In a show called Eesti Laul 2010, a mixture of professional juries and public televoting will decide who will represent Estonia in this years Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. You can watch the show live right here on ESCTV.
A record number of 155 entries were received this year by broadcaster ERR. A jury, which consisted of music professionals chose the finalists for this year's contest.
Tonights final of the Estonian selection will be held in the Nokia Concert Hall in Tallinn as a public concert. ERR's Chief of Entertainment said of this "It's a huge production, having the show in this hall is like building a new TV-building." This is the first time the Estonian national final has been held outside of the main television studios since 2002. The show is reported to be a sell out, news which no doubt will please the broadcaster, ERR.
The show will be hosted by the comedians Ott Sepp and Märt Avandi, who have their own song contest organised within Eesti Laul. There they'll perform songs themselves, in every imaginable stereotypical genre.
The winner will be picked once again in by a combined vote between a professional jury and the viewers. First two superfinalists will be picked and then the viewers will choose the lucky winner.
The running order for Eesti Laul 2010 is as follows :-
- 3 Pead - Poolel Teel
- Marten Kuningas & Mahavok - Oota Mind Veel
- Mimicry - New
- Tiiu Kiik - The One And Only Love
- Violina feat Rolf Junior - Maagiline Päev
- Disco 4000 - Ei Usu
- Iiris Vesik - Astronaut
- Lenna Kuurmaa - Rapunzel
- Groundhog Day - Teiste Seest Kõigile
- Malcolm Lincoln - Siren
Local reports state that the current favourite to win is said to be Lenna Kuurmaa, who was the leading vocalist of the band, Vanilla Ninja, that represented Switzerland at the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest. Her song, Rapunzel, was written by Vaiko Eplik, who represented Estonia at the 2003 edition of Europe's favourite TV-show with his band Ruffus. Other favourites are considered to be Marten Kuningas with the band Mahavok and the three-time Estonian national final participant Rolf Roosalu.
During yesterdays rehearsals Marten Kuningas was rumoured to have given strong perfomances, Rolf Junior is said to be wearing tight pants and is using a lot of props on stage, and Tiiu Kiik has her own prop, namely a swing on stage. Tiiu's surname Kiik literally translates as swing in the English language!
Estonia finished 6th last year with Urban Symphony's Rändajad in the Final of Europe's favourite TV-show. It was the first time that the small Baltic nation qualified since the introduction of the Semi-Finals system in 2004.
Estonia's best result to date was when Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL won the Eurovision Song Contest of 2001 in Copenhagen with the song Everybody.
Who is your Estonian choice for Oslo?
