Last November 27 in Tallinn, the premiere of an Estonian production of the famous musical Evita was given, with Maarja-Liis Ilus (the 1996 and 1997 Estonian representative) singing the role of Evita Perón and Marko Matvere (2002 Eurovision host) close to her.

The musical will be played three more times at the Nokia Kontserdimajas this December, 18, 19 and 20. 17 other dates are scheduled in the first half of 2010, including some in Tartu. Evita was composed by Andrew Lloyd Weber and written by Tim Rice back in 1976 and gained a world-wide fame even before being played on stage thanks to the song Don’t cry for me Argentina.

Maarja-Liis Ilus first represented her native country Estonia in 1996, in duet with Ivo Linna. singing Kaelakee hääl. They placed 5th. The year after, Maarja once again won the national selection, this time alone with the song Keelatud maa and she ended on the 8th position. Since then, the lady tried her luck at the Swedish and Estonian finals.