Laura Põldvere (formerly Remmel; born 30 August 1988) sometimes known professionally as simply Laura, is an

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

n singer. She is said to be the most played Estonian artist on Estonian radio in the past decade. She is internationally known for representing Estonia in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2005 The Eurovision Song Contest 2005 was the 50th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, following the country's victory at the with the song "Wild Dances" by Ruslana. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ( ...

as part of the girl group Suntribe and did so again in in a duet with

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 ...

, singing "

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

Career

Laura started her career in 2005, when she participated in Eurolaul 2005 with the song "Moonwalk". "Moonwalk" came second, but Laura won the contest as the member of the girl group Suntribe. Suntribe represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, but failed to advance to the final. Laura also took part in Eurolaul 2007 for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2007 The Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was the 52nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Helsinki, Finland, following the country's victory at the with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" by Lordi. Organised by the European Broadcasti ...

, her entry "Sunflowers" came third. In September 2007, Laura released her debut album "Muusa" and started studies in Berklee College,

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, putting her music career on hold. In 2009, she returned to

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 ...

as a solo singer in hopes of representing Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. Her entry "Destiny" came third. The same year, she released her album "Ultra". In November 2011, Laura released her first

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

"Sädemeid taevast", which consisted of all her singles since 2005 to 2011 as well as a track from her second studio album "Ultra". Laura once again competed to represent

Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 Estonia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Play" written by Fred Krieger, Stig Rästa and Vallo Kikas. The song was performed by Jüri Pootsmann. The Estonian broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) organised t ...

, entering

with the song "Supersonic". It placed second in the superfinal. In Eesti Laul 2017 she competed in a duet with

with the song "

" and won. They thereafter represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. Despite being fan favourites, the duo failed to advance to the Grand Final after placing 14th in their semi-final, a blended result of 6th place from the Televoting and 17th from the Juries voting. They had been predicted as likely qualifiers beforehand, ranked 5th in the second Semi-Final by betting odds and 5th by OGAE voting overall. Laura again competed to represent Estonia at Eurovision in Eesti Laul 2020 with her song "Break Me". Reaching the final, she finished 11th out of 12 entries. In January 2021, it was revealed that Laura would attempt to represent Finland at Eurovision in Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2021 with her song "Play". She finished last in the selection with 13 points out of 7 competing artists. In November 2023, she was announced as one of the semi-finalists of Eesti Laul 2024, with the song "Here's Where I Draw the Line". She did not qualify from the semi-final.

Personal life

Laura was married to pianist Joel-Rasmus Remmel in 2013. They divorced in 2016. Her younger brother Gregor died in 2016. Põldvere moved to Finland in 2019, and she works in

Espoo Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...

Discography

Albums

Compilation albums

Singles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poldvere, Laura 1988 births Living people 21st-century Estonian women singers Estonian pop singers Estonian women pop singers Estonian women jazz singers Musicians from Tartu Miina Härma Gymnasium alumni Berklee College of Music alumni Eesti Laul winners Estonian expatriates in Finland English-language singers from Estonia Eurovision Song Contest entrants