Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997

  • Harmo Kallaste
  • Kaari Sillamaa
Finals performanceFinal result8th, 82 pointsEstonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1996 • 1997 • 1998►

Estonia made their third Eurovision Song Contest appearance in 1997. The preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 final would follow the same format of previous years, with a judging panel selecting the song and artist that would represent Estonia in the final. The judges would eventually choose Maarja-Liis Ilus again, making her the first Estonian entrant to have made back-to-back appearances in the Eurovision Song Contest. In the final, Ilus finished 8th.

Before Eurovision

Eurolaul 1997

The final took place at the Linnahall in Tallinn, Estonia, and was hosted by Marko Reikop and Anu Välba. Eight different songs were entered, with Pearu Paulus, Hanna-Liina Võsa and Maarja-Liis Ilus performing on more than one entry. A panel of international judges voted on each song, with Ilus' "Keelatud maa" winning by a large margin of 32 points.[1]

Despite this large margin, a public telephone poll had voted the night before that "Aeg" by Ilus, Võsa and Anne Värvimann was the nation's favourite. Despite this, "Keelatud maa" became the Estonian entrant for the 1997 contest.

Final – 15 January 1997
Draw Artist Song Songwriter(s) Points Place
1 Maarja-Liis Ilus "Keelatud maa" Kaari Sillamaa, Harmo Kallaste 72 1
2 Hanna-Liina Võsa and Pearu Paulus "Liiga noor, et armuda" Leelo Tungal, Ivar Must 38 3
3 Tanya "Homme" Heldur Karmo, Heini Vaikmaa 29 8
4 Code One "Tantsupalavik" Kaari Sillamaa, Mikk Targo 38 3
5 Hanna Pruuli "Üksik hing" Hanna Pruuli 40 2
6 Pearu Paulus "Meeletu soov" Anneli Tõevere, Toomas Vanem 32 5
7 Maarja-Liis Ilus, Hanna-Liina Võsa and Anne Värvimann "Aeg" Kaari Sillamaa, Priit Pajusaar 31 7
8 Kate "Perpetuum mobile" Leelo Tungal, Aivar Joonas 32 5
Detailed International Jury Votes
Draw Song
Joan Maria Clavaguera
Maria G
Enrico Nuti
Hans C. Anderssen
Pia Kalischer
Hans Cuny
Dušan Popovič
Gabriella Faludi 		Total
1 "Keelatud maa" 10 10 10 10 8 8 8 8 72
2 "Liiga noor, et armuda" 8 4 1 3 6 3 10 3 38
3 "Homme" 5 1 6 2 1 5 3 6 29
4 "Tantsupalavik" 6 3 8 6 3 4 6 2 38
5 "Üksik hing" 2 5 3 8 10 1 1 10 40
6 "Meeletu soov" 1 2 5 4 4 6 5 5 32
7 "Aeg" 4 6 4 5 5 2 4 1 31
8 "Perpetuum mobile" 3 8 2 1 2 10 2 4 32

There were supposed to be nine jurors, but the Russian juror (Vladimir Matetsky) did not receive the tape with the songs on time to judge them.[2]

At Eurovision

Ahead of the contest, Estonia were considered one of the favourites among bookmakers to win the contest, featuring alongside the entries from Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom and Germany.[3] On the night of the final, Ilus performed 13th, following Poland and preceding Bosnia and Herzegovina. She performed strongly again and at the end of the voting she received 82 points, placing 8th in a field of 25.[4] The Estonian jury awarded its 12 points to France.

Voting

Points awarded to Estonia[5]
Score Country
12 points  Italy
10 points  United Kingdom
8 points
7 points  Germany
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 points  Slovenia
2 points  Iceland
1 point
Points awarded by Estonia[5]
Score Country
12 points  France
10 points  United Kingdom
8 points  Ireland
7 points  Russia
6 points  Turkey
5 points  Hungary
4 points  Slovenia
3 points  Poland
2 points  Iceland
1 point  Cyprus

References

  1. ^ "ESTONIAN NATIONAL FINAL 1997".
  2. ^ 1997 Estonian national final report
  3. ^ "What are the Odds?". Radio Telefís Éireann. Archived from the original on 24 February 1999. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  4. ^ "Final of Dublin 1997". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Results of the Final of Dublin 1997". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
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ParticipationArtistsSongs
  • "Amazing"
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  • "Eighties Coming Back"
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  • "Everybody"
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  • "Goodbye to Yesterday"
  • "Hope"
  • "Kaelakee hääl"
  • "Keelatud maa"
  • "Kuula"
  • "Let's Get Loud"
  • "Leto svet"
  • "The Lucky One"
  • "Mere lapsed"
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  • "(Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi"
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  • "What Love Is"
  • Note: Entries scored out signify where Estonia did not compete
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Countries
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  • "Ale jestem"
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  • "Goodbye"
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  • "Keelatud maa"
  • "Let Me Fly"
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  • "Miért kell, hogy elmenj?"
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  • "One Step"
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