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Alika from Estonia in the Eurovision 2023 studio

Estonia is breaking down walls: Alika’s bridge to Liverpool

05 May 2023 at 17:38 CEST
Alika from Estonia in the Eurovision 2023 studio Photo: Corinne Cumming / EBU
Pianist and singer Alika is flying the Estonian flag at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, and she’s tugging at both heartstrings and piano strings with her soaring ballad ‘Bridges.’
Alika rehearsing Bridges for Estonia at the Second Rehearsal of the Second Semi-Final at Liverpool Arena Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU

Singing competitions are solid ground for Alika and so it’s no surprise that she smashed her way through Estonia’s Eesti Laul, the competition that decides who will represent the country at the Eurovision Song Contest. She took to the stage with her grand piano and billowing dress, and Estonia loved her. After being picked by the public and jury to head to the Super Final, a public vote crowned Alika as the overall winner. The next stop was Liverpool.

We were expecting a raw, moving performance from Alika’s first rehearsal, and she delivered. On Tuesday 2 May, the Estonian Idol winner arrived on the stage looking a vision in pastel blue, and settled down in front of a grand piano - where she clearly feels most comfortable. As the song built up to its huge crescendo, so too did the show - and Alika let her voice soar.

Alika rehearsing Bridges for Estonia at the Second Rehearsal of the Second Semi-Final at Liverpool Arena
Chloe Hashemi / EBU

The official Eurovision Live Blog had a front-row seat to Alika’s moving performance, writing: "Alika has such a powerful voice, and the vocal range of this song makes it hugely challenging to sing. It's also a great example of the lighting and graphics capability of the Liverpool stage - there isn't a square inch of the floor and LED backdrop that isn't used here to dramatic effect."

Alika confided in us that her biggest fashion disaster happened in the year 2016, with a style inspired by her wish to be creative. We think she’s being a bit harsh on her teenage self. Judging by her Instagram pictures, there’s nothing to see but a star in the making.

This queen of Estonian singing competitions is building bridges across nations with her taste in music, and has a particular love of rock. She draws her inspiration from Jem’s They, Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, and RAYE’s The Thrill Is Gone. And when Alika breaks out of ballad mode, she can be found break-dancing to Pump Up The Jam by Technotronic.

Alika told the Official Eurovision Song Contest Podcast how the song Bridges came into being. After a tough morning in the studio working on her Eurovision song, she and writer Wouter Hardy were struggling to capture the right vibe, and she was in a pretty bad mood, so they took a break. When she came back into the room, something had shifted. 

“When I went to the studio, Woulter was already sitting behind the piano and playing this intro,” she told us, explaining how it was a new piece of music. She sat down on the floor, which is her favourite place to write music, and they started jamming. “I understood that this is the song, not just for Eurovision, but the song for me, for the people, because this song was written from bad emotions.”

There’s more from Alika on Episode 7 of the Official Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

You can learn more about Alika from Estonia right here.