The Grand Final of Eesti Laul 2023 is taking place in Tallinn on Saturday, after two semi finals we have our grand finalists. 12 acts will be competing for the honour of representing Estonia at Eurovision 2023 due to be held in Liverpool in May.
The first vote will consist of 50% jury vote and 50% public vote, with the top three acts then being sent to the Superfinal, where there is one final vote which is 100% public vote which decides the winner.
Let’s take a look at who our 12 finalists are!
Meelik
Meelik are a four-piece band from Estonia, consisting of Rain Parve, Noëp, Martin Petermann and Meelik Samel, who is the namesake of the band.
A couple of Meelik members are not strangers to Eesti Laul! Rain, Martin and Meelek all were members of a band called Tenfold Rabbit, and participated in Eesti Laul in 2012 and 2013.
They are competing in Eesti Laul 2023 with the song Tuju (Mood).
Inger
Inger is an Estonian singer and songwriter from Viimsi, Estonia. Inger also isn’t a stranger to Eesti Laul, they competed in Eesti Laul 2019 with Coming Home, achieving 6th place. They also competed in Eesti Laul 2020 with Only Dream, achieving 8th place.
Inger has also competed in songwriting festivals around Europe, coming 2nd in the German Songwriting Awards. They have also performed at MUSEXPO in Los Angeles in the USA where singers such as Katy Perry and Jessie J were also performing.
Maybe this is third time lucky for Inger? They are competing in Eesti Laul 2023 with Awaiting You.
Janek
Janek is an Estonian singer and songwriter from Tallinn, Estonia.
Janek isn’t new to Eesti Laul either, he was a backing singer for Grete Paia in 2013 in her song Päästke noored hinged which placed in second.
He has appeared on many TV shows including Eesti Otsib Superstaari in 2012 and Tallinn, I’m Famous. He got a degree at the University of West London in Music, and now lives and works in England.
Janek is participating in Eesti Laul 2023 with House of Glass, co-written by Norwegian artist Kjetil Mørland who represented Norway at Eurovision in 2015.
Elysa
Elysa is an Estonian singer, songwriter and actress from Tartu, Estonia.
She has appeared in many TV Shows including Eesti Laul 2015 with Superlove, We Love Estonia and Your Face Sounds Familiar. She is currently acting in an Estonian TV show called Köök (Kitchen).
Elysa also competed in Eesti Laul 2022 with Fire, reaching the Superfinal and achieving 3rd place overall.
She is competing in Eesti Laul 2023 with Bad Philosophy – could three times be the charm for Elysa too?
M els
M els, also known as Merili Käsper, is a singer and songwriter from Tallinn, Estonia.
Merili has appeared on popular TV show Eesti Otsib Superstaari and reached the finals, and also was part of Helen Randmets’ team for Eesti Laul 2022.
M els will be performing her song So Good (At What You Do) at the Eesti Laul 2023 final on 11th February.
Bedwetters
Bedwetters are an Estonian pop punk banned formed in 2004 in Pärnu, Estonia. The band consists of members Joosep Järvesaar, Mikhel Mõttus, Rauno Kutti, Kaspar Koppel, Karl-Kristjan Kingi and Rivo Kingi.
In 2007, they won the MTV Music Award for the Best European New Sound Language.
They became fully active again in 2022, and will be competing in Eesti Laul with Monsters.
Andreas
Andreas is an Estonian singer and songwriter.
He released his debut EP Broken in 2022 and appeared at the 2023 Estonian Music Awards. He was also a voice for the Estonian animated film Will, Will Krokodill” and sang as the main character.
Andreas will be competing in Eesti Laul 2023 with his song Why Do You Love Me.
Alika
Alika Milova is an Estonian singer and songwriter from Narva, Estonia.
She won the eighth season of Eesti Otsib Superstaari with the single Õnnenumber which reached national success. She has also competed in many other talent shows across Euope including The Baltic Voice, New Wave Junior, Kaunas Talent, Bravo Singing Competiton and Berlin Perle.
Alika will be performing Bridges at the Eesti Laul 2023 final, written by Wouter Hardy who penned Duncan Laurence’s winning Eurovision entry in 2019 – could he have the winning effect again?
Anett x Fredi
Anett & Fredi are an Estonian duo consisting of singer Anett Kulbin and guitarist Frederik Küüts.
Anett and Fredi last appeared together on Eesti Laul in 2020 with Write About Me which reached the superfinal and placed third overall. Fredi has appeared since then in Eesti Laul 2021 as part of the band Gram-Of-Fun.
The jazz-inspired duo are appearing in Eesti Laul 2023 with their entry You Need To Move On.
Ollie
Ollie, full name Oliver Mazurtšak, is an Estonian singer and songwriter.
2023 is not Ollie’s first appearance on Eesti Laul, he co-wrote Pretty Little Liar in 2019 alongside performer Uku Suviste which achieved second place. He was also a backing singer in 2020 for Mariliis Jõgeva and her song Unistustes.
Ollie will be competing in the Eesti Laul 2023 final with Venom.
Mia
Mia, real name Kersti Kukk, is an Estonian singer and songwriter from Tallinn.
Her singing career began in 2010, and won the award for Best Female Singer by Raadio Elmar that year.
Mia was chosen as a wildcard for the Eesti Laul final and will be performing Üks Samm korraga.
Sissi
Sissi Benita is an Estonian singer and songwriter from Tallinn and is the daughter of Eurovision 2001 winner Dave Benton.
Sissi has had great success at Eesti Laul in the past, coming 4th in her 2019 debut with Strong and 2nd in 2021 with Time.
She will be performing Lighthouse in the Eesti Laul 2023 final, could this be third time lucky for Sissi too?
Who’s your favourite to win Eesti Laul 2023? Let us know in the comments below or on our social media!
