17 February 2024

The 2024 edition of Eesti Laul is not the most exciting one ever. Whoever wins is unlikely to make a huge impact at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö this May. Along with no songs of great interest, a dramatic change in the Eesti Laul format didn’t help matters either.

From the initial 20 songs, five were automatic qualifiers for the final while the other 15 competed in one semi final to determine the other five qualifiers. Considering that the five automatic qualifiers are not anything special, it’s mystifying why the regular two semi finals weren’t used and take 5 from each.

The Semi Final

Held in Tartu 4 weeks prior to the final, taking just 5 songs from 15 would always make the semi final a brutal one. The two non-qualifiers of most interest were Laura with Here’s Where I Draw The Line and Traffic with Wunderbar. Laura has competed in Eurovision before as part of Suntribe in 2005 and then with Koit Toome in 2017, and brought an interesting and evocative ballad to Eesti Laul 2024. Traffic have made frequent attempts to reach Eurovision over the years, and this year changed from their usual indie-rock to this sort of indie-dance? It was fun to see something different.

My Top 10

Due to only half the field performing in the semi final, included here are the music videos to ensure an equal presentation of the ten finalists. In italics are the five automatic qualifiers, four of which fill the bottom half. Click here for the playlist

10 Ewert & The Two Dragons – Hold Me Now

Indie rock. Nothing too interesting, and a bit monotonous. Ewert had two chances to reach the final, as he also participated with Cartoon, as Cartoon & Ewert Sundja, who performed Oblivion.

09 Daniel Levi – Over The Moon

Pleasant ballad with a nice string section.

08 Brother Apollo – Bad Boy

A solid, if somewhat repetitive, rock song.

07 Nele-Liis Vaiksoo – Käte ümber jää

Strong vocals in this dramatic song. There just needs to be a bit more to it, which could be provided with the live performance.

06 Carlos Ukareda – Never Growing Up

A radio friendly and engaging song, with good sentiment in the voice.

05 5miinust x Puuluup – (Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi

A mix of hip-hop and folk. Interesting, distinctive and a little addictive.

04 Peter Põder – Korra veel

Emerged from the semi final via the second chance phase, which the public solely decided. The other three qualifiers were 50/50 jury and public vote. There’s a futuristic, synth feel to Korra veel, and it really pulses with your body.

03 Uudo Sepp & Sarah Murray – Still Love

Sweet, country style of song. Vocals mesh well and there’s a nice journey feel to it. It’s the highest rank of the automatic qualifiers.

02 Ollie – My Friend

Immediately not as impressive as last year’s Venom, once it gets going it really gets going. It’s also a song that takes an extra listen or two to really appreciate. Then it’s a matter of leaving it all on the stage.

01 Anet Vaikmaa – Serotoniin

Pretty girl with a guitar rocking it out, it’s my dream combination. Serotoniin is also an excellent song, with an engaging electronic feel to it. Anet relied on the public second chance vote to qualify, and will need to bring more to her staging to elevate her entry higher in the minds of the public and the jury.

Running Order

01 Brother Apollo – Bad Boy
02 Carlos Ukareda – Never Growing Up
03 Ewert & The Two Dragons – Hold Me Now
04 Anet Vaikmaa – Serotoniin
05 Ollie – My Friend
06 Daniel Levi – Over The Moon
07 Uudo Sepp & Sarah Murray – Still Love
08 Peter Põder – Korra veel
09 5miinust x Puuluup – (Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi
10 Nele-Liis Vaiksoo – Käte ümber jää

Prediction

The betting market has 5miinust x Puuluup the clear favourite, with Ollie the second pick. The rest essentially have zero chance. The running order, with 5miinust x Puuluup going second last and followed by a slower song, only reinforces their position as favourites. Only the international jury seemingly can sabotage their hopes, while one wildcard could be that one of the automatic qualifiers really elevate their song with a superb live performance. Contributing to the favouritism for 5miinust x Puuluup is that they actually presented very well in the semi final. I personally don’t care that much about the result. Anet Vaikmaa won’t win, so I can only hope Ollie pulls off a surprising win instead of finishing second two years in a row.

The Final of Eesti Laul 2024 takes place on Saturday 17 February 2024, starting at 19:30 local time. It will be streamed on the official Eurovision Youtube channel.

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