Ranele: ‘The semi-finalists have to work harder than ever before!’
The Estonian selection process for Eurovision, “Eesti Laul”, gets underway this Thursday, 31st January with the first of two semi finals. Here at ESCBubble, we’ve been chatting to some of the participants to get to know them a bit better.
Today we have Ranele Raudsoo, a 29 year old singer from Kohtla-Järve, who will be appearing in semi final 1 on Thursday with her song “Supernova”
Ranele, welcome to Eesti Laul! You are a new participant to the contest, what can you tell us about Ranele, the person and the performer?
That´s true, this is the first time I´m competing in Eesti Laul. But an active singer, I have been all of my life. I sing in a pop-rock coverband called IŽ-58 and we perform a lot at weddings, anniversaries, parties etc.
My everyday job actually is in school – I´m a recreational officer and a IT teacher.
Also, in the community I live in, I´m a member of a local government and educational committee. I lead many hobby groups and in summer I host children camps.Besides singing and work it´s very important for me to keep my physical training routine. I work out six times a week and also eat healthily.
From reading the lyric translation, your song “Supernova” is full of galactical references and star studded concepts, what does the song mean to you?
For me the song is rather more metaphorical. It tells us how we create our own life and we live it however we want it.
I’ve been looking into your back catalogue and you have some gorgeous retro dance tracks (my favourite is Ma tahan joosta!), but always in the Estonian language – have you been tempted to sing in English at any point?
Actually I do! In the future I would like to have few songs in English. There´s even a possibility that I will recreate Supernova as an English version.
What can you tell us about how Eesti Laul is received by the Estonian public, and do you think that Elina Nechayeva’s fantastic result in Lisbon last year has opened up a new audience to Eurovision?
I think Eesti Laul is very popular in Estonia. There are people who know everything about it, but also people who only know winners. The TV audience is around 200,000 so considering our population that´s a huge number. Because of Elina last year, hopes and “the roof” is really high. And because of that, the competition is really strong, which means that semi-finalists have to work harder than ever before!
What do you have planned for life after Eesti Laul? Any concerts on the horizon?
After Eesti Laul my life is going to be the same – very busy. I have few songs that may come out soon and I´m open for any new suggestions or ideas. As for 2019, we already have around 20 shows in summer (probably more) and until then I think I will be performing about 2-5 shows in a month.
Finally, just a few quick questions to get to know you better 😉
What music are you listening to right now?
Soul and RńB
What’s your favourite book?
Paulo Coelho “The Alchemist”
What’s your favourite food?
Sushi
Who would you like to perform on stage with?
Tina Turner
Thank you so much for your time Ranele, and best of luck in Thursday’s semi final!
Watch the official video for “Supernova” by Ranele, and stream on Spotify here
Six songs will go forward from each of the semi finals this week to the Grand Final to be held in the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn on February 16th. Vote for your favourite from semi final 1 in our polls and stick with us at ESCBubble as we take you through all the shows and also bring you exclusive content live from the Grand Final!
