All songs for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 have been selected. During the weeks between the national final season and the actual Eurovision Song Contest, we will introduce all 43 entries in random order. Part one of the series is dedicated to the Estonian entry.

Basic information

Performer:	Getter Jaani
Song:	Rockefeller street
Language:	English
Music:	Sven Lõhmus
Lyrics:	Sven Lõhmus
Draw:	15th in the second semi final

The song

Rockefeller street is a mid-tempo/up-tempo dance pop song. The lyrics tell about a night out partying in the city of New York, where the protagonist gets blinded by the splendour surrounding her. The address mentioned in the title and the hookline of the song is fictious but refers to the Rockefeller dynasty, which has become one of the symbols of the New York pomp.

On a river made of diamonds and pearls
Everything's a little bit weird now

Come and walk with me
1273 down the Rockefeller street
Life is marchin' on
Do you feel that?

The performer

Getter Jaani became famous in 2009 when she competed in the third season of Eesti otsib superstaari, the Estonian edition of the Pop Idol franchise. She made it to the seventh round of the finals eventually finishing fourth. Among the songs she performed on the show was Iseendale, Ines' entry in the Estonian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. Her first single Parim päev, which was written and produced by Sven Lõhmus, was released in 2010 and it went on to become the number one radio of the year in Estonia.

In 2011, she entered the Estonian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the Sven Lõhmus composition Rockefeller street and won the selection on the final night. In Düsseldorf she will be supported by Mirilin Kongo in stage, who had already appeared as a backing artist for Estonia in 2009.

The songwriter

Sven Lõhmus has worked with many Baltic music acts including Vanilla Ninja, who later represented Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005. He also wrote the song that represented Estonia in the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest – Let's get loud finished 20th in the semi final. In 2009, his song Rändajad represented Estonia in Moscow. Performed by Urban Symphony it reached third place in the second semi final and sixth place in the final making it the only Estonian entry ever to qualify from the semi final stage. Sven Lõhmus owns the record label Moonwalk in Estonia. Hit songs he wrote and produced include Club Kung Fu by Vanilla Ninja and Moonwalk by Laura, runner-up entry in the 2005 Estonian national final.

The national selection

For the first time ever, the Estonian national selection included two semi finals. A total of ten songs qualified for the final where the winner was chosen in two rounds of voting. In the first round a jury and televoting selected the top two and in the second round the eventual winner was chosen by televoting alone. Getter Jaani was the clear winner ahead of Outloudz getting 63% of the votes.

Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest

Estonia wanted to debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993 butdid not make it past the Eastern Europe semi final. A poor debut in 1994 and a relegation in1995 followed, but luck turned the year after: six top ten placings including a victory would follow over thenext seven years. However, Estonia was one of only two countries – the otherbeing Andorra – that took part in every semi final stage broadcast until 2008 without qualifying. In 2009, Estonian qualified for the final for the first time but the country would have to go through another elimination in 2010.

Statistics

Excluding the failed attempt in 1993, it will be Estonia's 17th participation in the Eurovision Song Contest this year. It will be the seventh time overall and the first time since 2007 that the country is represented by a female solo artist. Furthermore, it will be the 10th out of 13 times since the abolishment of the language in 1999 that the Estonian entry will be performed in English.

The song will be performed as the 15th in the second semi final after the mid-tempo show tune from Romania and before the dance pop song from Belarus. Estonia's only qualification for the final came from a late position in the draw in 2009. Generally, a late position in the draw is statistically an advantage for mid-tempo and up-tempo songs. A disadvantage might be the fact that the Estonian entry, which has much focus on its hookline, is performed in the middle of two "catchy sing-along" tunes.

Me soovime Eestile ja Getter Janni'le palju edu ning head önnestumist Dusseldorf!

Videos

National final performance/preview video:

Getter Jaani singing Iseendale:

Eesti otsib superstaari performance:

The debut single Parim päev:

Tomorrow, we will take a look at the Italian entry.