Estonia was represented at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2012 The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song "Running Scared (Ell & Nikki song), Running Scared" by Ell & Nikki, El ...

with the song "Kuula" written by

Ott Lepland Ott Lepland (born 17 May 1987) is an Estonian people, Estonian singer. He first received national mainstream attention in 2009, after winning the Eesti otsib superstaari (season 3), third season of ''Eesti otsib superstaari''. Lepland represente ...

and

Aapo Ilves Aapo Ilves (; born 20 October 1970, in Räpina) is an Estonian poet, writer, playwright, artist and musician. He writes in Estonian, Võro and Seto languages. Ilves has also written song lyrics for other artists, including several "Hits of the ...

. The song was performed by Ott Lepland. The Estonian broadcaster,

Eesti Rahvusringhääling Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) – ''Estonian Public Broadcasting'' – is a publicly funded and owned radio and television organisation created in Estonia on 1 June 2007 to take over the functions of the formerly separate Eesti Raadio ...

(ERR), organized the national final ''

Eesti Laul Eesti Laul () is an annual music competition organised by Estonian public broadcaster (ERR). It determines for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged every year since Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, 2009. Eesti Laul was ...

2012'' in order to select the Estonian entry for the 2012 contest in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, Azerbaijan. The national final consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. Ten songs competed in each semi-final and the top five from each semi-final as determined by a jury panel and public vote qualified to the final. In the final, the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a jury panel and a public vote selected the top two to qualify to the superfinal. In the superfinal, "Kuula" performed by Ott Lepland was selected as the winner entirely by a public vote. Estonia was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 24 May 2012. Performing during the show in position 14, "Kuula" was announced among the top 10 entries for the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 26 May. It was later revealed that Estonia placed fourth out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 100 points. In the final, Estonia performed in position 11 and placed sixth out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 120 points.

Background

Prior to the 2012 contest, Estonia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest seventeen times since its first entry in , winning the contest on one occasion in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

with the song " Everybody" performed by

Tanel Padar Tanel Padar (born 27 October 1980) is an Estonian singer and songwriter. He is best known internationally for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2001. Padar became famous by winning the '' Kaks takti ette'', a biennial televised competition fo ...

Dave Benton Efrén Eugene Benita (born 31 January 1951), also known as Dave Benton, is an Aruban-born Estonian pop musician. He won the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 along Tanel Padar and 2XL with the song " Everybody" representing ; becoming the oldest s ...

and 2XL. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the , Estonia has, to this point, managed to qualify to the final on two occasions. In

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, "Rockefeller Street" performed by

Getter Jaani Getter Jaani (born 3 February 1993) is an Estonian singer and actress. She represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "Rockefeller Street". Early life Getter was born and raised in Tallinn. In 2015, she graduated nig ...

managed to qualify Estonia to the final where the song placed twenty-fourth. The Estonian national broadcaster,

(ERR), broadcasts the event within Estonia and organizes the selection process for the nation's entry. ERR confirmed Estonia's participation at the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest on 2 July 2011. Since their debut, the Estonian broadcaster has organized national finals that feature a competition among multiple artists and songs in order to select Estonia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The ''

'' competition has been organized since 2009 in order to select Estonia's entry and on 26 September 2011, ERR announced the organization of ''Eesti Laul 2012'' in order to select the nation's 2012 entry.

Before Eurovision

Eesti Laul 2012

''Eesti Laul 2012'' was the fourth edition of the Estonian national selection ''

'', which selected Estonia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. The competition consisted of twenty entries competing in two semi-finals on 18 and 25 February 2012 leading to a ten-song final on 3 March 2012. All three shows were broadcast on

Eesti Televisioon Eesti Televisioon (ETV) () is an Estonian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Estonian Public Broadcasting. It made its first broadcast on 19 July 1955. History Eesti Televisioon (''Estonian Television'') was launched on ...

(ETV) as well as streamed online at the broadcaster's official website ''err.ee''. The final was also broadcast via radio on

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 ...

with commentary by Sten Teppan, Erik Morna and Maris Üksti as well as streamed online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website ''eurovision.tv''.

Format

The format of the competition included two semi-finals on 18 and 25 February 2012 and a final on 3 March 2012. Ten songs competed in each semi-final and the top five from each semi-final qualified to complete the ten song lineup in the final. The results of the semi-finals was determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a professional jury and public televoting. The winning song in the final was selected over two rounds of voting: the first round results selected the top three songs via the 50/50 combination of jury and public voting, while the second round (superfinal) determined the winner solely by public televoting.

