Next Up: 2021 – Estonia

Uku Suviste was the unexpected winner of Eesti Laul 2020, but his dream to take the Eurovision stage was destroyed by the corona outbreak. Now it is time to look at the Estonian plans for 2021.

In today’s episode we look at Estonia in 2021. For a full review of their potential entry for 2020, check out this article on our partner website Eurovision Union. Check out our thoughts for next year below.

Key takeaways: Convincing televote result in Estonia

Estonia was ranked low with the bookies, and the main problem was the composition of the song ‘What love is’. It is filled with cliché-lyrics and build-up, and the live vocals by Uku Suviste were not always convincing. He was the clear televote favourite, perhaps based on other aspects of his performance and looks. But the jury did not favor him.

How to proceed with Uku Suviste?

Apparantly Estonia will hold another edition of Eesti Laul, and Uku Suviste has not been selected to take part at Eurovision 2021. Estonian broadcaster ERR currently has two different press released, one stating that Uku gets a pass for their preselection show Eesti Laul 2021, and one that says that he is their artist for Eurovision 2021. We have reached out to them to get clearance on their decision.

Exploring other options

If the broadcaster continues with a national selection, and given Uku and his history at Eesti Laul, it feels likely we will see him return. If the quality of songs returns to Eesti Laul in 2021, he may have a hard time recreating that voting landslide. Let this be a challenge to really work hard on creating a song that is contemporary and memorable.

A couple of names are expected to possibly return to Eesti Laul. For example, we have seen Tanja, Stig Rästa and Laura return to the contest a couple of times before. But there are always new, upcoming names as well.

This was supposed to be Estonia’s Eurovision 2020 entry

About “Next Up: Eurovision 2021”

In our series Next Up: 2021, we look ahead to the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. After the cancellation of Eurovision 2020, all participating countries now face the choice: Stick with their Eurovision singer, or come up with a new preselection or internal selection.

We make an analysis based on what we know so far. What will this country do, or most likely do? And is that the wise choice, looking at the fact that the Eurovision Song Contest remains a music competition?