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

participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2011 The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting Uni ...

with the song "Rockefeller Street" written by

Sven Lõhmus Sven Lõhmus (born 13 July 1972) is an Estonian pop-composer and lyricist. He is a producer at Moonwalk Studios, a music company featuring Estonian artists. He has worked with leading artists of Estonia, including Vanilla Ninja (of which he w ...

. The song was 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 n ...

. 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) organised the national final ''

Eesti Laul Eesti Laul (English: 'Estonian Song' or 'The Song of Estonia') is an annual music competition organised by Estonian public broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, ...

2011'' in order to select the Estonian entry for the 2011 contest in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

, Germany. 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, "Rockefeller Street" performed by Getter Jaani 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 12 May 2011. Performing during the show in position 15, "Rockefeller Street" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 14 May. It was later revealed that Estonia placed ninth out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 60 points. In the final, Estonia performed in position 8 and placed twenty-fourth out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 44 points.

Background

Prior to the 2011 contest, Estonia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixteen times since its first entry in , winning the contest on one occasion in 2001 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 for ...

Dave Benton Dave Benton (born 31 January 1951, birth name Efrén Eugene Benita) is a pop musician from Aruba who lives in Estonia. He is one of the winners of the Eurovision Song Contest 2001. At the age of 50 years and 101 days at the time of his victory, ...

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 2010, "Siren" performed by

Malcolm Lincoln Malcolm Lincoln are 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) ...

failed to qualify Estonia to the final where the song placed fourteenth in the semi-final. The Estonian national broadcaster,

(ERR), broadcasts the event within Estonia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Since their debut, the Estonian broadcaster has organised 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 organised since 2009 in order to select Estonia's entry and on 19 October 2010, ERR announced the organisation of ''Eesti Laul 2011'' in order to select the nation's 2011 entry.

Before Eurovision

Eesti Laul 2011

''Eesti Laul 2011'' was the third edition of the Estonian national selection ''

'', which selected Estonia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. The competition consisted of twenty entries competing in two semi-finals on 12 and 19 February 2011 leading to a ten-song final on 26 February 2011. All three shows were broadcast on

Eesti Televisioon Eesti Televisioon (ETV) ( en, Estonian Television) 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 Televis ...

(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 rema ...

with commentary by Madis Aesma and Indrek Vaheoja 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 12 and 19 February 2011 and a final on 26 February 2011. 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 19 October 2010, ERR opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries up until 13 December 2010. All artists and composers were required to have Estonian citizenship or be a permanent resident of Estonia. 140 submissions were received by the deadline. 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 16 December 2010. The selection jury consisted of Toomas Puna (Raadio Sky+ program director), Owe Petersell (Raadio Elmar chief editor), Erik Morna (

head of music), Siim Nestor (music critic), Valner Valme (music critic), Kaupo Karelson (television producer), 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), Kristo Rajasaare ( Rabarocki and

organizer), Tauno Aints (composer), Koit Raudsepp (

presenter) and Hannaliisa Uusma (musician).

Ithaka Maria Ithaka Maria Harito (born Gyrcelea-Ithaka-Maria Pruuli in Tallinn on 21 June 1979; former surname Rahula) is an Estonian singer and songwriter. She has been studied in Georg Ots Tallinn Music College (1994-1996) and in Estonian Academy of Music ...

, Mimicry,

Jaan Pehk 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 (Eesti ...

( Orelipoiss), Rolf Junior,

Stig Rästa Raul-Stig Rästa (born 24 February 1980) is an Estonian singer and songwriter who, along with singer Elina Born, represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song " Goodbye to Yesterday". Career Between 2002 and 2006 he form ...

(lead singer of Outloudz) and Tiiu Kiik have all competed in previous editions of Eesti Laul. In December 2010, "Meeting the Wolf", written by Janne Saar and Carola Madis and to have been performed by Janne Saar, and "Ilusad inimesed", written by Andero Nimmer, Indrek Ups, Jarek Kasar and Fredy Schmidt and to have been performed by Laika Virgin feat. Fredy Schmidt, were disqualified from the competition due to the songs being published before 1 September 2010 and replaced with the songs "Second Chance" performed by Tiiu Kiik and "Unemati" performed by Meister ja Mari, respectively.

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final took place on 12 February 2011 at the ERR studios in

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

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

and

Lenna Kuurmaa Lenna Kuurmaa (born 26 September 1985) is an Estonian singer-songwriter and actress. The jury panel that voted in the first semi-final consisted of Tõnis Kahu, Valner Valme,

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, Olav Osolin, Mare Väljataga,

Birgit Õigemeel Birgit Sarrap (née Õigemeel, born 24 September 1988), also known as simply Birgit, is an Estonian singer. Õigemeel rose to prominence in 2007 after winning the Eesti otsib superstaari (season 1), first season of ''Eesti otsib superstaari'', ...

