"Bridges"
The official cover for "Bridges"
Single by Alika
LanguageEnglish
Released2 December 2022
Length3:05
LabelUniversal Music Oy
Songwriter(s)
Alika singles chronology
"C'est La Vie"
(2022)		 "Bridges"
(2022)		 "You"
(2023)
Music video
"Bridges" on YouTube
Eurovision Song Contest 2023 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
English
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
10th
Semi-final points
74
Final result
8th
Final points
168
Entry chronology
◄ "Hope" (2022)
Official performance video
"Bridges" (Second Semi-Final) on YouTube
"Bridges" (Grand Final) on YouTube

"Bridges" is a song by Estonian singer Alika Milova, released on 2 December 2022.[1] The song represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 after winning Eesti Laul 2023, Estonia's national selection for that year's Eurovision Song Contest. In the Eurovision final, it finished in eighth place.[2][3]

Background and composition

In an interview with the Eurovision fansite ESCUnited, "Bridges" was inspired by a recording session that took place in the Netherlands along with fellow songwriter Wouter Hardy. According to Milova, she was feeling "some kind of anxiety", and proceeded to cry in a nearby bathroom. Hardy would then propose to take Milova out for lunch to vent her anxiety out to Hardy. Although hesitant, she decided to take the offer and afterwards, decided to write some music on Hardy's piano at his house, composing "Bridges" in the span of three hours.[4]

To Milova, "Bridges" represented the feelings that she had felt during that day in the recording studio. The reason why she had chosen the title "Bridges" was that she wanted listeners to communicate within themselves and with the others around them, even in a feeling where "[you are] lost in a big world, with a lot of people surrounding you."[4]

At Eurovision in Liverpool, Alika was accompanied by two backing singers off-stage, Sofia-Liis Liiv and Grettel Killing.

Eurovision Song Contest

Eesti Laul 2023

Eesti Laul 2023 was the fifteenth edition of the Estonian national selection Eesti Laul, which would select Estonia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. The competition would consist of twenty entries competing in two semi-finals on 12 and 14 January 2023 culminating to a twelve-song final on 11 February 2023.[5]

"Bridges" would compete in the second semi-final on 14 January, competing last of all ten entries. The results of the semi-finals were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a professional jury and public televoting for the first four qualifiers, and a second round of public televoting for the fifth qualifier. The public would also select two wildcards out of the remaining non-qualifying acts from both semi-finals to complete the twelve song lineup in the final. "Bridges" would manage to qualify as one of the four songs that qualified from the combination of votes from the juries and the public, moving on to the final.[6]

Heading into the final, "Bridges" was considered one of the favorites to win the competition by Eurovision fansites.[7][8] In the final, the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a jury (50%) and public televote (50%) determined the top three entries to proceed to the superfinal. After heading to the superfinal, "Bridges" was selected as the winner by a public televote, thus earning the Estonian spot for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.[2]

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Estonia was placed into the second semi-final, held on 11 May 2023, and performed in the first half of the show.[9]

Charts

Chart performance for "Bridges"
Chart (2023) Peak
position
Iceland (Plötutíðindi)[10] 40
Lithuania (AGATA)[11] 20
Netherlands (Single Tip)[12] 23
Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[13] 17
UK Singles Downloads (OCC)[14] 51

References

  1. ↑ Adams, William Lee (2 December 2022). "Estonia: All 20 Eesti Laul 2023 songs available now". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  2. 1 2 Percy, Lucy (11 February 2023). "Estonia: Alika wins Eesti Laul 2023 with "Bridges"". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  3. ↑ "Estonia chooses Alika for Eurovision 2023". Eurovision Song Contest. 11 February 2023. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  4. 1 2 D'Eila, Luca (6 February 2023). "ALIKA interview: "My song talks about hope"". ESCUnited. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  5. ↑ Bird, Lisa (15 September 2022). "Eesti Laul 2023 final to take place February 11". ESCXTRA.com. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  6. ↑ Vautrey, Jonathan (14 January 2023). "Eesti Laul 2023 semi-final 2: SISSI and ALIKA among qualifiers". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  7. ↑ Arth, Rick (10 February 2023). "Poll results: OLLIE is your favorite to win Estonia's Eesti Laul 2023". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  8. ↑ Christou, Costa (11 February 2023). "YOU have predicted Alika to win Eesti Laul 2023!". ESCXtra. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  9. ↑ Groot, Evert (31 January 2023). "Eurovision 2023: Allocation Draw results". Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  10. ↑ "Tónlistinn – Lög" [The Music – Songs] (in Icelandic). Plötutíðindi. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  11. ↑ "2023 20-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  12. ↑ "Dutch Single Tip 20/05/2023". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  13. ↑ "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 20". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  14. ↑ "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
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