Estonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 with the song "Mere lapsed" written by Maria Rahula, Tomi Rahula and Peeter Pruuli. The song was performed by Koit Toome. The Estonian broadcaster Eesti Televisioon (ETV) organised the national final Eurolaul 1998 in order to select the Estonian entry for the 1998 contest in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Ten songs competed in the national final and "Mere lapsed" performed by Koit Toome was selected as the winner by a jury panel. Estonia competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 1998. Performing during the show in position 23, Estonia placed twelfth out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 36 points.

Background

Prior to the 1998 Contest, Estonia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest three times since its first entry in. The country's best result in the contest was fifth, which was achieved in 1996 with the song "Kaelakee hääl" performed by Maarja-Liis Ilus and Ivo Linna. In 1997, Maarja represent Estonia for a second consecutive occasion and placed eighth with "Keelatud maa". The Estonian national broadcaster, Eesti Televisioon (ETV), broadcasts the event within Estonia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Since their debut, the Estonian broadcaster has organised national finals that feature a competition among multiple artists and songs in order to select Estonia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The Eurolaul competition has been organised since 1996 in order to select Estonia's entry, with ETV organising Eurolaul 1998 in order to select the nation's 1998 entry.

Before Eurovision

Eurolaul '98

Eurolaul '98 was the fifth edition of the Estonian national selection Eurolaul, which selected the Estonian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1998. The competition consisted of a ten-song final on 24 January 1998 at the ETV studios in Tallinn, hosted by Marko Reikop and Anu Välba and broadcast on ETV.

Competing entries

ETV opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries up until 15 December 1997. 51 submissions were received by the deadline. An 11-member jury panel selected ten finalists from the submissions and the selected songs were announced on 17 December 1997 during the ETV program Eurolaul '98 eelvoor. Among the competing artists were previous Eurovision Song Contest entrants Janika Sillamaa, who represented Estonia in 1993, and Ivo Linna, who represented Estonia in 1996 together with Maarja-Liis Ilus. Evelin Samuel, Karl Madis, Kate and Tõnis Mägi have all competed in previous editions of Eurolaul. The selection jury consisted of Nancy Himma (singer), Ingrid Tähismaa (journalist), Romi Erlach (Raadio 2 presenter), Kaidi Klein (PolyGram label manager), Raivo Tafenau (saxophonist), Jaak Joala (musician), Tõnis Kõrvits (arranger), Heli Pikk (Eesti Raadio phono library manager), Allan Roosileht (Raadio 2 music editor), Olavi Pihlamägi (Raadio Uuno director) and Paul Himma (Estonian National Opera general director).

Final

The final took place on 24 January 1998. Ten songs competed during the show and an international jury selected "Mere lapsed" performed by Koit Toome as the winner. A non-competitive public televote was also held and also selected Koit Toome as the winner.

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the eight countries which had obtained the lowest average number of points over the last five contests competed in the final on 9 May 1998. On 13 November 1997, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Poland was set to perform in position 7, following the entry from and before the entry from. The day before the contest, Poland was considered by bookmakers to be the twelfth most likely country to win the competition. The Estonian conductor at the contest was Heiki Vahar, and Estonia finished in twelfth place with 25 points. The contest was broadcast in Estonia on ETV with commentary by Reet Linna as well as via radio on Raadio 2 with commentary by Marko Reikop. The Estonian spokesperson, who announced the results of the Estonian televote during the show, was Mart Sander.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Estonian and awarded by Estonian in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to the Sweden in the contest.