18 February 2024

Unsurprisingly, 5miinust x Puuluup have won Eesti Laul 2024 with the song (Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi, and will present Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö in May. For the second year in a row Ollie (My Friend) finished second while Nele-Liis Vaiksoo (Käte ümber jää) surprisingly finished third. The online translation of winning song’s title is, “We don’t (yet) know anything about (these) drugs”, which I can only speculate relates to something they gave the Estonian people. Now you do know. You won. The drugs worked!

5miinust x Puuluup were the big favourites going into the Eesti Laul final, and only a crazed international jury was likely to the sabotage the desire of the Estonian people. Even there, the recent tradition of music “experts” sourced from around the world, most dubiously from the USA, were replaced by fans, bloggers and artists actually associated with Eurovision. Where 5miinust x Puuluup might have been ranked really low in the past, this particular jury had them a close third, which was always good enough for the public to propel them into the super final, along with Ollie (third with jury) and Nele-Liis Vaiksoo (second). The win also marks the return of the Estonian language to Eurovision for the first time since 2013, curiously also in Malmö, when the wonderful Birgit Õigemeel (now Sarrap) reached the final with Et uus saaks alguse.

Results

Eesti Laul do not reveal the full public results for a few days, so we only know the official places following the first round of voting, and then the super final. Although, it was mentioned 5miinust x Puuluup received 60% of the vote in the super final, which is decided solely by the public. A combination of the jury and public decided the three songs into the super final.

Super Final

01 5miinust x Puuluup – (Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi
02 Ollie – My Friend
03 Nele-Liis Vaiksoo – Käte ümber jää

Other Places

04 Daniel Levi – Over The Moon
05 Anet Vaikmaa – Serotoniin
06 Carlos Ukareda – Never Growing Up
07 Ewert & The Two Dragons – Hold Me Now
08 Uudo Sepp & Sarah Murray – Still Love
09 Peter Põder – Korra veel
10 Brother Apollo – Bad Boy

Review & Score

01 Brother Apollo – Bad Boy (6)

So, following Croatia last year and Finland this year, the underwear theme continues, this time with the lead singer revealing underwear pulled up his crack and “bad boy” written on his butt. Noting the band are from Finland, perhaps it’s a cultural thing. Bad Boy was an ok song, if not a bit repetitive, and the band performed it well. While last place seems harsh, it was a fairly even competition outside the top two.

02 Carlos Ukareda – Never Growing Up (7)

The best of the slower songs, with the interesting line “we go from breaking up to making love, seems like we are never growing up”. It’s not a real break up if you return to banging each other so fast. This always had nice sentiment and was easy to like. Carlos also presented it beautifully, and really engaged the audience. Sixth placed was from one or two places lower than deserved.

03 Ewert & The Two Dragons – Hold Me Now (5)

Popular with the crowd for some reason, and was one of the top 3 qualifiers from the semi final. It’s a bit ponderous for me, and to make matters worse, it got 12 points from one member of the jury over Anet Vaikmaa. Why? How? Give me a break!

04 Anet Vaikmaa – Serotoniin (9)

Thumping song with a pulsating rhythm. Anet mixed up the vocals nicely and provided an engaging and energetic performance, which was aided by 6 people on stage, compared to just 3 in the semi final. There was great interaction with the band, the guitar solo just rocked, and then she brings the whole thing to a delightful conclusion. Watching it again as I write, it reinforces everything I felt this morning. It’s brilliant. At one stage it looked like Anet might make the super final as she was well liked by the jury, finishing fourth and just 6 points from second. The public ranked her only fifth, which is a minor surprise, since she was one of the two public wildcard qualifiers from the semi final (Peter Põder the other). Helping Anet stand out further was this year’s Eesti Laul mostly contained rock songs and ballads. She was the only female pop entry in the final and one of just two pop entries overall, with Peter Põder the other. Along with Nele-Liis, she was only one of two solo women too.

05 Ollie – My Friend (8)

Rocked it out as best he could; there was just another song, like last year with Alika and Bridges, that was much preferred. Best for Ollie to take a year or two off Eesti Laul and note that Estonians are sympathetic people, and will reward you in time. Just ask Stefan and Uku Suviste.

06 Daniel Levi – Over The Moon (6)

Daniel would be over the moon to finish fourth with what I found to be quite a static entry. Perhaps that it was a little more different from the other slower songs, with a slight acoustic feel, and the noteworthy string sections and the staging that helped it perform well, finishing fourth.

07 Uudo Sepp & Sarah Murray – Still Love (7)

Did not resonate as expected. Lacked the emotion you’d expect between a male and female duo, especially with such a nice song. Eighth place is probably about right in the circumstances, and we discover Sarah Murray is from Norway.

