Estonia's national final 'Eesti Laul' continues tomorrow morning Australian time, where 10 songs will compete in quarter-final four of the selection.
After tonight's show, viewers will have heard studio versions of all of the competing songs in Eesti Laul 2022.
Let's get to know the 10 acts taking part in quarter-final 4 of Eesti Laul.
Púr Múdd & Shira
Púr Múdd is an Estonian dance duo formed in 2015. Púr Múdd previously participated in Eesti Laul 2016, where they came 8th in the semi-final with the entry ‘Meet Halfway’. They also performed in the interval act of Eesti Laul 2020. The band’s current lineup is comprised of Joonatan Siiman and founding member Oliver Rõõmus. They will be collaborating with Eesti Laul 2020 finalist Shira, who did not qualify to the semi-finals from quarter-final 3 this year with her solo song ‘Under Water’.
ELYSA
Elisa Kolk, also known by her stage name ELYSA, is a 24-year-old singer-songwriter hailing from Tartu. She wrote her first song at the age of 13, and went on to graduate from the Tartu I Music School with a degree in classical singing. She placed third in the superfinal of Eesti Laul 2015 with the song ‘Superlove’.
This year, ELYSA’s song ‘Fire’ features prominent songwriters Linnea Deb and Andreas Stone, who have written songs for many national final artists all around Europe. Linnea Deb’s most notable Eurovision writing credits are 2015 Eurovision winner ‘Heroes’ by Mans Zelmerlow, ‘You’ by Robin Stjernberg, ‘Monsters’ by Saara Aalto, and two 2021 entries in San Marino’s ‘Adrenalina’ and Sweden’s ‘Voices’. Andreas Stone is also one of the songwriters behind Sweden’s 2019 Eurovision entry ‘Too Late For Love’.
Minimal Wind & Elisabeth Tiffany
Elisabeth Tiffany is a young singer from Rakvere, in Estonia’s north. She is currently studying music production and Eesti Laul will be a great platform for her, already vowing to release her solo EP the week after. Elisabeth has hinted that the competing song, ‘What To Make Of This’, is an R&B, intimate and guitar-based song. She will team up with the group Minimal Wind, who describe themselves as “a place where all their skills meet to put together beautiful forms of art and see where the wind takes them — be it the realm of emo jazz or indie trap.” This will be both Minimal Wind and Elisabeth’s debut at Eesti Laul.
Dramanda
Dramanda is the pseudonym of Amanda Hermiine Künnapas, a 25-year-old actress who has an extensive biography in theatre, film and television. She starred in the crime drama TV series 'Keeris' (Swirl), as well as the Estonian-Latvian-Lithuanian-Finnish historical spy thriller film 'O2', which was nominated for 2 Estonian Film and Television (EFTV) awards. Also an avid dancer, Amanda graduated from Tallinn University with a degree in choreography, coaches at a dance studio, and has starred in and directed her own dance performances. She makes her debut as a musician in Eesti Laul this year with the entry 'Tule minu sisse'.
Emily J
Emili Jürgens, a.k.a. Emily J, is a 20-year-old singer-songwriter and YouTuber from Rakvere. She got her start performing at a young age, winning awards in school singing competitions, as well as participating in the ‘Laulukarussell’ televised singing competition for young singers in 2010. She is inspired by Bruno Mars and Beyoncé. Emily J has participated in Eesti Laul once before, in 2019, collaborating with xtra basic on the song ‘Hold Me Close’, which came 12th in the final.
Ott Lepland
Ott Lepland is the big name in this quarter-final. The 34-year-old singer was born in Tallinn and has been making music for over 20 years, having made children’s music at an early age. He rose to fame after winning 'Eesti otsib superstaari' (Estonian Idol) in 2009. He is most known for representing Estonia at Eurovision 2012 in Baku, with his song ‘Kuula’. Ott finished in a fantastic sixth place, one of Estonia’s best ever results. He will compete in this quarter-final, after hosting the show last week.
Eleryn Tiit
Eleryn Tiit is a 25-year-old Estonian singer, and this will be her first participation at Eesti Laul. She rose to fame in 2019 on the TV show ‘Your face will soon be familiar’, and true to the show’s title, she has become a known name on the Estonian music scene, having released multiple singles since then. Eleryn helped to writer her competing entry ‘Tunnete keel’, and also on the songwriters list is Karl Killing, a former Eesti Laul participant.
Jessica
Jessica is a 21-year-old singer from Pärnu in southwestern Estonia, and is a newcomer on the music scene. Jessica started making music at age seven and has been in various singing competitions, and is studying at the Jana Trink Private School. She released her debut single earlier this year called ‘PS your idiot’, which has an indie pop sound to it. She will compete at Eesti Laul for the first time with the song ‘My Mom’, co-written by herself and musician Steven Ilves.
Black Velvet
Black Velvet has been active in the Estonian music scene for over 20 years. Their most well-known song is ‘17’, a nostalgic favourite for many Estonians. Black Velvet’s lineup consists of vocalist Lauri Liiv, percussionist Sulev Lõhmus, and Sven Lõhmus on keyboards. Lauri Liiv competed in Eurolaul 1999 with ‘Soolo’. Sven Lõhmus is a well-known Estonian songwriter who wrote and composed a slew of past Estonian Eurovision entries, as well as Elina Nechayeva’s song ‘Remedy’ which qualified from quarter-final 3 of this year’s edition of Eesti Laul, and Black Velvet’s Eesti Laul 2022 song ‘Sandra’.
Ariadne
Liina Ariadne Pedanic, a.k.a. Ariadne, is a 23-year-old singer from Estonia whose career kicked off in 2017. She has a YouTube channel where the vlogs and posts singing covers. Eurovision fans will know Ariadne from her 2017 Eesti Laul participation, where she finished a respectable 6th place in the Grand Final with her song ‘Feel Me Now’. Ariadne also took her school exams in that year, and after graduating, she has continued to release music and also recently got engaged. Eesti Laul 2022 will be her second participation, singing ‘Shouldn’t Be Friends’, written by her team which includes her fiancé Martti.
Hosting this week's show are two former Eurovision participants Getter Jaani (Estonia 2011) and Jüri Pootsmann (Estonia 2016). The broadcast of Eesti Laul quarter-final 4 can be viewed on the ERR website.
Australian viewing times for quarter-final 4 of Eesti Laul 2022
Sunday 12 December
ACT, NSW, VIC, TAS: 6:35am
SA: 6:05am
QLD: 5:35am
NT: 5:05am
WA: 3:35am
Contributions by Laura Smith and Hugo Burstin