Footballer Ragnar Klavan has been announced by ERR as the Estonian spokesperson for Eurovision 2023.
Former Liverpool FC player Ragnar Klavan will be announcing the results of the Estonian jury in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. Ragnar played for Liverpool between 2016 and 2018. Speaking about recently being in the host city of Eurovision 2023 he commented:
“They’re such ardent fans and just want to be a part of you.”
Asked about who his favourites were in this edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, he added:
Alika No. 1, – I’m torn between Finland or Sweden – rather Sweden No. 2, and then Finland No. 3. Finland has such a specifically special song that it can surprise.
The following countries have also announced their spokespersons for Eurovision 2023:
- Albania – Andri Xhahu
- Cyprus – Loukas Hamatsos
- Greece – Fotis Sergoulopoulos
- Israel – Ilanit
- Netherlands – S10
- San Marino – John Kennedy O’Connor
- Spain – Ruth Lorenzo
- Switzerland – Chiara Dubey
- Ukraine – Zlata Ognevich
Estonia will perform fourth in Semi-Final Two of Eurovision 2023 on May 11.
Who is Alika?
Alika Milova was born on September 5 2002 in Narva in eastern Estonia. She is of mixed Russian and Estonian descent.
Alika began her music career at a young age by participating in various singing competitions and television programs in Estonia and abroad, including The Baltic Voice, New Wave Junior, Kaunas Talent, Bravo Song Contest and Berlin Perle. In 2021, she won the eighth season of Eesti otsib superstaari. Shortly after her victory, she released her debut single “Õnnenumber”.
Alika was selected to represent Estonia at Eurovision 2023 after winning Eesti Laul 2023. She received 42% of the vote in the superfinal.
The song that Alika will perform in Liverpool is called “Bridges”. It was written and composed by Wouter Hardy, Nina Sampermans and Alika herself. Wouter and Nina have both previously written Eurovision entries. Nina wrote “Would You?”, the Belgian entry for Eurovision 2012 while Wouter wrote “Arcade”, the winning entry of Eurovision 2019. Both of them co-wrote “Tout l’univers”, the Swiss entry for Eurovision 2021.
Image Source & 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 second 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 on eight out of thirteen attempts.
