Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000


Estonia was represented by Ines, with the song '"Once in a Lifetime", at the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 13 May in Stockholm. "Once in a Lifetime" was chosen as the Estonian entry at the national final, Eurolaul, on 5 February.

Before Eurovision

Eurolaul 2000

The final was held at the studios of broadcaster ETV in Tallinn, hosted by Marko Reikop. Ten songs took part with the winner being chosen by a 10-member "expert" international jury.

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Ines performed 4th in the running order, following the United Kingdom and preceding France. "Once in a Lifetime" had been tipped beforehand as a potential contest winner, and although in the event it never challenged for victory in the voting, at the close it had picked up 98 points, placing Estonia 4th of the 24 entries, their highest finish to date. However Ines claimed in a 2002 BBC documentary that she had been widely criticised on her return to Estonia, where people had been fully expecting a victory and felt let down that she had been unable to deliver it.

Points awarded by Estonia

12 points10 points8 points7 points6 points

  • 5 points4 points3 points2 points1 point