Eesti Laul kicks off this weekend as Estonia begin the search to find their entry into the Eurovision Song Contest in May.

Ten acts are competing in the hope to be one of the top 5 who will progress through to the final on March 3rd. The results will be determined on the basis of 50% jury vote and 50% televote for the top 4 and then a second round of 100% televote for the final spot.

We were lucky enough to get to chat with newcomer Desiree, who’s song “On My Mind” will be competing in the first semi final tomorrow night

Welcome Desiree! You are a new name to Eesti Laul this year, what can you tell us about Desiree, the person and performer?

Hello all ESC fans! First of all, thank you for inviting me, I am very happy to take part in this chat.

Now onto questions, as a person, I consider myself to be positive, friendly and energetic.

I can also be quite a dreamer. I believe that dreams can come true. Taking part in Eesti Laul has been my dream ever since I was a little kid so having it finally come true is such an amazing feeling and I am very grateful for this opportunity.

As an artist I take chances, work hard and enjoy the process. Songwriting and singing is really about telling stories and I truly hope that my stories inspire my listeners. Music is such a mysterious thing, everyone has their own way of hearing it and deciphering the message. I once had someone come up to me after a gig to tell me that they love my song about leaving a toxic relationship and that it has helped them to move on. I thought that this is amazing BUT I haven’t written a song about toxic relationships so I had to ask which song she was referring to and she said “The Game” which I had actually written about terrorism and how fighting for a life shouldn’t be an everyday worry for anyone. Hearing her feedback was very inspiring and I still remember it like it was yesterday. After a song is published, it’s not the artist’s song anymore, it’s listeners’ and that is what I love the most about being an artist, my listeners. They are my inspiration. Hearing all those brave stories and about what people have gone through inspires me to write. And it inspires me to write better so that they would feel like they have me by their side, that they’re not alone.

From reading the lyrics, your track for Eesti Laul seems to be an intense love story, what can you tell us about it?

It is indeed an intense love story and it’s about the idea of falling madly and crazy in love, almost to the point where you lose yourself. It’s like the only thing you want in life is to be with that special someone.

Your songwriter, Amiran Gorgazjan, appeared in Eesti Laul as part of the band “Almost Natural” last year, does he have any advice for you based on his own experience?

Yes, he has given me many pointers already. Probably the most important piece of advice he has given is about the live show. He felt like last year the live show of the band Almost Natural wasn’t outstanding so this time he wants to do something out of the ordinary and I can promise that it’s going to be interesting and that’s all I can say for now, haha.

What do you get up to when you are not performing?

Spending time with family and friends, going to the gym and writing music.

What can you tell us about the Estonia music scene at the moment? Do you think that the recent disappointments in Eurovision have stopped acts from wanting to put themselves forward?

Good question, it’s hard to say. Honestly, I feel like the Estonian music scene is transitioning into something more global at the moment. I feel like we’re hearing more and more fresh sounds and I really like it! It seems to me as people aren’t really drawn to artists just because of their name that much anymore, it’s rather who makes good music even if it’s a complete newcomer and I guess this just comes with the age of Spotify etc. Estonia has so many talented and amazing newcomers, I really think that many of them have the potential to make a breakthrough in the Estonian music scene and probably even globally.

See, I don’t know what to say about acts not putting themselves forward because there were still more songs submitted than last year. Not as many big names as last year but more songs still. And I feel like I don’t know enough to say anything about this because I don’t know who got left out and why. Maybe the songs weren’t good, maybe there weren’t any big names, I guess we’ll never know.

Even though this year is different from last year, I quite like the selection, it’s such an interesting variety and well Stig’s song melts my heart, I am definitely rooting for him.

What are your plans following Eesti Laul – anything on the horizon?

Yes, new projects are definitely on the horizon and I’m planning to continue my collaboration with Amiran as well.

Finally, just some quick questions to get to know you a bit better :

What music are you listening to right now? Dua Lipa, Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Drake
What’s your favourite book? Any book by Charles Bukowski
What’s your favourite food? Pasta
Who would you like to perform on stage with? Rihanna

Thank you so much Desiree, and good luck tomorrow night!

Listen to Desiree’s song “On My Mind” here

We will be live blogging the first semi final of Eesti Laul here on ESCBubble tomorrow night, from 2135 EET, which is 2035 CET and 1935 GMT. Join us as we take you through all the action!

ESCBubble will be present at the Grand Final which will be held on March 3rd at the Saku Suurhall,  the venue of the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest.

To keep up with all the latest news on Desiree, make sure you follow her on Facebook. If Desiree’s song is one of your favourites in the first semi of Eesti Laul, don’t forget to vote for her in our poll: