Bridges (Alika song)

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]

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] Bridges would go on to win Song of the Year at the Estonian Music Awards 2024.^[10]