| "Rändajad" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Single by Urban Symphony | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| from the album TBA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Released | January 5, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Format | Radio single, CD single, download single |
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| Recorded | 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | electropop | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 3:03 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Label | Moonwalk | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Producer | Sven Lõhmus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urban Symphony singles chronology | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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"Rändajad" (English translation: Nomads[1] or Travellers) is a song by the Estonian band Urban Symphony, composed by Sven Lõhmus, and represented Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia.[2][3]
The song competed in the second semi-final on 14 May 2009 and won Estonia a place in the final for the first time since the introduction of semifinals. In the final on 16 May 2009 the song received the sixth place, finishing with 129 points.[4] This was Estonia's best result since Sahlene's Runaway in 2002. Estonia returned to good results after having six years of poor ones.
"Rändajad" was the first ever song in Estonian to chart in the UK, Belgium, and Switzerland.
"Rändajad", with a remarkable oriental flame to it, tells a story of never-ending nomadic journeys through the sand deserts. The song can be taken as a metaphor for life, and Urban Symphony lead singer Sandra Nurmsalu points out that "we all are travellers".[5] The music mixes electronic sounds with performances on the violin, viola, and cello.
Urban Symphony was supported on stage by two backing singers, Mirjam Mesak and Marilin Kongo. Mirjam was on stage also in Helsinki 2007 when Gerli Padar represented Estonia, while Marilin had earlier taken part in the Estonian national final for Eurovision ("Be 1st" in 2006). She was also to return on Eurovision stage in 2011 with Getter Jaani.
Graham Norton for the BBC and others have translated the song title as "Travellers," which is the dictionary definition of the word,[6][7] as well as the translation used by Sandra Nurmsalu herself.[5] This title was considered a correct, but not perfect, answer in the competition to give a translated title,[8] with "Nomads" being the official Eurovision translation.[1] The definite article ("the") is often prefixed to the title in English (Estonian has no definite article[9]).
The songwriter Sven Lõhmus also wrote the Estonian entry to the Eurovision 2005, "Let's Get Loud" by Suntribe and the Estonian entry of Eurovision 2011,"Rockefeller Street" by Getter Jaani.
Contents |
Digital release
CD single
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Singles Chart[10] | 68 |
| Estonian Singles Chart[11] | 3 |
| Finnish Singles Chart[12] | 10 |
| Greek Billboard Singles Chart[13] | 8 |
| Swedish Singles Chart[14] | 14 |
| Swiss Singles Chart[15] | 86 |
| UK Singles Chart[16] | 117 |
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