Competing entries

On 26 September 2011, ERR opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries up until 12 December 2011. All artists and composers were required to have Estonian citizenship or be a permanent resident of Estonia. A record 150 submissions were received by the deadline—breaking the previous record of 155, set during the 2010 edition. An 11-member jury panel selected 20 semi-finalists from the submissions and the selected songs were announced during the ETV entertainment program ''Ringvaade'' on 15 December 2011. The selection jury consisted of Owe Petersell (Raadio Elmar chief editor), Toomas Puna (Raadio Sky+ program director), Erik Morna (

head of music),

Iiris Iiris Vesik (born 16 July 1991), better known as simply Iiris, is an Estonian singer, songwriter, and stage actress. Her debut album ''The Magic Gift Box'' was released in March 2012 under EMI Music Finland. She is also a member and the main sing ...

(musician), Hannaliisa Uusma (musician), Valner Valme (music critic), Siim Nestor (music critic), Henry Kõrvits (musician), Olavi Paide (producer), Koit Raudsepp (

presenter) and Ingrid Kohtla (

Tallinn Music Week Tallinn Music Week (TMW) is an international new music showcase, city culture festival and networking event for music and creative industry professionals, held every spring in Tallinn, Estonia since 2009. Operated by Tallinn-based company Shiftwo ...

organiser). Among the competing artists were previous Eurovision Song Contest entrants

Soul Militia Soul Militia (known until 2002 as 2XL) is an Estonian hip-hop act, internationally most notable for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 The Eurovision Song Contest 2001 was the 46th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place ...

, who represented Estonia as 2XL in

together with

and

Lenna Kuurmaa Lenna Kuurmaa (born 26 September 1985) is an Estonian singer-songwriter and actress.Switzerland in 2005, as member of the band

Vanilla Ninja Vanilla Ninja is an Estonian all-female rock music, rock band which enjoyed chart success in a number of countries across Europe, especially in Estonia, Germany and Austria. The group formed in 2002 and released their self-titled debut album ' ...

, and

Malcolm Lincoln Malcolm Lincoln was an Estonian band that formed in October 2009. The members are Robin Juhkental, Jakob Juhkam, Siim Raidma, Ott Adamson, Johan Alexander Petti and Hans Kurvits. The original lineup consisted of Robin Juhkental (vocals/electronics ...

, who represented Estonia in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. Janne Saar,

Mimicry In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. In the simples ...

Orelipoiss Jaan Pehk (also known as Orelipoiss; born 13 June 1975 in Palivere) is an Estonian writer, singer and guitarist. Pehk is a member of the Young Authors' Association in Tartu and the Estonian Writers' Union The Estonian Writers' Union (, abb ...

Rolf Roosalu Rolf Roosalu, also known as Rolf Junior (born 18 January 1982 in Tartu), is an Estonian singer who has participated in a number of musicals. He has also, yet unsuccessfully, competed to represent Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest six times ( ...

(member of POP Maniacs), Sergei Morgun (member of POP Maniacs), Soul Militia,

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 Violina have all competed in previous editions of Eesti Laul.

Shows

Semi-finals

The two semi-finals took place on 18 and 25 February 2012, hosted by

Piret Järvis Piret Järvis (born 6 February 1984 in Tallinn) is an Estonian television host and a singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the popular rock band Vanilla Ninja. Born to Maire and Enno Järvis she has an older sister and a younger brother. After ...

. The live portion of the shows was held at the ERR 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 ...

where the artists awaited the results while their performances, which were filmed earlier at the ERR studios, were screened. In each semi-final ten songs competed for five spots in the final with the outcome decided upon by the combination of the votes from a jury panel and a public televote which registered 17,858 votes in the first semi-final and 14,839 votes in the second semi-final. The jury panel that voted in the semi-finals consisted of

Eda-Ines Etti Eda-Ines Etti (, born 26 May 1981), also known as simply Ines, is an Estonian singer and songwriter. Etti represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with the song " Once in a Lifetime", placing fourth. Until their win the following ...

, Owe Petersell, Erik Morna, Tõnis Kahu, Els Himma, Mart Niineste, Jalmar Vabarna, Sven Grünberg, Olav Osolin,

Veronika Portsmuth Veronika Portsmuth (born 27 November 1980 in Tallinn, Estonia) is an Estonian Conducting, conductor and singer. Childhood Portsmuth started singing at the age of 3, when she started as one of the soloists in Ave Kumpas singing studio. During t ...

and Valner Valme.

