What’s different- the National final was held as a “ one night only” event this year.
What’s different - genres included dance, metal, rap, electronic, ballads, pop, soul, European folk, blues, hip hop, rock and roll, musical theatre, drum and bass, r&b and Indie rock.
The first round where all 16 contestants performed, was narrowed down to 3 performers for a Super Final on the same night. The first round was decided by 50% jury and 50% public vote and saw three artists progress and it was a closely run race with Tommy Cash, Andrei Zevakin & Karita, and An- Marlen only separated by a few points.
But it was a different outcome in the Super Final with 100% public voting only and Tommy Cash won in a bloodbath. His song “ Espresso Macchiato” garnered 41, 414 votes (84% of the overall vote).
Runner up was Andrei Zevakin & Karita with their pop dance mishmash song “Ma ei tea Sind”. Andrei is listed as a well supported uTuber and Karita is introduced as an Influencer and professional Hairdresser. Seems a match made in heaven, but other than Karita’s perfectly tousled hair and shiny nails, this performance left me confused. It received 4, 334 votes.
An- Marlen placed third with her modern dance song “Kulm”. Personally, I thought she had the best voice by far and presented a solid song with the Estonian lyrics all adding to her overall performance. She had a clear arresting voice and her dance number did keep me interested. She received 3,634 votes.
But, clearly the night belonged to Tommy Cash. A 33 year old Estonian rapper, singer and visual artist who cites Kanye West and Pharrell Williams as his main musical influences. He is a charismatic performer and popular artist in Estonia having won the Estonian Music Award for video of the year in 2018 and has collaborated with many European artists including Eurovision royalty Kaarija and Russia’s Little Big.
“Espresso Macchiato ” is certainly performance art and the vocals are secondary to the performance. It is an irreverent humorous song ( delivered with trademark deadpan expression - think “Little Big”) and will cause some angst for patriotic Italians and joy for coffee drinkers the world over! Cash co wrote the song with Johannes Naukkarinen - of Cha, Cha, Cha fame - and the performance includes very catchy, somewhat nerdy choreo in the chorus. Cash has a unique dance style. This will ensure it makes the final.
Estonia has a 50% strike rate with making the finals, and I think Tommy will tip the balance towards success. He will perform in the first half in Semi final 1.
Good Luck Estonia.