The Shortlist (12) Estonia

Who are the big favorites for Kiev? In the next couple of weeks we will highlight some interesting participants, based on the odds they have been given by the bookmakers. This week we are providing a shortlist of countries that lead the board in the second semi final. Today’s report is about Estonia.

Koit Toome & Laura

Koit Toome and and Laura Põldvere (known as Laura) are returning to the Eurovision Song Contest, not as individual acts, but rather, as a duo. In 1998, Koit finished in 12th position with the song ‘Mere Lapsed’, while Laura failed to qualify with the song ‘Let’s Get Loud’ (sung with the group, Suntribe, in 2005).

Both artists are very well known in Estonia. Koit has enjoyed success as a member of the boy band ‘Code One’, while also branching out to other genres including musical theatre. To further add to his impressive list of skills, Koit Toome won the 2007 season of the Estonian version of ‘Dancing With The Stars’.

Laura, on the other hand, is a regular entrant in Estonia’s national selection ‘Eesti Laul’, having competed an outstanding five times, qualifying for Eurovision twice through the format. In her career, she has released three albums, and is currently head of the Estonian Jazz Union.

“Verona”

Songwriter Sven Lõhmus drew inspiration from a recent trip to the city of Verona to create Koit Toome & Laura’s song for ‘Eesti Laul’. ‘Verona’ received the highest number of public votes, which was enough to see them chosen as Estonia’s entry for Eurovision 2017

This result, however, was not without controversy. It is rumoured that the voting line for fellow contestant Kerli was down for ten minutes of the fifteen-minute public voting process. Still, there is no concrete evidence of this occurring, so the decision to send Koit and Laura stands.

This song itself begins at a slow pace, and gradually progresses to a chorus of falsettos. Overall, opinions are divided. Some online comments describe it as ‘dated’ and ‘still in the 90s’, whereas others rate the song highly.

Explaining the odds

Currently, Estonia is ranked as the 2nd most likely nation to qualify from Semi-Final 2 to the Grand Final, with odds of 1/20. The bookmakers have given Estonia odds of 39/1 to win the competition. Although they aren’t strong favourites to be winners for this year, staging (and costuming) could change everything. Estonian media have reported that Laura will wear a dress costing more than €5,000…