Raul-Stig Rästa (born 24 February 1980) is an

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n singer and songwriter who, along with singer Elina Born, represented

in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2015 The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst. Organised by the European Broa ...

with the song " Goodbye to Yesterday". Since 2025, Rästa has been a member of the 15th Riigikogu.

Career

Between 2002 and 2006 he formed a band Slobodan River with Ithaka Maria 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 ...

. Since 2006 he has played in

Traffic Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly an ...

and also in Outloudz since 2010. In 2011 he was a contestant in the fifth season of ''Let's Dance''. He was partnered with Karina Vesman and they finished in fourth place. In 2012, Stig played Moritz in the Estonian original production of the musical '' Spring Awakening''. He is also part of electronic music duo Kisma, alongside Vallo Kikas.

Eurovision Song Contest

Rästa tried several times to represent Estonia at 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 ...

. He competed with Slobodan River in Eurolaul 2003 and 2004, then with Traffic in Eurolaul 2008 and Eesti Laul 2009, 2012, 2014, 2020, and he also finished runner up with Outloudz in Eesti Laul 2011. Rästa entered Eesti Laul 2015 with the song "Goodbye to Yesterday", a duet with Elina Born. The song went on to win its semi final and top both the jury and the televote scores, before doing the same in the final and winning in a landslide in the superfinal, with 79% of the popular vote. In the contest itself, the entry qualified for the grand final, where it placed 7th with 106 points. He co-wrote the song "

Play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

" by Jüri Pootsmann, which represented Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, coming last in its semi and failing to qualify. Rästa returned for the second time as a composer for Elina Born in Eesti Laul 2017, she finished 10th in the final with the song "In or Out". He already wrote her song for her first Eesti Laul in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, "Enough" came 8th in the final. He competed by himself in Eesti Laul 2018 with the song "Home", which went on to place second in the contest. He co-wrote the song "

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...

" by Victor Crone, which represented Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, placing 20th in the final with 76 points. He participated in Eesti Laul 2022 with the song "Interstellar", placing 9th in the final.

Personal life

Rästa participated in the 2023 Estonian parliamentary election as a candidate for Estonia 200, but failed to get elected as a member of Parliament for electoral district no. 4 (Harju and Rapla counties, excluding Tallinn). On 26 March 2025, he became a member of the

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (, from Estonian ''riigi-'', "of the state", and ''kogu'', "assembly") is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the prime minister and chi ...

as a substitute for Hendrik Johannes Terras, who had left the Riigikogu.

Discography

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rasta, Stig Living people 1980 births 21st-century Estonian male singers Estonian songwriters Estonia 200 politicians English-language singers from Estonia Eesti Laul winners Eurovision Song Contest entrants Members of the Riigikogu, 2023–2027 Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 5th Class