Interview With Eurovision Hopeful Stefan

It's a case of fourth time lucky for Estonia's The Masked Singer > winner Stefan, who is finally getting the chance to represent his home > country at Eurovision after coming very close in previous Eesti Laul > attempts. It would be fair to say that he never lost Hope, and that is > something we are thankful for. We took a moment with him to learn a > little more about his Eurovision hopes. > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKhSlSx00-I > > Hi, first and foremost, how are you? > > Hello! I’m good, thank you for asking! > > What an exciting 2022 so far... You must be thrilled with how it's > playing out. What's been the highlight? > > Well, it’s probably not a surprise, but winning Eesti Laul and getting > to go to Eurovision has definitely been the highlight, this year has > definitely been a good year for me so far. > > We absolutely love Hope. Tell us a little about the process behind the > scenes in creating the song? > > It has been a dark couple of years for us all, so during the pandemic > I really wanted to write a song that would help everyone, including > myself, push back the darkness, depression and evil and feel more > hopeful for a better tomorrow. In terms of the actual process, it > changes from day to day, but the chords, melody and lyrics sometimes > come to me at the same time, and sometimes separately, and eventually > we have enough to make it into a full song. > > If you had to file it between two other songs, what would they be and why… > > I will give you three - I think it would be in between something from > Johnny Cash, something from Avicii and Ennio Morricone’s theme from > the classic Spaghetti Western, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. > > You are on countdown to Eurovision. How are preparations going? > > Preparations are going very well. I am doing a lot of interviews and > media, and when I have free time I am either trying to relax or > rehearsing. I also have a lot of gigs and concerts that were already > scheduled, but since I am always singing Hope, I think I can consider > them rehearsals too. > > How are you finding the pre-parties? > > Well, they were all a lot of fun. I got to see so many new places and > meet and connect with the other contestants, and I really enjoyed > performing for different crowds and hearing them sing along with my > song. > > You are getting to see your competition up close, who have you been > getting along best with? > > Everyone has been really nice, but I think I’ve gotten the closest > with Ronela from Albania and We Are Domi from the Czech Republic. > > Who do you feel is your stiffest competition? > > I think that this year there are a lot of very strong songs, but in > regards to who is my stiffest competitor, I am not sure there is one. > My song is really the only one in its genre. > > What can we expect from your Turin performance? > > Well, we no longer have the cowboys on stage with me and I am working > with Estonian singer Jaagup Tuisk to make my staging more cinematic. > My exact movements will be different too, since we have a different > shaped stage — otherwise you can expect the same emotion and > enthusiasm as I try to give in every performance. > > What is your Eurovision ambition? > > Well, obviously I am aiming for first place! I hope that people will > vote for me and support me. > > We really hope there is more music coming soon. Have you got a follow > up single ready? > > I am working on a few new songs that aren’t quite ready yet, but there > is definitely a follow-up single on the way. > > And lastly, aside from Eurovision, what other 2022 plans do you have? > > Over the summer I will perform a lot of gigs and concerts all over > Estonia and I will release some new music, and hopefully an album. I > am also hoping that I can collaborate with some of the other singers > that I have made friends with through Eurovision. >