TEAM REVIEWS: Estonia 2025 (1/2)

TERE, EVERYONE! The line-up of Eesti Laul 2025 has been out for an eternity, and the time has finally come to share our thoughts on who we think the winners and the stinkers are at the upcoming final next Saturday.

Due to the size of this national selection we will be splitting up our reviews. This is the first part and will tackle the first eight acts in the running order: Ant, Stereo Terror, Janek, Räpina Jack (ft. Kaisa Ling), Johanna Elise, Felin, Elysa and Gem98

Let’s meet the secretive sextet eager to vivisection these eight acts:

Participating editors:

• Boris Meersman, ready to roast his fellow editors, and occasionally a song or two.
• David Popescu, professional music hater from -pretend to be shocked- Denmark.
• James Maude, eager to slice some normies with a pop culture reference or two.
• Rebecca Green, representing the rights of antepodeans.
• Roy Postema, blessing the Estonians with his kindness in the absense of Jasmin.
• Samantha Siegal, weirdly obsessed with me in these reviews, but okay!

Each editor has written a paragraph with their thoughts and opinions in their own style for each song, and has given it a score out of 10. The winner of our Team Reviews is the act with the highest percentage scores. Due to the size of the selection, we will break the ties by taking away the highest and the lowest score and recalculating the percentage.

We are ready to dive right in, but not before this little legal disclaimer:

“All opinions stated belong to the person quoted and do not represent ESCUnited as a whole.”

Let’s get on with it then, because we have sixteen songs to tackle!

Boris – 4

“James had better be bringing his reviewing A-game to Estonia after SLANDERING Erika for being anti-septic because if there is anything “VIRO” excel at these days is by taking contemporary pop music trends and sanitizing them into boredom. Ant Nurhan is -allegedly- what passes for a contender in EL these days, and his song is musical off-brand drain cleaner – generic, high PH sludge that takes away all impurities, and as such has no personality left for me to cling to. “Tomorrow never comes” is thorougly uninteresting, and there will be no final for Estonia should they go for this. “

David – 7

“Emotional and touching, there’s a story that’s being told here and I’m joining that journey. The way the song gets deeper and deeper in both lyrics and music has me strongly captivated, both rhythmically and emotionally. It does however, feel like there is far more to share, and the abrupt ending is rather unwanted.”

James – 5

““Generic, grand sweeping Eurovision belter incoming! Ant’s a great vocalist and he revs it up here, but this is Eurovision, not The Voice / Estonia’s Got Talent / Estonian Idol. The ability to wow grannies with emotive belting is not the primary consideration. But a minor plus, at least Ant referenced a respectable Pierce Brosnan era James Bond film, which is getting critical respect retroactively because people remembered Michelle Yeoh is in it. Ant should have been cannoned into the Baltic if he was thinking about calling this “The World is Not Enough” instead.””

Rebecca – 6

“This isn’t bad, it just doesn’t do it for me. I think it’s because it’s pushing the melancholy ballad vibe a bit too much to feel completely sincere. Beyond that, Ant seems to have a very amazing vocal range that kept impressing me each time it went up. The instrumental also has a good sense of buildup, but the climax doesn’t exactly punch in a way that I felt was satisfying. Perhaps that will change once I see it performed live?”

Roy – 7.5

““This is a very solid ballad and I would not be surprised to see it in the superfinal come Saturday. Ant is a very capable singer and the videoclip is already showing quite the vision when it comes to potential visuals and staging. Would not be mad if this went to Eurovision for Estonia, but I do feel like there is a couple that are a little more unique.””

Sam – 5.5

“This is one of those entries designed to showcase the singer’s vocals at the expense of good – or at least interesting – songwriting. And those vocals (at least in the studio) are impressive indeed – but it’s not the Eurovision Singing Contest, and this song is…just okay. “Will you miss me when I’m gone?” is a trope we’ve all heard a million times. Next. “

Boris – 5

“Oh look, I c’n no longer type the first letter of the ‘lphbet, ‘m I not quirky? So ye’h, some cringe Fins show up, ‘nd bring… ‘ septic Ch’ Ch’ Ch’? Like without the person’lity ‘nd humour th’t m’de K”rij’ gre’t, so it’s merely ok @ best. ‘lso, tryh’rd spelling. IT’S NOT SO FUN NOW WHEN SOMEONE ELSE DOES IT, HUH? J@ck@sses!”