Final

The final took place on 3 March 2012 at the Nokia Concert Hall in

, hosted by

, Taavi Teplenkov and

Tiit Sukk Tiit Sukk (born 21 November 1974) is an Estonian stage, television, voice, and film actor, director and television presenter. Early life and education Tiit Sukk was born and raised in Jõgeva, Jõgeva County, where he attended primary and secon ...

. The five entries that qualified from each of the two preceding semi-finals, all together ten songs, competed during the show. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a jury (50%) and public televote (50%) determined the top two entries to proceed to the superfinal: "Mina jään" performed by

Lenna Lenna (or Lena) is a standard test image used in the field of digital image processing, starting in 1973. It is a picture of the Swedish model Lena Forsén, shot by photographer Dwight Hooker and cropped from the centerfold of the November ...

and "Kuula" performed by

. The public vote in the first round registered 48,995 votes. In the superfinal, "Kuula" performed by Ott Lepland was selected as the winner entirely by a public televote. The public televote in the superfinal registered 46,670 votes. In addition to the performances of the competing entries,

, who represented

Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 Estonia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "Rockefeller Street" written by Sven Lõhmus. The song was performed by Getter Jaani. The Estonian broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) organised the national final ...

, and the bands 3 Pead with Bonzo, Marten Kuningas with HU?, and

Kosmikud Kosmikud are an Estonian alternative rock group founded in 1999. They released their first album ''Ei roosid'' in 2000, after their singer Taavi Pedriks died. The remaining three members of the band – Aleksander Vana (guitar), Kristo Rajasaare ...

with

Laine Laine is Finnish and Estonian for "wave", and a surname in various languages. Laine is a Laine type Finnish surname. In Estonian, it is also a female given name. Given name On 1 January 2022, in Estonia, 1,709 women had the first name Laine ...

performed as the interval acts. The jury panel that voted in the first round of the final consisted of

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 ...

(singer), Hanna-Liina Võsa (singer), Toomas Puna (Raadio Sky+ program director), Siim Nestor (music critic),

(singer), Ewert Sundja (musician), Heini Vaikmaa (musician), Helen Sildna (

organiser), Madis Aesma (musician), Owe Petersell (Raadio Elmar chief editor) and

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 ...

(singer).

Promotion

Ahead of the contest, Lepland recorded "Kuula" in several other languages: in Spanish as "Escucha", in English as "Hear Me" and in Russian as "Slushay".

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the " Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

(EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 25 January 2012, an allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals. Estonia was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 24 May 2012. The running order for the semi-finals was decided through another draw on 20 March 2012 and Estonia was set to perform in position 14, following the entry from

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and before the entry from

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. The two semi-finals and the final were 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

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 ...

. The first semi-final and final were also broadcast via radio on Raadio 2 with commentary by Mart Juur and

Andrus Kivirähk Andrus Kivirähk (born 17 August 1970) is an Estonian writer, a playwright, topical satirist, and screenwriter. As of 2004, 25,000 copies of his novel ''Rehepapp ehk November'' (''Old Barny or November'') had been sold, making him the most popul ...

. The Estonian spokesperson, who announced the Estonian votes during the final, was

who had previously represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest in

Semi-final

Ott Lepland took part in technical rehearsals on 16 and 20 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 23 and 24 May. This included the jury show on 9 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries. The Estonian performance featured Ott Lepland performing on stage in a grey waistcoat and white t-shirt and joined by backing vocalist Marvi Vallaste, who was replaced by Lepland's vocal coach Maiken during the second technical rehearsal due to illness. The stage was dark with a single spotlight on Lepland at the beginning of the performance. Beams of lights were then displayed across the stage in gold colours and images of floating leaves appeared on the LED screens at the final part of the song. At the end of the show, Estonia was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Estonia placed 4th in the semi-final, receiving a total of 100 points.

Final

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine the running order for the final. This draw was done in the order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Estonia was drawn to perform in position 11, following the entry from

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and before the entry from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Ott Lepland once again took part in dress rehearsals on 25 and 26 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Ott Lepland performed a repeat of his semi-final performance during the final on 26 May. At the conclusion of the voting, Estonia finished in sixth place with 120 points.

Voting

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Estonia had placed fifth with the public televote and fourth with the jury vote in the second semi-final. In the public vote, Estonia scored 144 points, while with the jury vote, Estonia scored 102 points. In the final, Estonia placed twelfth with the public televote with 78 points and sixth with the jury vote, scoring 152 points. Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Estonia and awarded by Estonia in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

Points awarded to Estonia

Points awarded by Estonia

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2012

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012

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 ...