08 Peter Põder – Korra veel (7)

Nice graphical effects at times, and I love the futuristic synth sound. The jacket got a good update from the yellow option in the semi final, and the whole presentation looked snappier. Many semi final acts do withhold something, or make changes, for the final. Peter simply did not add enough. It was all just a bit too generic to be one of three entries to be mostly ignored and, hence, finished in ninth place. Brother Apollo and Uudo Sepp & Sarah Murray being the other two.

09 5miinust x Puuluup – (Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi (6)

Very popular with the audience as they sang along and then swept them to victory. 5miinust are a popular hip-hop group in Estonia, and the addition of folk added a novel element to the entry. For me, while it was fine and mildly entertaining, there’s nothing special to it, and the novelty wears off fast, with it bordering on a joke entry. At least they kept their pants on.

10 Nele-Liis Vaiksoo – Käte ümber jää (7)

This was really about the beautiful vocals, because I did not find anything especially riveting about the song. Being one of just two solo women, and the only female ballad, no doubt helped Nele-Liis stand out and help her finish third.

Update: Eesti Laul deleted their official channel and only transferred performances of the three super finalists to the ERR channel. For the music videos of the other finalists, check my preview of the final.

This was largely a forgettable Eesti Laul this year. Except for eventually gravitating strongly to Anet Vaikmaa, no songs from any of the original 20 were really that compelling, and we have a winner that no rehab could fix as it’s simply not my thing. In terms of performances, only two excelled, Anet Vaikmaa and Ollie. On the plus side, nothing stunk, which meant an average score of 6.8 and putting this edition of Eesti Laul well into the good range. Last year was 6.7 and before that 6.6.

My Top 10

01 Anet Vaikmaa – Serotoniin (9)
02 Ollie – My Friend (8)
03 Carlos Ukareda – Never Growing Up (7)
04 Peter Põder – Korra veel (7)
05 Nele-Liis Vaiksoo – Käte ümber jää (7)
06 Uudo Sepp & Sarah Murray – Still Love (7)
07 5miinust x Puuluup – (Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi (6)
08 Daniel Levi – Over The Moon (6)
09 Brother Apollo – Bad Boy (6)
10 Ewert & The Two Dragons – Hold Me Now (5)

Carlos Ukareda made the biggest jump following my preview – from 6th to 4th. Nele-Liis Vaiksoo jumped from 7th to 5th, while Uudo Sepp & Sarah Murray made the biggest drop from 3rd to 6th. As for the winner, 5miinust x Puuluup, they dropped from 5th to 7th, and I was even considering bumping them below Daniel Levi.

Last year’s Eesti Laul winner, Alika, performed her song, Bridges, with the Bedwetters as an interval act. Embedding of the video has been disabled so click here to watch the performance.

Yep, this will be a rare Eurovision in which I won’t have much interest in Estonia. That’s fine too. These national finals are mostly meant to please the locals, and it’s definitely an exciting victory for them. If Estonians are happy, I’m happy. Let’s see if Europe catches on in Malmö.

22 February 2024 – Update

Full Results

Finally the organisers of Eesti Laul released the full results, and unsurprisingly 5miinust x Puuluup dominated with the public throughout. While only second overall in the semi final, they more than doubled the public vote of the overall winner, Ollie. The public’s top five were 5miinust x Puuluup, Ollie, Ingmar (Dreaming), Laura (Here’s Where I Draw The Line) and Traffic (Wunderbar). Both Laura and Traffic were highlighted in my preview of the final as the two most interesting entries the semi final to not progress.

The jury ranked Ollie fourth and 5miinust x Puuluup seventh. Their favourite acts were those involving Ewert Sundja: Ewert & The Two Dragons and Cartoon & Ewert Sundja (Oblivion). Then came Inga (No Dog On A Leash), Ollie and Traffic (Wunderbar).

Overall in the semi final, it was Ollie, 5miinust x Puuluup, Ewert & The Two Dragons, Traffic and Ingmar. The top three qualified for the final.

A second round of voting, decided by the public only, saw Anet Vaikmaa win ahead of Peter Põder. Curiously, Peter Põder finished only 13th of 15 with the public in the first round, so there was a major change in sentiment there. Anet Vaikmaa was their sixth favourite.

In the final, the international jury were more favourable to 5miinust x Puuluup than the Estonian one in the semi final, as the group finished a close third behind Ollie and Nele-Liis Vaiksoo. The public flipped the top two as 5miinust x Puuluup more than doubled Ollie’s public vote. Daniel Levi finished third ahead of Nele-Liis Vaiksoo and Anet Vaikmaa. Combined results saw Ollie win overall ahead of 5miinust x Puuluup and Nele-Liis Vaiksoo. In the super final decided solely by the public, 5miinust x Puuluup again more than doubled the votes of Ollie, winning 26,422 to 12,494, with Nele-Liis Vaiksoo collecting 5014 votes.

Estonia: Eesti Laul 2024 Final – Preview & My Top 10

Estonia: Alika Wins Eesti Laul 2023 with Bridges – Review