Estonia was represented at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1998 The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the Br ...

with the song "", composed by Maria Rahula and

Tomi Rahula Tomi Rahula (born 3 November 1976) is an Estonians, Estonian musician and football referee with A-licence, a former member of the bands The Sun (Estonian band), The Sun and Outloudz. He was the chief producer of , the for the Eurovision Song Co ...

, with lyrics by Peeter Pruuli, and performed by

Koit Toome Koit Toome (born 3 January 1979) is an Estonian singer and musical actor. He has represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest twice. In 1998, he finished 12th with the song " Mere lapsed". In 2017, he sang a duet with Laura Põldvere, e ...

. The Estonian participating broadcaster, (ETV), organised the national final 98'' in order to select its entry for the contest. Ten songs competed in the national final and "" 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

Prior to the 1998 contest, (ETV) had participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

representing Estonia three times since its first entry in . Its best result in the contest was fifth, which was achieved in with the song "" performed by

Maarja-Liis Ilus Maarja-Liis Ilus, sometimes better known by her performing name Maarja (born 24 December 1980) is an Estonian pop musician and presenter. She has represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest twice. She was only 15 when she participated in ...

and

Ivo Linna Ivo Linna (born 12 June 1949 in Kuressaare) is an Estonian singer. Eurovision Song Contest and Eesti Laul He represented Estonia alongside Maarja Liis Ilus in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 in Oslo with the song " Kaelakee Hääl" (The Sound ...

. In , "" performed by Maarja (in her second consecutive Eurovision appearance) placed eighth. 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 competition since 1996 in order to select its entry, with the broadcaster organising 98'' in order to select its 1998 entry.

Before Eurovision

98''

98'' was the fifth edition of the Estonian national selection 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 Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

, hosted by

Marko Reikop Marko Reikop (born 19 June 1969 in Tallinn) is an Estonian TV host. He graduated from the Tallinn University on bibliography and is employed by radio and TV channels of the Estonian Public Broadcasting since 1991. He has presented the Estonian n ...

and Anu Välba and broadcast on ETV.

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. 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 . The selection jury consisted of Nancy Himma (singer), Ingrid Tähismaa (journalist), Romi Erlach (

Raadio 2 Raadio 2 is Estonian radio station. It belongs to Estonian Public Broadcasting (formerly Estonian Radio) and started broadcasting on 1 May 1993. History In the course of the radio reform, Vikerraadio was merged with the I program (the name re ...

presenter), Kaidi Klein ( PolyGram label manager), Raivo Tafenau (saxophonist),

Jaak Joala Jaak Joala (26 June 1950 – 25 September 2014) was an Estonian singer, musician and a member of two bands: Kristallid and Virmalised. He began as a flautist, later adding singing and bass guitar. Biography Early life Jaak Joala was born i ...

(musician), Tõnis Kõrvits (arranger), Heli Pikk (

Eesti Raadio Eesti Raadio (Estonian Radio, ER) was the public service radio broadcaster of Estonia that, at the time of closure, operated five national radio stations. It was closed in 2007 as a result of a merger with Eesti Televisioon (Estonian Televisio ...

phono library manager), Allan Roosileht (Raadio 2 music editor), Olavi Pihlamägi (

Raadio Uuno Raadio Uuno was an Estonian radio station. The station began operating in 1994, becoming the first music channel in Estonia. Radio Uuno is owned by the largest radio group in Estonia AS TRIO LSL. They have Eesti Top 40, official charts of Eston ...

director) and Paul Himma (

Estonian National Opera Estonian National Opera (''Rahvusooper Estonia'') is the national opera company of Estonia. The company is based at the Estonia Theatre in Tallinn. The theatre has had several names throughout its existence. The latest one being "The Estonian Na ...

general director). Among the competing artists were Janika Sillamaa (who represented ), and

(who represented together with

Evelin Samuel Evelin Samuel (born 13 May 1975) is an Estonian singer, songwriter, musical theater performer, author of children's books and participant in the Eurovision Song Contest. Career Evelin Samuel has been singing since childhood and was even record ...

Karl Madis Karl Madis (born 23 November 1959 in Tallinn) is an Estonian singer. In 1984 he graduated from Georg Ots Tallinn Music School in saxophone speciality. He has been a singer for several bands, including Mahavok and Karavan. References

Li ...

, Kate,

and

Tõnis Mägi Tõnis Mägi (born 18 November 1948 in Tallinn) is an Estonian singer, guitarist, composer and actor. He is one of the most influential and remarkable names in Estonian rock music of the past 40 years. More recently, he is known for his politi ...

have all competed in previous editions of .

Final

The final took place on 24 January 1998. Ten songs competed during the show and a jury selected "Mere lapsed" performed by

as the winner. A non-competitive public televote was also held and also selected Toome as the winner. 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 Erkki Pohjanheimo (born 28 January 1942) is a Finnish television producer and director. Television career Pohjanheimo joined Yleisradio in 1961 as a television cameraman and worked as a cameraman for five years. In 1966 Pohjanheimo was appoint ...

from Finland, Tanya Peck from the United Kingdom, Erman Munis from Turkey, Jos Moons from Belgium, and Jacques Donzel from Switzerland.

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 took place at the

National Indoor Arena Utilita Arena Birmingham (previously known as Arena Birmingham, The Barclaycard Arena, originally as the National Indoor Arena and still commonly called The NIA) is an indoor arena and sporting venue in central Birmingham, England. It is owne ...

in Birmingham, United Kingdom on 9 May 1998. According to the Eurovision rules, the 25-country participant list for the contest was composed of: the winning country from the previous year's contest; the 17 countries, other than the previous year's winner, which had obtained the highest average number of points over the last five contests; and any countries which had not participated in the previous year's content. On 13 November 1997, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Estonia was set to perform in position 23, following the entry from and before the entry from . The Estonian conductor at the contest was Heiki Vahar, and Estonia finished in twelfth place with 25 points. The contest was broadcast in Estonia on

ETV ETV may stand for: Television * Educational television, the use of television in education * Enhanced TV, an interactive television application specification Africa * e.tv, South Africa * ETV (Ethiopia), Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation * ETV G ...

with commentary by Reet Linna as well as via radio on Raadio 2 with commentary by

. ETV appointed

Mart Sander Mart Sander (born 10 August 1967) is an Estonian filmmaker, actor, author, musician, artist, and television host. He holds the Guinness World Record for ''Most Roles Played by a Single Actor in a Film''. Life and career In his youth, Mart Sand ...

as its spokesperson to announce the results of the Estonian televote during the show.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Estonia and awarded by Estonia in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to in the contest.

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1998

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an origina ...