The Eurovision Song Contest 1996

Eurovision Song Contest 1996

The Eurovision Song Contest 1996 was the 41st Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 18 May 1996 in Oslo Spektrum in Oslo, Norway. The presenters were Ingvild Bryn and Morten Harket. Harket, lead singer of a-ha, opened the show with a performance of his single "Heaven's Not For Saints". Eimear...

was the third time that Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

entered the Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...

, and was their first participation since their last place in the 1994 final

Eurovision Song Contest 1994

The Eurovision Song Contest 1994 was the 39th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 30 April 1994 in the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. The presenters were Cynthia Ní Mhurchú and Gerry Ryan. The pair hosted the evening in French, English and Irish...

. The entrant was again selected by a panel of expert judges, with thirteen entrants into the preselection final. The preselection would end up tied on points, with Maarja-Liis Ilus

Maarja-Liis Ilus

Maarja-Liis Ilus, sometimes better known by her performing name Maarja is a pop musician. Maarja has achieved some chart success in a number of countries across Europe and Asia...

 and Ivo Linna

Ivo Linna

Ivo Linna is an Estonian singer.He represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "Kaelakee Hääl" which would go onto finish 5th at the contest, held in Oslo that year....

's duet "Kaelakee hääl" winning on the basis of being awarded more maximum points than the runner-up Kadri Hunt. In the final, Ilus and Linna finished 5th.

National final

The 1996 preselections were hosted by Marko Reikop and Karmel Eikner, and were broadcast live from a night club in the Estonian capital Tallinn

Tallinn

Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...

. Thirteen songs entered the event, with several acts entering with more than one song. Several artists had also competed in the last Estonian preselection for the 1994 contest, including Evelin Samuel

Evelin Samuel

-Career:Evelin Samuel has been singing since childhood and was even recorded by the studios of the Estonian Radio at a very early age. In late 1980s, Evelin joined the children's musical theatre Colombina whom she performed with at the 1992 Roskilde Festival in Denmark.In 1993, she finished 4th at...

 and Pearu Paulus.

The preselections were voted on by a panel of judges from across Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, with Maarja-Liis Ilus and Ivo Linna tying first with Kadri Hunt on 62 points. After a review of the scoring, it was announced that Ilus and Linna would go onto represent Estonia at the finals in Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

, due to the Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 judge awarding them maximum points - Something which Hunt had not achieved from any judge during the voting process.

Draw	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Evelin Samuel Evelin Samuel -Career:Evelin Samuel has been singing since childhood and was even recorded by the studios of the Estonian Radio at a very early age. In late 1980s, Evelin joined the children's musical theatre Colombina whom she performed with at the 1992 Roskilde Festival in Denmark.In 1993, she finished 4th at...  and Toomas Rull	Kaheksa näoga kuu	54	5
2	Kadri Hunt	Me rõõm ei kao	62	2
3	Üllar Meriste	Iialgi veel	37	13
4	Hedvig Hanson and Evelin Samuel Evelin Samuel -Career:Evelin Samuel has been singing since childhood and was even recorded by the studios of the Estonian Radio at a very early age. In late 1980s, Evelin joined the children's musical theatre Colombina whom she performed with at the 1992 Roskilde Festival in Denmark.In 1993, she finished 4th at...	Meeletu algus	50	7
5	Urmas Podnek	Vaba kui tuul	41	10
6	Evelin Samuel Evelin Samuel -Career:Evelin Samuel has been singing since childhood and was even recorded by the studios of the Estonian Radio at a very early age. In late 1980s, Evelin joined the children's musical theatre Colombina whom she performed with at the 1992 Roskilde Festival in Denmark.In 1993, she finished 4th at... , Karl Madis, Maarja-Liis Ilus Maarja-Liis Ilus Maarja-Liis Ilus, sometimes better known by her performing name Maarja is a pop musician. Maarja has achieved some chart success in a number of countries across Europe and Asia...  and Pearu Paulus	Kummalisel teel	51	6
7	Ivo Linna Ivo Linna Ivo Linna is an Estonian singer.He represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "Kaelakee Hääl" which would go onto finish 5th at the contest, held in Oslo that year....  and Kadi-Signe Selde	Lihtne viis	40	12
8	Reet Kromel and Arne Lauri	Laule ja palveid täis päev	50	7
9	Tõnis Mägi Tõnis Mägi Tõnis Mägi is an Estonian singer, guitarist, composer and actor. He is one of the most influential and remarkable names in the Estonian rock music for the past 40 years....	Ballaad	57	3
10	Kirile Loo	Maatütre tants	56	4
11	Sirje Medell	Elust enesest	48	9
12	Maarja-Liis Ilus Maarja-Liis Ilus Maarja-Liis Ilus, sometimes better known by her performing name Maarja is a pop musician. Maarja has achieved some chart success in a number of countries across Europe and Asia...  and Ivo Linna Ivo Linna Ivo Linna is an Estonian singer.He represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "Kaelakee Hääl" which would go onto finish 5th at the contest, held in Oslo that year....	Kaelakee hääl Kaelakee hääl "Kaelakee hääl" is a song performed by Maarja-Liis Ilus and Ivo Linna that represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996. The composer was Priit Pajusaar and the lyrics were written by Kaari Sillamaa....	62	1
13	Tõnis Mägi Tõnis Mägi Tõnis Mägi is an Estonian singer, guitarist, composer and actor. He is one of the most influential and remarkable names in the Estonian rock music for the past 40 years....	Eestimaa euromehe laul	41	10

At Eurovision

Estonia had missed the Eurovision Song Contest 1995

Eurovision Song Contest 1995

The Eurovision Song Contest 1995 was the 40th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 13 May 1995 in the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. The presenter was Mary Kennedy. This contest broke the chain of victories that Ireland enjoyed in 1992, 1993, and 1994...

 final due to a low score in the 1994 event, which allowed other countries the chance of compete in 1995. Likewise, low scoring countries at the 1995 final missed out for 1996, allowing Estonia to get back in. In the final, Estonia would not have to worry about low scoring putting them out for 1997, with Ilus and Linna performing strongly and receiving maximum points from Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, Finland and Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

. With the scores received from other countries steady also, Estonia managed to finish 5th, their highest ever placing at the time.