NF Throwback: Nimmerschmidt – Sandra

This week’s National Final throwback is taking us to 2014, off to Eesti Laul, the national final of Estonia. The eventual winner of Eesti laul 2014 was Tanja, with the song Amazing, however today we’re looking at Nimmerschmidt with the charming song called Sandra.

The alternative Estonian group present an interesting, simple and charming song. The song mixes some 80’s sounds with a delicate voice in the Estonian language, which is always a positive in my book. The song, although it doesn’t necessarily build to a big finish, uses a nice little guitar solo to break up the song.

Admittedly, I think the vocals are a bit so-so in parts of the song, but at the same time, I think in this context it adds a bit of charm to the song. The melody itself is easy to follow, and even though it is in Estonian, it’s a song that if you listened to it long enough, you could easily pick up the words, or at least chime in with ‘Sandraaaa’ throughout the song.

The song is a demonstration of the diversity within the Estonian national final, which fans have come to love. This alternative style, although suits my general taste in music, I feel that it would have come to the same fate as Tanja at Eurovision. I believe it would have been a more select or niche audience who would support this song, rather than the masses. This isn’t necessarily a negative, it’s more that I don’t think Eurovision and its audience has evolved enough yet to appreciate this simple alternative music – but it’s only a matter of time.

For me, there’s not much to dislike about this song, although it is all about personal tastes. I’m going to give this song a 9/10. My personal Eesti Laul winner of 2014.