Estonia was represented by

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

, with the song "Mere lapsed", at the

1998 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd edition of the annual 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 ...

which took place on 9 May in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. "Mere lapsed" was chosen as the Estonian entry at the national final,

Eurolaul 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 t ...

, on 24 January.

Before Eurovision

Eurolaul 1998

The final was held at the studios of broadcaster

ETV ETV may stand for: Television * e.tv, a South African terrestrial television channel * Educational Television (Hong Kong), a television series * Educational television, the use of television in education * Enhanced TV, an interactive television ap ...

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

, hosted by Marko Reikop and Anu Välba. Ten songs took part with the winner being chosen by an "expert" international jury. Other participants included former Estonian representatives

Janika Sillamaa Janika Sillamaa (born 23 June 1975) is an Estonian singer and actress. Born into a musical family, Sillamaa was herself onstage from a very young age: in the musical theatre Colombina, founded by her mother Kaari Sillamaa, she played lead role ...

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 ...

, and the following year's

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 ...

. "Mere lapsed" was an unexpected winner and had never been ahead in the voting until the final juror's votes enabled it to snatch an unpredicted last minute victory.

At Eurovision

Heading into the final of the contest, BBC reported that bookmakers ranked the entry joint 12th out of the 25 entries. On the night of the final Toome performed 23rd in the running order, following

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and preceding

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. At the close of voting "Mere lapsed" had picked up 36 points, placing Estonia joint 12th (with

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

) of the 25 entries. The 12 points from the Estonian televote were awarded to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

.ESC History - Estonia 1998
/ref>

Voting

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 frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998

Eurovision 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 pr ...