Off to Tallinn

Tonight, my ship is sailing towards Estonia and Eurolaul (unless the storm gets worse, that is), so from my horizon it seems the other events of this weekend (of which I must say that the first ever national final of Azerbaijan feels most thrilling) will have to be put a bit on the shelf. I will comment once I come back, though.

Given my not too enthusiastic review about the entries in Eurolaul, one may wonder how I dare set foot in the studios of ETV, but the answer is simple: I love Estonia. I always did. Ever since they first entered, they had a special place in my heart.

At my first ever Eurovision that I attended in person, back in Oslo 1996, I was frenetically waving a homemade Estonian flag that my friend Saale from Tartu made for me.

In 2001, when Estonia won with a song that in no way lives up to the country's normal output, I stood up and cheered in front of my telly. Who cares about the song, I was so happy for Estonia. And I loved the ESC at Saku Suurhall.

So, whenever Estonia is not up to scratch, my heart bleeds. So maybe I hope, somewhere, that Kreisiraadio WILL win. And that they will score nul in the semi final. To shake the foundations a bit and make the Estonian contributions a bit better again. Fingers crossed.



Ivo Linna & Maarja-Liis Ilus - Kaelakee hääl - Estonia 1996
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