Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999

Eurovision Song Contest 1999
Eurovision Song Contest 1999
Country	Estonia
National selection
Selection process	Eurolaul 1999
Selection date(s)	30 January 1999
Selected artist(s)	Evelin Samuel and Camille
Selected song	"Diamond of Night"
Selected songwriter(s)	Priit Pajusaar; Glen Pilvre; Maian Kärmas;
Finals performance
Final result	6th, 90 points
Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest

Estonia entered the Eurovision Song Contest 1999, held in Jerusalem. This was their fifth entry at Eurovision, having debuted at the 1994 contest.

The Estonian representative for the contest was the song Diamond of Night, performed by singer Evelin Samuel and violinist Camille. It was the first year since Estonia's debut in the contest where the native language rule had been abolished, and thus the first time a song not in the Estonian language was picked to represent Estonia.

Before Eurovision

Eurolaul 1999

The final was held on 30 January 1999 at the ETV Studios in Tallinn. It was hosted by Romi Erlach and Marko Reikop.

The format of the final was the same as in previous years, with a 10-member "expert" international jury awarding points to their favourite songs from the 10 in the final. The jury that voted in the final included 1997 Eurovision winner Katrina Leskanich from the United Kingdom, Bjorgvin Halldorsson from Iceland, Nana Mouskouri from Greece (who represented Luxembourg in 1963) and conductors Anders Berglund from Sweden, Noel Kelehan from Ireland and Kobi Oshrat from Israel (the latter of whom also composed 1979 winner "Hallelujah," which he performed as an interval act during the show).

Final – 30 January 1999
Draw	Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)	Points	Place
1	Gerli Padar	"Aeg kord täidab soovid"	Paul Kikerpuu	34	10
2	Erik Meremaa	"Day I Lived a Year"	Raivo Hool, Harmo Kallaste	53	7
3	Kate	"Vee ja soola saaga"	Villu Kangur, Aivar Joonas	73	2
4	Hedvig Hanson	"If You Could Only Hear Me"	Hedvig Hanson	67	4
5	Lauri Liiv	"Soolo"	Sulev Lõhmus	58	5
6	Hanna Pruuli and Jakko Maltis	"Mu hääl"	Hanna Pruuli	40	9
7	Maiken	"Didn't I Know"	Jarmo Seljamaa, Kadri Koppel	72	3
8	2 Quick Start	"Say You Love Me"	Jana Hallas, Pearu Paulus, Ilmar Laisaar, Alar Kotkas	49	8
9	Joel De Luna, Mati Kõrts, Jassi Zahharov and Mait Trink	"Opera on Fire"	Rein Rannap	54	6
10	Evelin Samuel and Camille	"Diamond of Night"	Maian Kärmas, Priit Pajusaar, Glen Pilvre	80	1

Detailed International Jury Votes
Draw	Song											Total
1	"Aeg kord täidab soovid"	2	3	2	3	1	5	8	8	1	1	34
2	"Day I Lived a Year"	6	5	8	8	5	4	6	3	5	3	53
3	"Vee ja soola saaga"	10	12	6	4	4	12	5	1	12	7	73
4	"If You Could Only Hear Me"	4	10	7	2	2	10	12	4	4	12	67
5	"Soolo"	5	2	5	12	8	1	3	10	8	4	58
6	"Mu hääl"	1	1	10	5	3	2	4	2	10	2	40
7	"Didn't I Know"	7	4	12	7	6	8	7	12	3	6	72
8	"Say You Love Me"	8	7	3	6	7	3	2	6	2	5	49
9	"Opera on Fire"	3	6	1	1	12	6	1	7	7	10	54
10	"Diamond of Night"	12	8	4	10	10	7	10	5	6	8	80

Judges

Sweden – Anders Berglund (frequent conductor for Swedish entries, including 1991 winner "Fångad av en stormvind", musical director for the 1992 contest)
Latvia – Raimonds Pauls
Slovenia – Andrej Karoli
Iceland – Björgvin Halldórsson (represented Iceland at the 1995 contest)
Germany – Manfred Witt
Italy – Camila Raznovich [it]
Ireland – Noel Kelehan (frequent conductor for Irish entries, including five winning songs, musical director for all Irish-hosted contests between 1981 and 1995)
United Kingdom – Katrina Leskanich (lead singer of Katrina and the Waves, the winners of the 1997 contest)
Greece – Nana Mouskouri (represented Luxembourg at the 1963 contest)
Israel – Kobi Oshrat (composer and conductor of several Israeli entries, including 1979 winner "Hallelujah")

At Eurovision

Estonia performed last of 23 countries, succeeding the entry from Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the close of the voting it had received 90 points, placing 6th.^[1]

Voting

Points awarded to Estonia^[2]
Score	Country
12 points
10 points	Sweden
8 points	Ireland Poland Slovenia
7 points	Malta Portugal
6 points	Germany
5 points	Netherlands Norway
4 points	Belgium Denmark France
3 points	Austria Bosnia and Herzegovina United Kingdom
2 points	Iceland
1 point	Israel Lithuania Spain

Points awarded by Estonia^[2]
Score	Country
12 points	Sweden
10 points	Iceland
8 points	Austria
7 points	Germany
6 points	Denmark
5 points	Belgium
4 points	Israel
3 points	Croatia
2 points	Lithuania
1 point	Malta

References

^ "Final of Jerusalem 1999". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Results of the Final of Jerusalem 1999". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.