Estonia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 with the song "Nagu merelaine", composed by Ivar Must, with lyrics by Leelo Tungal, and performed by Silvi Vrait. The Estonian participating broadcaster, Eesti Televisioon (ETV), organised the national final Eurolaul '94 in order to select its entry for the contest. Ten songs competed in the national final and "Nagu merelaine" performed by Silvi Vrait was selected as the winner by a jury panel. This was the first-ever entry from Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest, and the first-ever entry performed in Estonian in the contest.
Estonia competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 30 April 1994. Performing during the show in position 10, Estonia placed twenty-fourth out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 2 points.
The Estonian national broadcaster, Eesti Televisioon (ETV), confirmed its debut at the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 on 7 August 1993, having been unable to debut in the previous contest by failing to pass the qualifying round.[1] 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. The broadcaster announced on 1 October 1993 the organisation of Eurolaul '94 in order to select its 1994 entry.[2]
Before Eurovision
Eurolaul '94
Eurolaul '94 was the second edition of the national selection Eurolaul organised by ETV to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1994. The competition consisted of a ten-song final on 26 February 1994 at the Linnahall in Tallinn, hosted by Reet Oja [et] and Guido Kangur and broadcast on ETV.[3][4]
Competing entries
On 1 October 1993, ETV opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries up until 10 January 1994.[2][5] 34 submissions were received by the deadline.[6] An 11-member jury panel selected ten finalists from the submissions and the selected songs were announced on 14 January 1994.[7] The selection jury consisted of Anne Erm [et] (Eesti Raadio music editor), Heli Lääts (singer), Peeter Vähi (composer), Sven Aabreldaal (music manager), Urmas Leinfeld (Raadio 2 chief editor), Allan Roosileht [et] (Raadio 2 music editor), Priit Hõbemägi [et] (culture critic), Mihkel Raud (musician), Maire Radsin (director), Tõnis Kõrvits [et] (arranger), Aarne Saluveer (choir conductor) and Jaak Joala (musician).[8]
Eurovision Song Contest 1994 took place at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, on 30 April 1994.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1994 took place at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, on 30 April 1994.[11] 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 and host country Ireland, the seven lowest-scoring countries in the 1993 contest, and any eligible countries which didn't participate in 1993 contest. As Estonia was one of the eligible countries which did not compete in the 1993 contest, it was thus permitted to participate.[12] On 16 November 1993, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Estonia was set to perform in position 10, following the entry from Switzerland and before the entry from Romania.[13][14] The Estonian conductor at the contest was Urmas Lattikas, and Estonia finished in twenty-third place with 2 points.[15][16]
The contest was broadcast in Estonia on ETV with commentary by Vello Rand as well as on STV1.[17][18] ETV appointed Urve Tiidus as its spokesperson to announce the votes awarded by the Estonian jury during the show.
Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Estonian and awarded by Estonia in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to France in the contest.
^Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 168–170. ISBN978-1-84583-163-9.
