Most of the experts seemed to be right that there was no clear favourite for international jury in the Estonian preselection Eurolaul last night. Public favourite was no surprize.
The excitement was in the air until the last minutes. The leader changed almost with every vote and most of the participants could feel the feeling that he or she can be the one.
But no… it was not Nightlight duo or Vanilla Ninja as public would have expected. Ninja-girls won a public favourite title with 27 359 votes more (37 044 votes all together by sms, phone, eurolaul.ee) than the holder of the second place and a winner Claire's Birthday.
Kadi Toom made an outstanding performance, but two songs ending up 3rd and 5th was not convincing enough for the jury. The only member who gave her 12 points was Anders Berglund from Sweden.
2 votes had a crucial meaning for selecting the songs. First of all, Renars Kaupers (Latvia 2000 and the host of Eurovision Song Contest in Riga), giving Claire's Birthday 12 points. It was not surprizing as there is a certain similarity in music between them, but it was the first message that Claire's Birthday can be the one. And secondly the last, Icelandic vote by Bo Halldorsson giving the winner 12 points and Koit Toome with his lovely ballad 10 points. Was it the closest victory ever?
Claire's Birthday was pleased with their victory, although they have decided to end the excistance of the band and are writing in their homepage that the last gig will be on February 13th in Tallinn. So, much of splitting up!
In their homepage they write that all they talk about, is music. “Our trump is the stupid fanaticism,” says Vaiko. “We are willing to sacrifice our jobs and schools for this. If your first priority is your girlfriend, then your dayjob, then the social security, and then the band – dammit, you can't make music that way!.”
And by the way, on Vaiko Eplik's shirt Vanilla Ninja's badge was attached. He promised to wear it also in Riga. They seem to have a sense of humour. That's good, isn't it?
A single cover of Estonian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003.
