Re: ESTONIA 2019
This professional jury and Mart/Heidy said in 2015 that there's no stand-out song and the level is very equal, everyone had chances to win etc. It's so ironic that Goodbye to Yesterday turned out to be the biggest favourite of Eesti Laul history, beating all the other contestants and standing out big time. Sadly, we might never know of all the potential ESC top 10 material songs that get left out. They've rejected several top notch songs from Elysa, which is a great sign. I don't think they even detect songs with real potential tbh.
They better let her in next year! Eleni, who?
Nor did they have Rändajad in their original top 10 in 2009.
Another Eesti Laul classic and our first top 10 in years, and it might never have happened!
Granted, we only hear the polished final versions, it's possible Rändajad or GTY had crappy demos in the beginning. Still, it's the juries job to pick up on this potential, and having them nearly miss it on several occasions doesn't inspire too much confidence. Looking at some of the weaker lineups we've had or subpar chosen songs, you can't help but wonder "surely there had to be
something better to pick?!"
But short of publishing every single song, which comes with it's own set of problems, there's no way to really solve this issue. All we can do is hope they choose competent people who can spot potential when they hear it!
And put aside their personal bias when rating songs, especially with the "1-5" rating system. I still think they should do away with that, it only encourages middle-of-the-road songs. Also reconsider adding in songs merely for the sake of variety. I like a varied lineup too, but most of those extra additions aren't really competitive in the end, and songs with actual potential could get pushed out to make room for the token rap/country/whatever entry.
Poor Elysa didn't have more luck abroad either.
I hope she keeps improving and finally gets selected with a great song.