Five acts have qualified from the second semi-final of Eesti Laul 2018.
Tonight the second semi-final of Eesti Laul took place, which saw ten artists battle for a place in the final. The five qualifying acts were:
- Nika – “Knock Knock”
- Karl Kristjan & Karl Killing feat. Wateva – “Young”
- Evestus – “Welcome to My World”
- Frankie Animal – “(Can’t Keep Calling) Misty”
- Eliis Pärna & Gerli Padar – “Sky”
Tonight’s finalists were chosen in a two-round voting system which was introduced in Eesti Laul 2017. In the first round, four finalists were chosen with a combination of jury votes and televoting. The fifth finalist is then selected after the second round of televoting.
Nika, Karl & Karl feat. Wateva, Evestus, and Frankie Animal were chosen after the first round, while Eliis & Gerli got the top televote in the second round.
The semi-finalists that did not qualify for the next round are:
- Marju Länik – “Täna otsuseid ei tee”
- Rolf Roosalu – “Show a Little Love”
- Indrek Ventmann – “Tempel”
- Metsakutsu – “Koplifornia”
- Girls in Pearls – “Spellbound”
The grand final will be held on March 3 at Saku Suurhallis. The winner of the grand final is expected to represent Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, following Koit Toome & Laura, who represented the country in Kyiv with the song “Verona”. The pair finished in 14th place in their semi-final.
Estonia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994 alongside six other countries. At the contest in Dublin they were represented by Silvi Vrait, who finished 2nd last scoring just 2 points. In 2001 Estonia won the Eurovision Song Contest for the only time to date. They were represented by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton & 2XL, who performed the song “Everybody” and took a surprise victory in Copenhagen. After the success of the late-90s and early 00s, Estonia failed to qualify for the final from 2004-2008. In 2009 Estonia launched a new selection show, Eesti Laul, and has since qualified for the final five out of eight attempts.
