Koit Toome has revealed that he thought he would never compete in Eesti Laul again following his last appearance in 2017.
Speaking on Raadio 2, Koit Toome has explained that he never thought he would be returning to Eesti Laul since he represented Estonia at Eurovision 2017. He explained that:
At the time, there were some such feelings, but in the meantime, time has passed and in fact this participation came from a slightly different direction this time.
Koit added that this time “We could have been beautiful” was written before the intention of competing in Eesti Laul. As a result the singer said that “It seemed like a very strong story, and then I still thought deeply for a week or even a couple of weeks about what to do”. In the end the singer viewed the contest as a massive opportunity as Estonia’s biggest entertainment show.
The semi-finals of Eesti Laul will take place on February 18 and 20. 12 songs will then qualify for the Grand Final on March 6. All three shows will take place in Tallinn for the first time since 2018, due to the current Covid-19 restrictions on gatherings in Estonia.
156 songs were submitted to the selection. 63 were in Estonian. Of the 93 non-Estonian songs, English was the most common language used but the songs also featured lyrics in Russian, Spanish and French.
Image Source: Eurovision.tv / Source: ERR
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 six out of ten attempts.