David – 7

“This is entertainment gold! At least the title of the song lives up to the expectation; by mixing dance with underground and some punk, you’ve got this song. It mixes the genres perfectly, so it’s never too much of one, despite it could be too much already for some. It’s unique, but not exactly the party anthem for the specific occasion.”

James – 4

““Party ‘til the end of the world? They can barely make it through this song! The pause at the bridge saps all life out of the song and the vocals coming back in make it sound like the lights coming back on and the club clearing out. As generic electronicore goes, this is uninspired. No funny lyrics or gimmicks like Electric Callboy, no anthemic fist-pumping and calls to partying like the genre’s precursor Andrew W.K. Merely existing is not enough to warrant a decent score. I can barely be arsed to lift a an apple martini, let alone do Jagermeister off an ice luge while being held upside down by Viking cosplayers, for this.””

Rebecca – 8.5

“I would have said this was Estonia’s answer to Käärijä, but after actually listening to the song I’d say it’s more accurate to call it an answer to Windows95man. I definitely wasn’t expecting this so be so silly. Why is the silly song one of the strongest metal songs of the season? Either way, it nails the headbanging vibes. I’m having so much fun while laughing my ass off, and I really get the impression that that’s what the band was hoping. This won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, and I expect the humour won’t translate for a lot of people, but for me this was an amazing three minutes that had me rocking out and giggling like a fool. I will indeed be partying until the end of the world if this is what’s playing!”

Roy – 7.5

““This is a fun tune that reminds us of bands like Electric Callboy. It is fun partymetal. The voices in this song aren’t that strong however and the production could have been a bit more polished as well. Besides that there is quite a few vocal effects put onto the voice of the singers. I am looking forward to the live performance a lot and think this could surprise a few people. It will be fun for sure and we know Estonia does like this kind of music in Eesti Laul, so maybe we will see it appear in the Superfinal.””

Sam – 4.5

“Wash off the makeup, take off the costumes, and the plain truth is revealed: this song just doesn’t rock that hard. Certainly not as hard as another song in the selection. Stereo Terror’s website advertises them as “a professional DJ duo that mixes disco and metal” which promises a lot more than this song delivers, unfortunately. “

Statistics

Highest Score:  8.5 (Rebecca)
Lowest Score: 4 (James)
Total Score: 36.5/60
Percentage & Rating: 61% ( C-)

Boris – 6

“Janek has the same base issues Ant has – “Frozen” is overproduced and generic, and has ironed out all of its rivets and imperfections. Its fingerprint is a featureless dot. The lack of personality and originality is also present in the lyrics, which whine via dramatized metaphors such as “losing the fire in my blood” and “feeling frozen”, and avoid the words that actually could elicit feelings of sympathy for Janek after being painfully rejected. However, the song does have a discernable beat, and gives just about enough moments of pause to Janek for him to inject himself into the process. In that sense, it’s better than Ant, but not by much. Whether “Frozen” turns into something palatable or not hinges entirely what Janek does with it.”

David – 3

“It’s not bad, but it’s not good either. What gets me the most, is how the beat is the same throughout the entirety of the song. Sure, the song catches-up eventually, but you can still hear the same beat, which becomes overkill and eventually, my concentration is gone. Not even the decent vocal performance can help.”

James – 6

“Estonia excels in a genre of pop I call Mazda-core: safe, steady medium bpm, background driving to female date’s house, banal imagery (in this case, temperature indicating state of relationship well-being). Generally, the singer is a Paul Rey type who is at 80% of the way to making it as a star but doesn’t quite have it to go over the top. One adjective drives this whole package: competent. Marketing assistants will come closest to thinking Janek’s hot, but only because they spend all day coming up with exciting descriptions for industrial valves.”

Rebecca – 5.5

“Immediately, the lyrics jump out at me in the most awful way. They are the most contrived, generic thing while also making no goddamn sense. “If only a word could be unspoken / If only a heart could be unbroken” sounds like approximately 500 songs I’ve heard in the past and is a really, really weak way to start your song. You have a song called “Frozen” and you barely use any good metaphors in your lyrics about it, apart from the occasional cold and numb line! Commit to your themes, songwriters, I beg you! It’s really a shame that the lyrics make me this upset, because from a vocal and instrumental standpoint I actually really like this. The lyrics unfortunately just drag it down in my rankings by quite a lot.”

