#heleza

Heleza - 6 (Eesti Laul 2021) (x)

Enda pärast, teen seda, enda pärast

Given today’s holiday -at least here in Italy- I’ve spent some time in the morning listening to next year’s Eesti laul songs. What can I say? This is a typical example of when you’re trying to bring variety to the show and end up collecting a lot of forgettable crappy songs. That’s what it is, plain and simple.

There’s just one act that I’d like to go back and listen to again, maybe two or three if I make an effort. This is enough to get my general disappointment, isn’t it?

Let’s see what we can find in this miscellanea of songs (click on the names if you dare hearing the tunes): we’ve got jazzy vibes (Kristin Kalnapenk), introspective love instants (Karl Killing), a touch of gospel sensation (Sissi), cheesy New Year’s Eve dance -possible guilty pleasure, Serhat style- (Suured Tudrukud), modern contaminations with a touch of French (Heleza), a powerful country tune (Wiiralt), a treat for millennials (Zevakin & Pluuto), a terribly boring piano&voice song (Kadri Voorand), George Ezra’s clone (Egert Midler), the inevitable electronic-rock band which-doesn’t-stand-a-chance on the Eurovision stage (Alabama Watchdog) and two very disappointing comebacks, one urban -WTF?!- (Juri Pootsmann) and another already heard and so so sad (Tanja).  Then there’s a special mention for Redel duo: perfect soundtrack for when you’ve taken acid (I’m a trash lover but this goes even beyond ahah).

So, what do I save from all of this? Not much:

- an average and not particularly original dancepop attempt: Kea

- another so-and-so song by Uku Suviste (it could be strong on stage, live)

- the only hint of slutty pop in the contest: Nika Marula

- surprisingly, an honest traditional pop song with a retro aftertaste: Ivo & Robert Linna  (my personal runner-up, trust me and give it a full listen)

- the best one: Koit Toome’s We could have been beautiful (it must win and rock Rotterdam stage!).

I don't remember what Igavesti means, even though I looked up the lyrics when I first discovered this song. But I thought it was really nice when I recognised the word in another song in Estonian a few months later. It made me feel like I still learned a bit of Estonian :)