Silvi Vrait, First Eurovision Finalist, Dead at 62
Estonia's pop music and the greater Eurovision community suffered a loss late last week with the passing of Silvi Vrait at 62 after a two-month battle with an undisclosed illness.
Vrait became known to international audiences toward the close of her career as a chanteuse, with her appearance in the 1994 Eurovision final, the country's first one. She sang "Like a Sea Wave" ("Nagu merelaine"), a no-frills light number that seemed to conjure up the carefree Nordic summer and played well on the other side of the gulf as well.
She was a veteran of the Estonian estraad scene by that time, having started her career in 1972. In the 1970s she fronted Suuk, and from 1975-1984 she was in the band Fix.
After her Eurovision appearance, she served as an English teacher at the Lycée Francaise in Tallinn. She also taught voice at the Georg Ots School of Music in Tallinn.
President Toomas Hendrik Ilves issued a statement in which he recalled a "shining star" of Estonian music.
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