Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998

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Estonia in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1998
Eurovision Song Contest 1998
Participating broadcasterEesti Televisioon (ETV)
Country Estonia
Selection processEurolaul '98
Selection date24 January 1998
Competing entry
Song"Mere lapsed"
ArtistKoit Toome
Songwriters
Placement
Final result12th, 36 points
Participation chronology
◄1997 • 1998 • 1999►

Estonia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 with the song "Mere lapsed", composed by Maria Rahula and Tomi Rahula, with lyrics by Peeter Pruuli, and performed by Koit Toome. The Estonian participating broadcaster, Eesti Televisioon (ETV), organised the national final Eurolaul '98 in order to select its entry for the contest. Ten songs competed in the national final and "Mere lapsed" performed by Koit Toome was selected as the winner by a jury panel.

Estonia competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 1998. Performing during the show in position 23, Estonia placed twelfth out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 36 points.

Background

Main article: Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 1998 contest, Eesti Televisioon (ETV) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Estonia three times since its first entry in 1994. Its best result in the contest was fifth, which was achieved in in 1996 with the song "Kaelakee hääl" performed by Maarja-Liis Ilus and Ivo Linna. In 1997, "Keelatud maa" performed by Maarja (in her second consecutive Eurovision appearance) placed eighth.[1]

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, ETV organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. Since its debut, the broadcaster has organised national finals that feature a competition among multiple artists and songs in order to select its entry for the contest. ETV has organised the Eurolaul competition since 1996 in order to select its entry, with the broadcaster organising Eurolaul '98 in order to select its 1998 entry.[2]

Before Eurovision

Eurolaul '98

Eurolaul '98 was the fifth edition of the Estonian national selection Eurolaul organised by ETV to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1998. The competition consisted of a ten-song final on 24 January 1998 at the ETV studios in Tallinn, hosted by Marko Reikop and Anu Välba and broadcast on ETV.[3][4]

Competing entries

ETV opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries up until 15 December 1997. 51 submissions were received by the deadline.[5][6] An 11-member jury panel selected ten finalists from the submissions and the selected songs were announced on 17 December 1997 during the ETV program Eurolaul '98 eelvoor.[7][8] Among the competing artists were Janika Sillamaa (who represented Estonia in 1993), and Ivo Linna (who represented Estonia in 1996 together with Maarja-Liis Ilus). Evelin Samuel, Karl Madis, Kate, Koit Toome and Tõnis Mägi have all competed in previous editions of Eurolaul. The selection jury consisted of Nancy Himma (singer), Ingrid Tähismaa (journalist), Romi Erlach (Raadio 2 presenter), Kaidi Klein (PolyGram label manager), Raivo Tafenau (saxophonist), Jaak Joala (musician), Tõnis Kõrvits (arranger), Heli Pikk (Eesti Raadio phono library manager), Allan Roosileht (Raadio 2 music editor), Olavi Pihlamägi (Raadio Uuno director) and Paul Himma (Estonian National Opera general director).[6][9]

Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Evelin Samuel "Unistus igavesest päevast" Kaari Sillamaa, Priit Pajusaar, Glen Pilvre
Evelin Samuel and Ivo Linna "Andesta" Kaari Sillamaa, Priit Pajusaar, Glen Pilvre
Janika Sillamaa "Viimne valge kuu" Kaari Sillamaa, Koit Toome
Kaire Vilgats and Lauri Liiv "Kristallid" Argo Kasela, Kalle Erm
Kate "Tulepuuhuulte luule" Villu Kangur, Aivar Joonas
Koit Toome "Mere lapsed" Peeter Pruuli, Maria Rahula, Tomi Rahula
Mona and Karl Madis "Maailm kahele" Sven Lõhmus
Rumal Noorkuu "Säravad tähed" Villu Olesk, Ivar Must
Siiri Sisask "Tagareas" Lauri Saatpalu
Tõnis Mägi "Mõni mägi" Tõnis Mägi

Final

The final took place on 24 January 1998. Ten songs competed during the show and an international jury selected "Mere lapsed" performed by Koit Toome as the winner.[2][10] A non-competitive public televote was also held and also selected Koit Toome as the winner.[11] The jury panel that voted in the final consisted of Jordi Català from Spain, Séamus Crimmins from Ireland, Máté Victor from Hungary, Hans Barksjö from Sweden, Birte Krohn from Germany, Kato Hansen from Norway, Erkki Pohjanheimo from Finland, Tanya Peck from the United Kingdom, Erman Munis from Turkey, Jos Moons from Belgium, and Jacques Donzel from Switzerland.