Roy – 4

““Decent track, not necessarily anything groundbreaking, but it sounds like Janek could be able to pull this off well. They are pulling a lot of tricks with the long fades to add dramatic effects. The lyrics are a bit meh as well. Dive into your ocean? Hmm… It’s just a bit too kitsch and cliché for me.””

Sam – 4

“There are songs that are objectively bad, and then there are songs that annoy me personally for some reason or another, and I always end up rating them lower. This is one of those songs, I’m afraid. It’s giving one-hit wonder from 2011. “

Statistics

Highest Score:  6 (Boris, James)
Lowest Score: 3 (David)
Total Score: 28.5/60
Percentage & Rating: 48% (F)

Boris – 7

“Tule joins this line-up as the sole representative of “Authentic Estonian” music. Given that the last rep of this genre was (nendest) Narkootikumidest, it’s a fairly big downgrade. “Tule” lacks a captivating element, as it meanders along on musically conservative country riffs without any high or discernable low. It’s a campfire song. There is a bit of charming authenticity to such music though, specifically with Räpina Jack’s warm vocal, if you’re willing to accept that this entry isn’t meant to wow audiences or go to Eurovision.”

David – 3

“Starts very enticing, before it’s quickly completely lost. The song just starts very interesting and intriguing, but then you easily notice how the singing gets lost and instead more howling takes over, as if, they were out of ideas how to keep the song going, and then it just becomes a bit too much of the same.”

James – 8

“As a fan of Korpiklaani from neighboring Finland, “Tule” was tailor-made for a fan like me. Folk channeling nature and interacting with it, animal imagery, all sang by a gravelly voiced gruff guy. Those it does feel like a complete composition in its three minutes span with two verses, two choruses, a bridge and an outro, some might bemoan a lack of drama and fireworks. This feels like a more introspective number, and given the number of loudmouth f&^%wits not embarrassed to spout the first inane thought on their mind, more introspection is definitely needed.”

Rebecca – 7.5

“Hell yes. Give me all of the folk songs, give them to me and beam them straight into my earholes. This absolutely feels like I’m being told an old folk tale about my ancestors while sat around a campfire in the middle of the wilderness. The low vocals of the lead singer could be an issue live, but for now I’m very enraptured by this whole performance. I want to put my hands in the air and sway to the rhythm.”

Roy – 9.5

“Simple, yet soo soo effective. A charismatic leadsinger with intriguing appearance and gaze into the camera. His voice has a really pleasant and rich tone to it. The chorus comes in gently and Kaisa slowly joins. The chorus is simple, but memorable. I completely fell in love with this song when I heard a live performance from them on a tv-show for the first time. They were absolutely flawless. If they bring that and a good staging to the Eesti Laul final, this could really surprise a lot of people. Would absolutely not be mad if Estonia sends this to Eurovision”

Sam – 7

“I have strong doubts about its viability as a Eurovision song, but as a regular song I like it! It could use a little more oomph, especially at the end, but it’s a very cool, folky little ethno-bop. “

Boris – 3

“What if “Crazy” by Stanka Franka was also a Christmas carol?” is the premise of Johanna Elyse’s insipid jazz filler number. I wish I had as much confidence in myself as she does whenever I churn out my mediocrities. Kind of ERR to include a song that for Matthias to imprint on and obsess over. It’s a skip from me though.”

David – 2

“I’m struggling here, so to start nicely, I will say it’s a lovely voice. Other than that, very boring melody, and I’m not even sure what the song is about. It is a fancy song, but it’s just not up my alley at all, so it’s simply nothing for me.”

James – 5

“Actually, Johanna, your eyes can lie to you! In two ways! Smithsonian magazine said that looking right or left doesn’t indicate if you’re lying, so you could tell the truth and look up to the left (the supposed eye direction of a liar) and be lying just with your eyes. And the American Opthalmologists Association says that two different people can see the same color differently. One of those people has lying eyes! Anyway, the fact I am rambling on about eyes indicates how uninteresting this faux-soul number is.”

Rebecca – 4

“Very Christina Aguilera coded. She’s got a cool little hand dance thing going on, so she’s clearly put thought into the live performance aspect and what will make it stand out more. Frankly this doesn’t do it for me, but it’s generally a fine song.”

Roy – 3

“The backing track is alright, but it just feels like she is just randomly singing on top of it. Her voice sounds nice and the live performance could be nice, but as a song on its own, it just isn’t strong and memorable.”

