#BIRTHDAY: 1 August – Vaiko Eplik from Estonia is 45

If your country has had a decent run in the Eurovision Song Contest, then that put more pressure on you to deliver. It’s almost an expectation that you’ll finish in the top quarter. And you may think you’re a massive failure if you finish, say, 12th, even though some countries would kill for a finish like that.

For our friends in Estonia, after a stuttering start, had an excellent run of form in the late 1990s and early 2000s. this included a win (perhaps aginst the odds). So the pressure was on when today’s birthday boy Vaiko Eplik – fronting the band Ruffus, took to the stage in Rīga. They had (some might day) a surprise win at Eurolaul, beating some popular beat combo called Vanilla Ninja. Anyway, what could go wrong for an Estonian band in Latvia? Well, more than they realised. After finishing an undeserved 21st, mainly helped by countries using juries, Estonia were consigned to fighting in the semi-final in 2004. It would be 2009 before we next saw Estonia in a Saturday night final.

Authors: Riigi Ametnik, John Stanton

Source: OnEurope