, Tauno Aints, Leen Kadakas, Karel Kattai and Raul Vaigla.

Semi-final 2

The second semi-final took place on 12 February 2011 at the ERR studios in

, hosted by

and

Lenna Kuurmaa Lenna Kuurmaa (born 26 September 1985) is an Estonian singer-songwriter and actress.Uku Suviste Uku Suviste (born 6 June 1982) is an Estonian singer-songwriter, pianist and music producer. He was scheduled to represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, before cancellation of the competition that year. ...

on 15 February 2011 due to the song lyrics being used in another song released in 2004, with the outcome decided upon by the combination of the votes from a jury panel and a public televote which registered 13,070 votes. The jury panel that voted in the second semi-final consisted of Tõnis Kahu, Valner Valme,

, Owe Petersell, Olav Osolin, Mare Väljataga,

, Tauno Aints, Leen Kadakas, Karel Kattai and Raul Vaigla.

Final

The final took place on 26 February 2011 at the Nokia Concert Hall in

, hosted by

Lenna Kuurmaa Lenna Kuurmaa (born 26 September 1985) is an Estonian singer-songwriter and actress.Ott Sepp Ott Sepp (born 29 June 1982) is an Estonian actor, comedian, singer, writer and television presenter. Career Born in Tallinn, Sepp graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in 2004 and began performing at the Estonian Drama Theatr ...

. 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. The public vote in the first round registered 63,190 votes. In the superfinal, "Rockefeller Street" performed by

was selected as the winner entirely by a public televote. The public televote in the superfinal registered 45,235 votes. The jury panel that voted in the first round of the final consisted of Jaanus Nőgisto, Iiris Vesik (singer), Erik Morna (

head of music),

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 ...

(conductor and singer),

Chalice A chalice (from Latin 'mug', borrowed from Ancient Greek () 'cup') or goblet is a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning. R ...

(singer), Kristo Rajsaare ( Rabarocki and

organizer), Hannaliisa Uusmaa (musician), Siim Nestor (music critic),

Peeter Vähi Peeter Vähi (born 18 May 1955, Tartu) is a classical Estonian composer. Vähi's work ''Relaxatio'', written in 1992 and inspired by Asian intonal elements of Tibetan canticles, is a noted electronic work of psychotherapeutic music.Mark Rais. ...

(composer),

Helen Sildna Helen Sildna is an Estonian cultural entrepreneur. She is the CEO, founder and owner of Shiftworks, and the head of Tallinn Music Week and Station Narva festivals that the company runs. Biography Sildna has been a music promoter and event p ...

(

organizer) and Ott Lepland (singer).

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 (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 17 January 2011, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Estonia was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2011, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. The running order for the semi-finals was decided through another draw on 15 March 2011 and Estonia was set to perform in position 15, following the entry from

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

and before the entry from

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

. The two semi-finals and the final were broadcast in Estonia on

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 ...

and via radio on Raadio 2 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 ...

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

who had previously represented Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005 as member of the band

Vanilla Ninja Vanilla Ninja is an Estonian all-female 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 '' Vanilla N ...

Semi-final

Getter Jaani took part in technical rehearsals on 4 and 8 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 11 and 12 May. This included the jury show on 11 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries. The Estonian performance featured Getter Jaani performing on stage in a short black and pink dress and joined by three dancers: Ahti Kiili, Ahto Paasik and Eghert-Sören Nõmm, and two backing vocalists: Anna Põldvee and Marilin Kongo, with the stage displaying several podiums in different heights and the silhouette of a city, the latter which also appeared on the LED screens. Jaani began the performance by performing a trick where she turned a piece of cloth into a stick with the dancers offering roses to Jaani at the end of the performance. 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 9th in the semi-final, receiving a total of 60 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 were announced during the semi-final. Estonia was drawn to perform in position 8, following the entry from Sweden and before the entry from

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. On the day of the grand final, bookmakers considered Estonia the second most likely country to win the competition. Getter Jaani once again took part in dress rehearsals on 13 and 14 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Getter Jaani performed a repeat of her semi-final performance during the final on 14 May. At the conclusion of the voting, Estonia finished in twenty-fourth place with 44 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 thirteenth with the public televote and sixth with the jury vote in the second semi-final. In the public vote, Estonia scored 46 points, while with the jury vote, Estonia scored 83 points. In the final, Estonia placed twenty-third with the public televote with 32 points and eighteenth with the jury vote, scoring 74 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

External links

Eesti Laul official website
{{Eurovision Song Contest 2011 2011 Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 Eurovision