Sam – 6

“This is a perfectly decent R&B inspired number (though not the best Alicia Keys reject in the selection) but it loses points because I find it deeply unmemorable. It’s a fine song on its own, but it just doesn’t stand out. “

Boris – 7.5

“Apparently Finland has an Avril Lavigne who kind of resembles Demi Lovato. Cool. It’s obvious Felin was rejected by YLE, and found her footing in Estonia, where she’s one of the better acts. Nothing revolutionary here – it’s your typical Nordic poprock with a self-empowering message, but it’s welcome spritzy anthem in the tepid first half of very back-loaded final.”

David – 8

“The girl-punk has arrived! You seriously must admire something like this. Felin has arrived, has a blast and don’t give a shit what you think. The way it all comes out, is so positive and vibrant and it’s really hard not to feel the joy that the song omits. Full of life and attitude, it’s just 3 minutes of pure fun!”

James – 9

“A delightful throwback to the early ‘00s when female pop-punk reigned as supreme as their male counterparts. It’s bright, makes you want to jump up and down in your Union Jack patterned Doc Martens and skate your worries away at the mall. Since a couple of countries think it’s the mid-00s at Eurovision again and are sending gaudy novelty songs, Felin could be a more meaningful entry that also captures the nostalgia of that era. Who would you rather listen to again? Avril Lavigne or Daz Sampson?”

Rebecca – 7

“Feels like a blend of Lesley Roy (Ireland 2020/21) and Aiko (Czechia 2024) with a twist of 2000’s-esque Avril Lavigne thrown in there too. It’s pretty fun, if a bit generic on the surface, but there is a real sense of personality to it if you look at bit deeper. I think Felin will need to bring a lot of charisma, strong vocals and good staging to the live performance for this stand a chance of going to Eurovision, however, because a song like this needs plenty of energy to keep an audience entertained.”

Roy – 6

“Good driving beat, nice voice and happy feeling. Reminds me of Avril Lavigne’s old stuff. The thing dragging it down is the lyrics. ‘I’m the president of my own fanclub’ is not it for me.. I always dislike it when artists put themselves on a pedestal. The way it is executed with this is also a tad on the cringey side. Still a fun song and beat though!””

Sam – 3.5

“A pale imitation of Aiko’s “Pedestal.” This belongs in a Disney movie. Or maybe Junior Eurovision. “

Boris – 0

“I’ll open with my instinctive reaction to Elysa’s song:

You know it’s all-caps BAD when all attempts at wit are abandoned due to shock horror. I am actually so *impressed* by how awful Elysa sounds that I’m not even going to analyze the song. I never want to hear Elysa’s singing voice in that register again. Simon Peyron and Angelino Markenhorn (may he die a swift and final death in the Melfest heat on Saturday) really outdid themselves to give her the most repugnant falsetto ballad possible, conform with their godawful Melfest entries. I will mince no further words on this. If you don’t think “The Last To Know” is BAD, you are not my friend.”

David – 5

“Sometimes, I can make some room for appreciation when it comes to such power-ballads. The build-up is really well and soothing even when listening, and Elysa’s soft delivery really goes well with the song. Momentum isn’t lost either and makes great use of the length of the song. I’m somewhere split, because my attention does shift eventually, but I can see it grow over time.”

James – 2.5

“Break-up cliches abound! Bottom of the bottle! Alone on a bed! Cigarettes! And as a bonus – filtered through a celebrity (or at least Estonian celebrity, fwiw)! There’s a forced “look at me! I’m vulnerable!” attitude that is always off-putting in this sub-genre of gilded cage problems pop. Elysa’s vocals in the chorus, sounding like she’s about to break into tears and her voice cracking up, as if she has to physically force herself to express her sadness, reinforce this. Personally, I’d rather she go to a psychologist, not try monetize her pain for an international song contest.”

Rebecca – 4.5

“Such a diva ballad. I’m never into this kind of thing, so I went into this with a bit of a judgemental frown and tightly crossed arms. What I found was actually the opposite situation of Janek’s entry—I care very little for the instrumentals and vocals (both are fine but I’m not particularly into them), but the lyrics?? Oh my god there are some BANGER lines in there. “Your guilt served with champagne” like??? Holy shit that goes hard. I wish there was more variation after the second verse, because after that it started to lose me, and a few good lines can only capture my literary-coded goldfish brain for so long.”

Roy – 2

” ’Am I dead? Cigarettes. Hold her head. In our bed. Am I cold?. Is it snow?’ (…) What?! What are these lyrics? Next!”

