Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012

Logo of Eesti Laul 2012

Eesti Laul 2012 was the fourth edition of the Estonian national selection Eesti Laul, which selected Estonia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. The competition consisted of twenty entries competing in two semi-finals on 18 and 25 February 2012 leading to a ten-song final on 3 March 2012. All three shows were broadcast on Eesti Televisioon (ETV) as well as streamed online at the broadcaster's official website err.ee. The final was also streamed online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.

The format of the competition included two semi-finals on 18 and 25 February 2012 and a final on 3 March 2012. Ten songs competed in each semi-final and the top five from each semi-final qualified to complete the ten song lineup in the final. The results of the semi-finals was determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a professional jury and public televoting. The winning song in the final was selected over two rounds of voting: the first round results selected the top two songs via the 50/50 combination of jury and public voting, while the second round (superfinal) determined the winner solely by public televoting.

On 26 September 2011, ERR opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries up until 12 December 2011.[3] All artists and composers were required to have Estonian citizenship or be a permanent resident of Estonia. A record 159 submissions were received by the deadline—breaking the previous record of 155, set during the 2010 edition.[4] An 11-member jury panel selected 20 semi-finalists from the submissions and the selected songs were announced during the ETV entertainment program Ringvaade on 15 December 2011. The selection jury consisted of Owe Petersell (Radio Elmar), Toomas Puna (Radio Sky Plus), Erik Morna (Radio 2), Iiris Vesik (musician), Hannaliisa Uusma (musician), Valner Valme (Postimees music journalist), Siim Nestor (Eesti Ekspress music journalist), Henry Kõrvits (musician), Olavi Paide (RUUT producer), Koit Raudsepp (Radio 2) and Ingrid Kohtla (music editor).[5]

Among the competing artists were previous Eurovision Song Contest entrants Soul Militia, who represented Estonia as member of 2XL in 2001 together with Dave Benton and Tanel Padar, Lenna, who represented Switzerland in 2005 as part of the group Vanilla Ninja, and Malcolm Lincoln, who represented Estonia in 2010. Orelipoiss and Traffic's entries were written by Jaan Pehk, who represented Estonia in 2003 as member of Ruffus.

The first semi-final took place on 18 February 2012, hosted by Piret Järvis.[6] The live portion of the show was held at the ERR studios in Tallinn where the artists awaited the results while their performances, which were filmed earlier, were screened. Ten songs competed for five spots in the final with the outcome decided upon by the combination of the votes from a jury panel and a public televote which registered 17,858 votes.[7] The jury panel that voted in the first semi-final consisted of Ines, Owe Petersell, Erik Morna, Tõnis Kahu, Els Himma, Mart Niineste, Jalmar Vabarna, Sven Grünberg, Olav Osolin, Veronika Portsmuth and Valner Valme.[6]

The second semi-final took place on 25 February 2012, hosted by Piret Järvis.[8] The live portion of the show was held at the ERR studios in Tallinn where the artists awaited the results while their performances, which were filmed earlier, were screened. Ten songs competed for five spots in the final with the outcome decided upon by the combination of the votes from a jury panel and a public televote which registered 14,839 votes.[7] The jury panel that voted in the second semi-final consisted of Ines, Owe Petersell, Erik Morna, Tõnis Kahu, Els Himma, Mart Niineste, Jalmar Vabarna, Sven Grünberg, Olav Osolin, Veronika Portsmuth and Valner Valme.[8]

The final took place on 3 March 2012 at the Nokia Concert Hall in Tallinn, hosted by Piret Järvis, Taavi Teplenkov and Tiit Sukk.[2] The five entries that qualified from each of the two preceding semi-finals, all together ten songs, competed during the show.[9] The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a jury (50%) and public televote (50%) determined the top two entries to proceed to the superfinal: "Mina jään" performed by Lenna and "Kuula" performed by Ott Lepland. The public vote in the first round registered 48,995 votes. In the superfinal, "Kuula" performed by Ott Lepland was selected as the winner entirely by a public televote.[2] The public televote in the superfinal registered 46,670 votes.[7] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Getter Jaani, who represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, performed as the opening act, while 3 Pead & Bonzo, Marten Kuningas & HU? and Kosmikud & Laine performed as the interval acts. The jury panel that voted in the first round of the final consisted of Ivo Linna, Hanna-Liina Võsa, Toomas Puna, Siim Nestor, Ines, Ewert Sundja, Heini Vaikmaa, Helen Sildna, Madis Aesma, Owe Petersell and Koit Toome.[10]

• In the Semi-final Estonia came 4th with 100 points: the public awarded Estonia 5th place with 88 points and the jury awarded 4th place with 102 points.[12]
• In the Final Estonia came 6th with 120 points: the public awarded Estonia 12th place with 78 points and the jury awarded 6th place with 152 points.[12]