As we continue the build up to Estonia’s selection process Eesti Laul, we caught up with the lovely Airi Ojamets who will be trying to represent Estonia at Eurovision for a third time.
Firstly how does it feel for you to be taking part in Eesti Laul?
This is my third time now to participate in the Estonian entry for Eurovision and I feel very happy to do it again after 10 years. It is a great chance for a singer to get lots of publicity and performances. Also, it is such an exciting adventure! 🙂
Your song is called “Saatuse laul”, can you tell us a bit about the song and why you submitted it into Eesti Laul?
“Saatuse Laul” means The Song Of Destiny. The music was made by Urmas Kõiv and lyrics by his wife-Anneli Kõiv. I didn`t actually know them before “Saatuse laul”. About the exact procedure of that song, only the authors can tell you, but i can tell you, how this song found me. I had already made one song in two languages (Estonian and English) for this contest “Eesti Laul 2015” and I was preparing show and plans for that one. 2 weeks before the deadline, when the songs had to be given to the contest jury, an author of the “Saatuse laul” contacted me through the Facebook and offered this song. I listened to it and found it really beautiful, so I said yes, I will sing it. Next day, my dear grandmother had left her physical body and a little time after that I realized that the lyrics of the song was exactly like a message from her:
The world is wide and there is so much beautiful in there. Enjoy as much as you can….every moment. We don`t know, what will the destiny bring us tomorrow, but the heart knows the right path. Everything that must happen, will happen. We have to trust in our heart. Life is just a moment…..a beautiful moment.
Your style of music has a traditional country sound, what was it that drew you towards this genre?
I have been playing in the country band for a long time. I fell in love with country music, when I was about 12 years old and I saw the movie “Sweet Dreams” which is about one famous American country singer`s life. The country music queen of America, Patsy Cline. She died in the plane crash and in the end of the movie they showed her happiest times and in the background her song “Crazy” was played. Willie Nelson`s “Crazy” performed by Patsy Cline is so beautiful and it touched me so deeply, so I was very inspired to start listening to the country music. My dream was to become a country singer. I started to play guitar and I was singing as often as I could. At the age 18 I started to play in the band. I had become a country singer. 🙂
This isn’t the first time that you have tried to represent Estonia at Eurovision, you tried back in 2004 and 2005, what were those experiences like for you?
It was lots of fun, i made so many new friends and met so nice people. It is a great experience for a singer. This event is the most liked and watched, cursed and commented event in Estonia. I learned a lot in many ways. It gave me so many performances as well, especially the 2005 song “Dream in a Dream“. Later they made also Estonian lyrics for the song and it became a popular hit in Estonia, “Lõunamaa Öö“
Now I’ve read that you’ve gone to India on spiritual trips, what is that makes you go to India?
Today i am married to an Indian man and we are connected to India mostly because of his family and relatives there, but my interest in India started before i had met my husband. 2007 i made my music video “Monsoon” in India and that trip inspired me to try new things. It is natural evolution for a person, that after enjoying so much material pleasures or encountering sufferings one starts to seek the deeper meaning of existence and many western people have started it from India. India has to offer so many ancient philosophies and I also have accepted many of these. Practicing certain self discipline will help one to become a happier person and it has worked perfectly for me.
You’ve got a little boy who is less than a year old, do the things that you do with him and moments with him ever get drawn into your music?
My little son Aryan is always with me and he enjoys music a lot. I can see him also trying to sing along, so i hope i can one day record something with him. 🙂
What can we expect from your Eesti Laul performance?
Special effects and a very cool band with me. 🙂
And to conclude, do you have anything you want to say to the readers of Eurovoix.com?
I would share the same message as my grandmother shared with me, through my song “Saatuse laul” : The world is wide and there is so much beautiful in there. Enjoy as much as you can….every moment. We don`t know, what will the destiny bring us tomorrow, but the heart knows the right path. Everything that must happen, will happen. One should trust in his/her heart. Life is just a moment…..a beautiful moment.
We’d like to thank Airi for taking the time out to talk to us. You can listen to her song below:
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