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Koit Toome (born 3 January 1979), is an Estonian singer and musical actor. He has twice represented
Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest Estonia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 27 times since making its debut in 1994. Its first appearance would have taken place in 1993 but a qualification round was installed for seven former Eastern Bloc countries hoping to make ...
. In
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 frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
he finished 12th with the song " Mere lapsed". In
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
he sang a duet with
Laura Põldvere Laura Põldvere (formerly Remmel; born 30 August 1988) sometimes known professionally as simply Laura, is an Estonian singer. She is said to be the most played Estonian artist on Estonian radio in the past decade. She is internationally known for ...
, entitled " Verona".


Career

Koit Toome was discovered in the music school in 1994 by the music producer Mikk Targo who was initially planning to launch a solo career for Koit. It later turned out that Koit's schoolmate and initial backing vocalist Sirli Hiius harmonized perfectly with Koit. Due to this, Koit's solo turned into a pop duo, Code One, which enjoyed a successful run of top hits that over the years have become evergreens. Toome and Hiius sometimes nevertheless perform together, despite having called the active years as a singing duo to an end years ago. In 1998, Koit Toome represented Estonia at the
Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pri ...
, held in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
. He finished 12th with 36 points with the song "'' Mere lapsed''". The same year he recorded his debut solo album of mostly self-penned material on it. Toome has released five albums all together, both as a solo artist, and with Code One. His latest studio album, "Kaugele siit" ("Far from here") was released in March 2010. In 2007, Koit Toome was declared as the winner of '' Tantsud tähtedega'' (''
Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series ''Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...
'') with his partner on floor, Kertu Tänav. Koit Toome has also embarked on a voice acting career, dubbing animated films. He provided the Estonian voice for
Lightning McQueen Montgomery "Lightning" McQueen is a fictional anthropomorphic stock car who is the protagonist of the animated Pixar franchise ''Cars'', primarily voiced by actor Owen Wilson. His appearances include the feature films ''Cars'', ''Cars 2'', and ''C ...
in the
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
movie ''
Cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...
'' among others. In 2017, Koit Toome and
Laura Põldvere Laura Põldvere (formerly Remmel; born 30 August 1988) sometimes known professionally as simply Laura, is an Estonian singer. She is said to be the most played Estonian artist on Estonian radio in the past decade. She is internationally known for ...
won Eesti Laul with the duet " Verona." They thereafter represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...
, Ukraine. The duo failed to advance to the Grand Final and finished in 14th place (placing 6th in the televoting & 17th with the juries), despite being a big fan favourite and seen as likely qualifiers beforehand, being 5th in the 2nd semi-final by odds and 5th by OGAE voting overall. Toome attempted to represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 by participating in Eesti Laul 2021 with his song "We Could Have Been Beautiful". He placed fourth in the national final.


Musical theatre

Koit Toome is professionally active in musical theatre. As a leading actor, he has so far played the roles of the protagonists only with no exception in his native Estonia, and also with touring companies. His debut, Alfred in '' Tanz der Vampire'' (Tallinn, 2000) was shortly followed by Marius of ''
Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origina ...
'' (Tallinn, 2001), Chris in ''
Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madame Butterfly'', and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed rom ...
'' (Tallinn, 2002, reprised in
Helsinki City Theatre The Helsinki City Theatre ( fi, Helsingin Kaupunginteatteri; sv, Helsingfors stadsteater) is a theatre located in Helsinki, Finland. Owned by the Helsinki Theatre Foundation, it calls itself a "modern popular bilingual repertoire theatre." The ...
) and Tony in ''
West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid- ...
'' (Tartu, 2005). Leading roles in ''
Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dis ...
'', '' Rent'' and ''
Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and fin ...
'' were to follow in
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe, Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, sea across from Sweden, to ...
and (Germany). In Endla Theatre in
Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet o ...
, he played the lead in Peter Quilter's musical ''Boyband'', depicting the life of a fictional boyband Freedom. The show would stay on stage for a successful run of 100 performances, and for 5 seasons. Koit Toome was starring as Raoul in ''
The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pier ...
'' in theatre Vanemuine (2014–2016), but he took over the leading role of "Phantom" from its originator, the Norwegian tenor Stephen Hansen for the final run of performances in 2016/2017 and 2020/2021. Koit Toome continues at the Vanemuine theatre for the Estonian revival of ''Les Misérables'', now cast as
Jean Valjean Jean Valjean () is the protagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel ''Les Misérables''. The story depicts the character's struggle to lead a normal life and redeem himself after serving a 19-year-long prison sentence for stealing bread to feed his ...
. It premiered in November 2017.


Personal life

Koit's uncle
Indrek Toome Indrek Toome (born 19 September 1943) is a former communist Estonian politician and businessman. He served from 1988 to 1990, and was the last Prime Minister (head of the Council of Ministers) of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. Early li ...
was the Prime Minister of Estonia from 1988 to 1990.


Discography


Singles


As lead artist


As featured artist


Filmography


Dubbing


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Toome, Koit 1979 births 20th-century Estonian male actors 21st-century Estonian male actors Estonian male child actors Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Estonia 21st-century Estonian male singers Estonian male musical theatre actors Estonian male voice actors Estonian pianists Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1998 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2017 Living people Singers from Tallinn Male actors from Tallinn 20th-century Estonian male singers Male pianists 21st-century pianists Eesti Laul winners