Estonia


 * 1 Artist Biography.**

The group that is performing for Estonia in Eurovision is called the Urban Symphony. The group is orchestrated by Sven Lohmus, and the song that they are choosing to sing is called "Randajad". The group is comprised of six extremely talented girls who each offer a different sound to the acoustic/electric mixed music. The group was formed two years ago after singer/violinist Sandra Nurmsalu's performance in a soloist competition. In addition to Sandra, the group includes cellists Johanna Mangel and Mari Moldre, viola player Mann Helstein, and back up vocal singers Marilin Kongo and Mirjam Mesak. Between the six of them, this group holds nearly forty years of music experience, most of them starting in their early childhood. This unique fusion of music styles, according to the [|Eurovision page], is said to discover new, fresh, and surprising resonance and color. The [|Eurovision page] claims Urban Symphony is most interested in finding and conveying music's purest meaning and beauty. They desire to conduct a fairy-tale like effect on listeners, one that is simple, sincere, and dreamy.


 * 2 Song Information**

media type="youtube" key="fOsmEO_osXQ" height="214" width="350" As mentioned above, Estonia's representative, Urban Symphony, will be performing "Randajad". The song is written/composed by Sven Lohmus. The song is both written and sung in Estonian. It is the official language spoken in Estonia, known as a Finno-Urgic language, similar to Finnish. In English, "Randajad" translates into "The Nomads". The song discusses journeys and travels made possible by the wind. The wind not only changes the conditions and states of nature, but also the route we travel. It guides us to the different paths possible in life. It is hard to determine where we will end up or where exactly the wind will take us, it is unpredictable yet thrilling. Several individuals find the song entertaining, well-composed, and in good standings to reach the final rounds of the competition. Others however feel a different song could have been selected in order to attain higher standings. The song offers a smaller variety of sounds, but the ones that are present blend nicely. Right from the start I detect the cello and violin sounds produced by group members. In addition, electronic synthesized beats, perhaps drums are heard. The most powerful component of the song, I felt, was the vocals of both the lead and back up singers. Their distinct synchronization with instrumental sounds move the song along. The combination of sounds creates what I would consider to be a new-age, modern ethnic style of music.


 * 3 Narrative**

A competition known as Eesti Laus, was held to determine which of the 110 applicants were admitted into the Eurovision contest.  The group of judges chose only 10 finalists. The judges included radio station DJ's, music managers, and other composers from Estonia. Then out of those ten finalists the top two were chosen. Then to get a clear winner they voted again for the top two finalists. They did this by having people call in and vote, similar to how the American Idol voting is done. Urban Symphony and Traffic were the final two contestants. When the voting was all done, Urban Symphony won the call-in voting contest for Rändajad. It was the second Euro vision entree for Sven Lohmus. His other group that he won with was called Suntribe, Let's Get Loud which was in 2005.


 * 4 History**

Estonia made their Eurovision competition debut in 1994 with Janika Sillamaa and "Muretut Meelt Ja Südametuld". Since then, Estonia has entered the competition 14 times; every year except for 1995 after being relegated from that year's contest. Through the years of 1996 and 2002, Estonia was very successful in the Eurovision competition, only failing to make the top 10 once. In 2001, Estonia chose "Everybody" by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton & 2KL which earned the country their first Eurovision victory. In the following year, the 2002 Eurovision contest was held in Estonia's capital city of Tallinn. During which, Sahlene's "Runaway" received 111 points and a 3rd place finish. Due to the current war in South Ossetia, Estonia almost withdrew from this year's competition. But due to public demand an entry was made to Moscow for the 2009 Eurovision song contest. Urban Symphony with "Rändajad" will be the first entry in the Estonian language since 1998.