Hello and welcome to Eesti Laul 2020, the first semi-final in the mechanism to select Estonia’s Eurovision entrant. Semi-final one of two takes place on Thursday 13Th February. The format of the show remains unchanged this year with the top four songs, voted by a jury and public televote 50/50 split. The fifth and sixth qualifiers of the night is decided by a second round of voting with the remaining seven songs, televote only. Ready to dive in, lets do it!
SONG ONE- Räsmus Randvee – Young
Rasmus gives a very enthusiastic and entertaining start to the night, but the walking through the dark crowd and subsequent heads interrupting the shot disengages the performance. Using the mic stand as a weapon is a nice touch. Overall a bit pitchy and a bit of a hodgepodge.
A great happy vibe kicks us into song two with stirrup wearing men in boxes. What’s not to love? Oh, they walk onto the impossibly dark second stage. Thankfully, someone found the light switch and a dancing girl in the audience. This was a lot of fun.
SONG THREE – Stefan – By My Side
Are suits on sale this week in Estonia? A bit pitchy, and a lot too dark… again! Seriously is there a spotlight in the place at all? Rough on the soft notes and lush on the bigger notes. This was nice, though I expected more.
Wow, that’s a real ‘pony’ tail! Yep, that’s as exciting as this performance gets. Amateur at best. Did I mention the very square hair?
SONG FIVE – Annett Kulbin & Fredi – Write About Me
A sparkly outfit for the sparkly jazz number. It’s very professional and well sung. It’s quite lovely really.
SONG SIX – Revals – Kirjutan romaani
Extremely attractive man does country Estonian style. How very! It’s well done but the great vocals merely put it just over forgettable.
SONG SEVEN – Renate – Videomäng
Funky nail art! Funky tune! It’s a little underwhelming vocally and comes across a little under rehearsed.
SONG EIGHT – Laura Põldvere – Break Me
Shadow play which looks odd rather than good. Laura looks a million dollars and easily has the biggest budget so far. However, I find the enunciation terrible and have always thought Laura’s vocals are a little nasal. Great stage presence though.
SONG NINE – Little Mess – Without A Reason
They look fantastic. Great ‘’whole package’ but the vocals aren’t always on point. Not this year girls, but please try again!
SONG TEN – Egert Milder – Georgia (On My Mind)
Hey! I found the Estonian John Mayer! It’s competent, and he has presence, but there’s no real wow about this
SONG ELEVEN – Jennifer Cohen – Ping Pong
It’s a quirky little number which works quite well….. until that heinous chorus! Poor Jennifer seems to be having some major vocal issues.
SONG TWELVE – Synne Valdri & Väliharf – Majakad
The lady has been doing this schlager schtick for years and it shows. Teaming up with these guys was genius. And who doesn’t love an accordion stomper! This was a whole lot of fun.
The first four qualifiers were Rasmus Randvee, Synne Valdri & valiharf, Anett & fredi, and Egert Milder. The fifth and sixth qualifiers voted through by the public were Laura and Stefan. With the two big favourites Jaagup Tuisk and Uku Suviste performing in semi -final two it will be interesting to see how these qualifiers fare in the final.
That’s a wrap for me. Wayne will take the reigns for semi final two on Saturday 15th February. Thanks for reading