Sam – 6

“Boris apparently hates this one [Edit: Not just me!! — Boris], and I can’t understand why. It’s not distinctive enough to hate that much. It’s a perfectly decent sad girl anthem about a cheating partner. I’ve heard worse. The lyrics are a little clunky but like, whatever. It’s Eurovision. “

Boris – 8.5

“Finally, a song that nails the spirit of Eesti Laul. “Psycho” may not be for everyone, but I don’t care – we’re near the Arctic Circle and weakness will no longer be tolerated. “Nerd on the brink of a life-ending panic attack” is a premise that lends itself to both a charming protagonist and memorable live act. Gem98 -who kind of resembles Meat Loaf, hilariously enough- then peppers the song with fatalistic commentary (“I DON’T KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH THAT // HELP MEEEEEE”) and well-executed scream vocals that really double down on the anxiety. It’s an avant-Garde exploration of inner demons in a 90s punk-rock jacket. I don’t think Gem98 can win EL, but the odds of him delivering something interesting on the stage look pretty high to me. “

David – 2

“Very messy and all over the place. First of all, it’s always appreciated when different genres get a chance, but at least let it be something good, otherwise it the genre will just be seen negatively. Now then, lyrically it’s very confusing and messy without any proper structure and the music it just loud without any path.”

James – 3.5

““LOOK AT ME! AHM WEEE-UUURDD! Which I suppose for Estonia means he orders his martinis with feta-stuffed olives, not bleu cheese stuffed ones. Whatever, this cabaret-esque pop song, along with some grating vocalizations at the chorus, is just trying too hard. He looks like Lewis Capaldi doing a mediocre Father Jack impersonation.””

Rebecca – 8

“With a name like an old tumblr handle, I was hesitant when I went into this song, but oh boy was I put in my place. I actually really love it. This is so unashamedly itself, with a strong beat and very emotionally charged vocals. “It hurts me everyday / I don’t know how to deal with that” is a line that I feel especially reflects this, and every time it’s sung I can hear some different aspect of the emotion pushing it—pain, frustration, psychosis. Gem98 is also just such an eccentric personality, at least in the music video, which works so well with the concept of this song and I hope he brings some of it to the stage. I feel that the climax could use a little more kick to it, perhaps in some scream-ish vocals to really highlight the loss of sanity as the song comes to an end. But in all, I love it!”

Roy – 9

“Boy this is catchy! At first listen I wasn’t fully sure about it, but I keep coming back to it. The choruses are incredibly contagious and the music video show us a great artistic vision. I bet you this live-performance will be incredibly fun! It is uplifiting yet haunting at the same time. I bet you Gem98 didn’t even expected to be chosen for the actual final of Eesti Laul, yet here we are giving it a 8.5 out of 10. I would love to see this go to the superfinal, but also definitely realize the chances of that happening are really slim.”

Sam – 7

“Rocks so much harder than Stereo Terror. Hear me out: no song in this selection is so strong that “Psycho” couldn’t beat it with some killer staging. I can imagine a scenario where this proves to be the ultimate dark horse, wins Eesti Laul and goes onto…maybe qualify at Eurovision, depending on how the wind blows that night. I invite anyone reading this to join me in my delusion. “

THE RANKING SO FAR.

With half of the songs critiqued, we have filled in half our of our scoreboard:

01. TBA
02. Räpina Jack & Kaisa Ling – “Tule” – 70%
03. FELIN – “Solo Anthem” – 68%
04. TBA
05. gem98 – “Psycho” – 63%
06. Stereo Terror – “Prty till the end of the world” – 61%
07. TBA
08. ANT – “Tomorrow never comes” – 58%
09. TBA
10. TBA
11. TBA
12. TBA
13. Janek – “Frozen” – 48%
14. TBA
15. Johanna Elise – “Eyes don’t lie” – 38%
16. ELYSA – “The last to know” – 33%

As you can see, Räpina Jack ft. Kaisa Ling was the most popular act with our editors so far, followed by FELIN. However, the actual winner of our ranking is in the second half, which we’ll post soon. Who will it be? Tommy Cash? An-Marlen? Minimal Wind? Or someone else entirely? We’ll will reveal all of the result in the next update!

Do #YOU agree with our Editors? Who do #YOU want to see in Basel for Estonia? Let us know in the comments or join the discussions on our Forum or in our Discord!