The Eesti Laul 2024 final is fast approaching, and to join in on the excitement, we’ve been chatting to some of the lucky artists who’ve earned themselves a place to compete for the Estonian ticket to Malmö.

As one of five pre-qualified entries moving directly to the final, Uudo Sepp and Sarah Murray’s Pop Country ballad ‘Still Love’ wowed the Estonian jury. An Eesti Laul veteran, Uudo Sepp participated in the 2020 edition of the contest. Now, he returns to the stage with Chile-based, Irish-Norwegian (yes, she’s that international!) singer Sarah Murray – and their resulting duet is fantastic.

Want to find out more about their entry? Read on below!

SL: You’re a first-timer at Eesti Laul this year – tell us a bit about yourself.

SM: Singing has always been a passion of mine. I was born with that passion, more so than talent, so I had to build that technique and work hard to get better at it. But thanks to my parents, who are also singers, I was raised in a home filled with music. Singing was a dream and a hobby of mine for many years, but it wasn’t until I moved to Chile and got an opportunity to sing for the Chilean ambassador that I moved into performing professionally.

I also always had a dream of travelling. I’m half-Norwegian, half-Irish, but I was raised in Norway. I was never a big fan of the cold though! So at 24, I quit my job and began travelling across Asia and South America. After a while, I was brought to Estonia by a friend in the summer. I became fascinated by the live music scene there – so much so, I ended up staying there for 4 months! Now I work 50/50 between Chile and Europe.

I perform a lot of covers, but have recently started to look into working with producers and songwriters to put out my own music. I enjoy all kinds of genres, but love Pop Country – which worked out well with our song!

SL: Why did you choose to enter Eesti Laul this year – and how did you and Uudo Sepp come together to perform a duet?

SM: I was singing in Tallinn Old Town this summer, and some girls came up to me after the show to tell me that they loved my voice – and thought it would be perfect for their friend’s song. She already had a singer, but wanted to make it into a duet to submit to Eesti Laul.

I’d always said the only thing that would keep me in Europe in the winter would be entering Eurovision! So when I heard the song for the first time, I knew I had to take the opportunity. Then I met Uudo and we got on really well. I felt straight away that we had something really special together – and his Ed Sheeran style voice worked great with mine!

I haven’t heard the other songs yet, but I’ve heard the competition is really tough! It would mean the world to me to win this. I’m super humbled and grateful to be a part of it.

SL: You and Uudo’s song is one of only 5 pre-qualified entries that will go directly to the Eesti Laul final. How did it feel to find that out?

SM: Oh my god, girl…I broke down in tears! I never dared to imagine we’d even get chosen, let alone to be one of the finalists.

I want to sing for the rest of my life. So to get that kind of recognition from the judges – music professionals who chose the songs based purely on what they sounded like, knowing nothing about us as artists – was amazing.

I listened to the song on repeat the whole day when we found out. I was so proud of us – and can’t wait to perform it together!

SL: Can you tell us anything about your live performance? What can we expect?

SM: I’m not sure I’m allowed to say anything! You can expect a good performance that touches you in a bittersweet way, and a song that everybody can relate to. All I’m really hoping is to touch people’s hearts – and I feel so lucky to be doing this with Uudo.

SL: We saw on your Instagram that you were asking your followers to send in video clips for the music video for ‘Still Love’. Tell us a bit more about that.

SM: Well, to play on the lyric ‘high-school sweethearts’, we thought it would be a really cool, original idea to put together home videos from real couples all over the world, celebrating their love stories over the years.

It also worked well with me being in Chile and Uudo being in Estonia, as we couldn’t film together in person. Our contrast in locations also fitted with the message of the song, and with what we’ve experienced in the past few years during COVID: that with deep love, you can feel it even when you are far away.

SL: Finally: do you have any favourite Eesti Laul songs, or Eurovision songs generally?

One of my favourites (and it’s not just because I’m Norwegian!) has to be ‘Fairytale’ by Alexander Rybak. I love Celine Dion’s Eurovision entry too – but everything she sings sounds amazing.

I was also really touched by Michael’s Schulte’s ‘You Let Me Walk Alone’, and his story about his father passing away. As a performer, I love those types of songs where you can give emotion out to the audience, and then take in their emotion as well. It’s what I want to do forever.

Thanks again to Sarah for talking with us, and best of of luck for the Eesti Laul final this Saturday!

You can listen to ‘Still Love’ – and enjoy the heartwarming music video – below.