After an excellent edition last year, Estonian broadcaster ERR has narrowed down 217 song submissions and revealed the 20 artists who will compete in Eesti Laul.
Eesti Laul is the Estonian national selection with the winner to represent the country at Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool.
The artists (and their song titles) who will compete at Eesti Laul 2023 are:
Andreas - 'Why Do You Love Me'
Alika - 'Bridges'
Anett x Fredi - 'You Need To Move On'
Bedwetters - 'Monsters'
Carlos Ukareda - 'Whiskey Won't Forget'
ELLIP - 'Pretty Girl'
Elysa - 'Bad Philosophy'
Inger - 'Awaiting You'
JANEK - 'House Of Glass'
kaw - 'Valik'
Linalakk, Bonzo - 'Aeg'
Meelik - 'Tuju'
m els - 'So Good At What You Do' - written by STEFAN and Andreas Poom
MERLYN - 'Unicorn Vibes'
MIA - 'Üks samm korraga'
Neon Letters & Maiko - 'Tokimeki'
OLLIE - 'Venom'
Robin Juhkental - 'Kurbuse matused'
SISSI - 'Lighthouse'
Wiiralt & Ultima Thule - 'Salalik'
Some notable and familiar names from this lineup include:
SISSI
Sissi was the first artist revealed and this will be her third time competing at Eesti Laul. She finished fourth in 2019 with 'Strong', and came ever so close in 2021, placing 2nd to eventual winner Uku Suviste with 'Time'. Sissi is the daughter of Estonian 2001 Eurovision winner Dave Benton, and served on the Eesti Laul jury in 2022. She will be looking to go one bigger this time!
Robin Juhkental
Robin Juhkental is a 34-year-old singer from Tallinn and has competed on several Estonian singing shows. Most famously, he represented Estonia at Eurovision 2010 in Oslo as part of the band Malcolm Lincoln. Their song 'Siren' unfortunately did not qualify to the Grand Final, but the band is still popular in Estonia. This time, Robin is going solo for his self-penned track entitled 'Kurbuse matused'.
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. Elysa has made the Superfinal of Eesti Laul twice, finishing third on both occasions; in 2015, with 'Superlove', and the most recent 2022 edition with 'Fire'. Her entry 'Bad Philosophy' is co-written by none other than Stig Rasta, Estonia's 2015 representative and multiple time Eesti Laul competitor and songwriter.
Alika
Alika is 19 years old and is a rising star in the Estonian music industry. She started singing at the age of four and has competed on several singing TV shows such as The Baltic Voice and New Wave Junior. She won the most recent edition of Estonian Idol, garnering over 70% of the vote in the Final. Alika's track 'Bridges' is written by herself and also Wouter Hardy, who was a songwriter of Eurovision 2019 winner 'Arcade' and Eurovision 2021 jury winner 'Tout l'Univers'. She even covered the former on Estonian Idol!
Anett x Fredi
Anett Kulbin and Frederik Küüts, a.k.a Anett x Fredi have both performed at Eesti Laul in groups, as soloists and as a duo before. Anett performed in a group Wilhelm in 2014 and 2015 and as a soloist in 2016, with a highest placiing of 9th in the final. Anett and Fredi teamed up in the 2020 edition, with their song 'Write About Me', which made it to the Superfinal and finished in a terrific 3rd place. When interviewed in 2020, Fredi exclaimed that he "certainly hope[s]" to collaborate with Anett in the future, and now they have another opportunity to shine!
There are some former Eurovision stars in the songwriting credits as well!
Stefan, Estonia's 2022 Eurovision representative is credited as a songwriter for m els' track 'So Good At What You Do', while Norweigan 2015 singer Mørland helped write JANEK's entry 'House Of Glass'.
After experimenting with video-clip quarter-finals, Eesti Laul 2023 will consist of just two semi-finals and a Grand Final this time around. The competing songs will be released on December 2.
The semi-finals will take place on January 12 and 14 (morning of Jan 13 and 15 Aus time), while the Grand Final will take place on Saturday February 11 (morning of Sunday Feb 12 Aus time).
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