Tallinn went berserk on the night it won the prize last year. Everyone took to the streets, singing, screaming, hooters blaring, flags waving. One resident told me it was as if Estonia had just won the World Cup. /---/
When the bunting was swept up, however, the rest of the world still had no idea what or where Estonia was (friends have suggested looking for it in the Balkans, the Balearics or somewhere east of Kazakhstan). Estonians argue that Eurovision will put them on the map.
For the record, then, Estonia is on the Baltic about 330km west of St Petersburg and an hour and a half by jetfoil from Helsinki. It is routinely referred to as tiny, but is bigger than Denmark or Holland. The population is indeed tiny, only 1.4 million, nearly a third of them Russian. They gained independence from the Soviet Union just over 10 years ago following what they call the 'Singing Revolution'. Not for them the Sturm und Drang of the Wall being pulled down, or the bullet-dodging excitement of Bucharest. Instead, they gathered at the enormous Song Festival Ground and sang melancholy tunes until communism collapsed. Estonians know that a well-crafted melody can change the world.