Final – 24 January 1998
Draw Artist Song Jury Votes Total Place
Jordi Català
Séamus Crimmins
Máté Victor
Hans Barksjö
Birte Krohn
Kato Hansen
Erkki Pohjanheimo
Tanya Peck
Erman Munis
Jos Moons
Jacques Donzel
1 Koit Toome "Mere lapsed" 5 7 10 2 12 7 10 10 12 10 12 97 1
2 Kaire Vilgats and Lauri Liiv "Kristallid" 7 6 4 1 7 4 5 3 3 3 4 47 8
3 Kate "Tulepuuhuulte luule" 10 8 12 3 2 6 12 7 10 6 3 79 3
4 Evelin Samuel "Unistus igavesest päevast" 3 12 8 10 8 12 8 12 4 12 5 94 2
5 Rumal Noorkuu "Säravad tähed" 12 10 1 8 6 5 1 6 7 7 2 65 5
6 Tõnis Mägi "Mõni mägi" 2 5 5 5 5 2 2 2 2 5 1 36 10
7 Siiri Sisask "Tagareas" 1 3 7 12 3 1 6 5 8 1 6 53 7
8 Janika Sillamaa "Viimne valge kuu" 6 4 6 4 4 10 7 8 6 4 10 69 4
9 Mona and Karl Madis "Maailm kahele" 4 2 2 6 1 8 4 4 1 2 8 42 9
10 Evelin Samuel and Ivo Linna "Andesta" 8 1 3 7 10 3 3 1 5 8 7 56 6

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 took place at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, UK, on 9 May 1998.

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the eight countries which had obtained the lowest average number of points over the last five contests competed in the final on 9 May 1998. On 13 November 1997, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Poland was set to perform in position 7, following the entry from Norway and before the entry from Turkey.[12][13] The day before the contest, Poland was considered by bookmakers to be the twelfth most likely country to win the competition.[14] The Estonian conductor at the contest was Heiki Vahar, and Estonia finished in twelfth place with 25 points.[15]

The contest was broadcast in Estonia on ETV with commentary by Reet Linna as well as via radio on Raadio 2 with commentary by Marko Reikop.[16][17] ETV appointed Mart Sander as its spokesperson to announce the results of the Estonian televote during the show.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Estonian and awarded by Estonian in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to the Sweden in the contest.[18]

References

  1. ^ "Estonia Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  2. ^ a b Tinno, Egon. "Eurolaul 1998". Eurovisioon.ee. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  3. ^ "ESTONIAN NATIONAL FINAL 1998". natfinals.50webs.com. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  4. ^ "ETV esimene plaat eurovärvides". www.ohtuleht.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  5. ^ "Eurolaul 2002 lauluvõistlusele saabus 90 tööd". Eesti Päevaleht (in Estonian). Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  6. ^ a b Laasik, Andres (18 December 1997). "EUROLAUL 98: Eurovisiooni lauluvõistluse Eesti finaalvooru valiti eile kümme laulu". dea.digar.ee. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  7. ^ "Telearvustus, Euroloogiliselt kõlblik veerandtund". Postimees (in Estonian). 19 December 1997. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  8. ^ "Sõnumileht : SL 17 Декабрь 1997 — DIGAR статьи Эстонии". dea.digar.ee. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  9. ^ "Eurolaul 1998 eelvoor". Arhiiv | ERR (in Estonian). Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  10. ^ ESC National Finals database 1998
  11. ^ Kulu, Jaanus (26 January 1998). "Eurovisiooni reel Euroopasse". dea.digar.ee. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  12. ^ "Birmingham to stage Eurovision". The Irish Times. 9 August 1997. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  13. ^ Jones, David (13 November 1997). Eurovision Song Contest winner Katrina and compere Terry Wogan[...]. Birmingham, United Kingdom: Alamy. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  14. ^ "The bookies' favourites". BBC News. 8 May 1998. Archived from the original on 1 November 2002. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Final of Birmingham 1998". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  16. ^ "Telekava" [TV schedule]. Eesti Päevaleht (in Estonian). Tallinn, Estonia. 9 May 1998. p. 13. Retrieved 9 November 2022 – via DIGAR.
  17. ^ "Televaataja saab esmakordselt anda hääle eurolaulule" [TV viewers can vote at Eurovision for the first time]. Õhtuleht (in Estonian). 7 April 1998. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  18. ^ ESC History - Estonia 1998
  19. ^ a b "Results of the Final of Birmingham 1998". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.