet, they sent what they had to send. "My Friend" is an easy top ten Eurovision song, but when you have a potential winner, no matter even if that potential is just slight, you have to do it. I support the choice and hope that Ollie wants to give it a third go, even if I completely understand him not wanting to.

[@lahavzaken6638]

I'm pretty satisfied but my winner was Ollie again. His song was even better than Venom and deserved to go to Eurovision so much. It's a shame that he's come 2nd 2 years in a row now.

[@kaleproject3495]

This time felt unavoidable but last year should've been different.

[@JustK4Y1512]

I actually like Brother Apollo 😢

[@kaleproject3495]

That's more than ok! It's not for me, but they're definitely putting something different out there, so it makes sense that some will like it more than I do. ^^

[@jere_diekralle7284]

Hello My Top 20: 20. Vetevaim- 3/10 19. Käte ümber jää- 3.5/10 18. Still Love- 4.5/10 17. Heres where I draw the Line- 4.5/10 16. Be Good- 5/10 15. Lately- 5.5/10 14. I don´t know about you- 6/10 13. Oblivion- 6/10 12. Dreaming- 6/10 11. Never Growing Up- 6.5/10 10. Bad Boy- 7.5/10 9. No Dog on a Leash- 7.5/10 8. Korra Veel- 8/10 7. Over the Moon- 8/10 6. Fomo- 8.5/10 5. Wunderbar- 9/10 4. Serotoniin- 9/10 3. Hold me Now- 9.5/10 Agree here, this one surprised me Live. And it has such a relaxing Vibe 2. My Friend- 10/10 Obviously I love his Music a lot, and this song is absolutely Awesome. Love its riffs, and the way how it builds up 1. (nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi- 10/10 This was 100% the right winner. Exactly the Type of Awesomeness I need, and considering the impact it has on me its close to Cha Cha Cha last year.

[@kaleproject3495]

It's a great top three, obviously. ;) Is any national final going to be able to match that top three of ours? Maybe Lithuania, maybe Serbia later...but otherwise, it's been a great year for Eesti Laul. In reality, Käte ümber jää coming third ahead of Over The Moon was a bit strange. Want to know your thoughts about Oblivion though. Didn't expect to see it rated/ranked so low by you!

[@jere_diekralle7284]

@@kaleproject3495 Well I probably have very few thougts on it. Its nice but doesnt grab me

[@kaleproject3495]

@@jere_diekralle7284 The staging did attempt to be a bit thought-provoking but fail I guess!

[@groot1421]

Wunderbar 15 places too low 😭😭😭

[@kaleproject3495]

Groot with the surprise Wunderbar love! o.O

[@theonlyraid]

Studio version was good. Live kinda fell flat

[@pauli.8903]

20. Can't say I disliked it that much but surely it had to be compared to Ollie... and lose. 19. I kinda enjoyed it. Of course I agree it's incompetitive but I was somehow captivated by the song and his delivery. 18. I think it's the worst mix of voices in a duo I've ever heard. Ear torture-level. Agree about the sick sweetness of the song as well. 17. When we all thought that Stig Rasta singing Victor Crone's song is the worst letdown Eesti Laul lineup had to offer: enter Traffic... 16. I hope the title is a promise. Never been a fan of hers and her previous efforts but this was below all expectations I could have. Boring and annoying at the same time. 15. His previous attempt at least had a memorable title, this one has memorable... nothing. Can't say I have a hard time when I hear it, but the moment it finishes - Carlos who? 14. I believe you need some level of taste to present it. The song itself is a really nice jazzy thing, Sofia can sing and deliver it vocally... but what the hell was going on on stage? 13. I was somehow concerned about Peter. He sounded as if he was suffering. My ears had to suffer as well. 12. This one had at least some early-2000-charm about being as naive as possible and Annet delivered it in a pleasant way. Can't say I enjoyed it too much but it was an ok qualifier for me. 11. Agree about artificial sounding, I liked how it sounded at the very start but then... meh. 10. It's a nice old-fashioned ballad, epic and well-presented enough to be somehow competitive... but ending up in top-3 of the final, seriously? 9. Never liked it. Too fast-paced, too shouty, too patchy. 8. Can't say it worked for me, I found it all cheap and particularly disliked Ingmar with his I'm-a-new-Frank-Sinatra attitude :| 7. I like their style and their approach but all their songs are like... nice to listen to in the background, but a bit too monotonous for the competition. 6. Great verses with choruses falling a bit flat. But I really liked the style and the creativity behind the song and it all looked very convincing, so I think this was my favourite this year. 5. For me it was quite an average drum-n-bass song, nothing too outstanding, but I agree that the way they staged it was... weird. 4. Unlike Ingmar's song this one did work for me as well - which was a surprise for me as I never liked Levi. Caught myself having goosebumps in some moments. 3. I liked this as well and was happy about their qualification too. It has a rare mix of an anthemic feeling and authentic sincerity to it which I found really captivating. 2. I still believe 'Venom' was better. But anyway in the superfinal Estonia had chosen he had to win... 1. ... because for me this one is just... no. I admit - I don't get it, I can't get it, I won't get it. Their song, their dances, their attitude - it's like a joke everybody but me understands, they all annoy me to incredible levels. A bit better than Finland but that's all good I can say about this D:

[@shaiaesc8183]

Just going to leave a little comment to say you aren't the only one who doesn't get the winner, so it's okay x) Definitely better than Finland because the song is actually interesting in this case but it just feels so messy to me, especially performance wise. I'm not going to be a fan of this either ^^'

[@kaleproject3495]

It sounds as if I liked a few more songs than you did in this lineup, but that's ok! Am really happy with your favourite being what it is. It is a song that keeps growing on me and I find more things about it to like with every listen. My top five is pretty set, so I can't see it moving it up anymore but am happy where it is. The winner is going to do this to people. After last year, where Estonia went for something that nobody could say was terrible, very few could say it was brilliant. I think this is a good approach for them to go for something that has that upside where it could be a lot of people's favourite song. I've had some interesting talks about its jury potential, too. Most think juries are going to tank it, but I'm not quite so sure. ;)

[@thel8624]

My opinions (in order of your ranking) 20. Yeah, not a fan. 4/10 19. Uncompetitive is the perfect word for this. 5,5/10 18. Nothing special. 6/10 17. This one grew on me a bit, and now I actually find it pleasant. Thankfully wasn't a serious contender. 7/10 16. Laura, you're better than this. 3/10 15. Kinda reminds me of early Shawn Mendes. 7/10 14. Overhated. 6,5/10 13. Interesting ideas that should have been executed better. 6,5/10 12. This was actually my favourite. This sound just works really well for me. 8,5/10 11. Nice, but uneventful. 7/10 10. Most forgettable song here. At least it's in Estonian. 5/10 9. I get why this didn't do better, but still it should have. 8/10 8. I appreciate how unpredictable it is. 7/10 7. I should appreciate it, but it's too repetitive for me. 5,5/10 6. Underappreciated. 8/10 5. ^ 8/10 4. Would have been a decent choice. 8/10 3 I respect it more than I like it. 6,5/10 2. Took a bit to grow on me. Pretty good, but not nearly as good as Venom. 7,5/10 1. This was clearly the right choice and I hope it does well. 8,5/10

[@kaleproject3495]

Your winner does seem to have quite a few fans. I see it in the national final tops lists a lot, so it must be doing something right! I am glad you seem pretty ok with the top two in the selection and the winner. I'm optimistic for Estonia's chances and hope that Ollie does get his chance sooner rather than later.