"Kaelakee hääl" is a song performed by Maarja-Liis Ilus

Maarja-Liis Ilus

Maarja-Liis Ilus, sometimes better known by her performing name Maarja is a pop musician. Maarja has achieved some chart success in a number of countries across Europe and Asia...

 and Ivo Linna

Ivo Linna

Ivo Linna is an Estonian singer.He represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "Kaelakee Hääl" which would go onto finish 5th at the contest, held in Oslo that year....

 that represented Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

 in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996

Eurovision Song Contest 1996

The Eurovision Song Contest 1996 was the 41st Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 18 May 1996 in Oslo Spektrum in Oslo, Norway. The presenters were Ingvild Bryn and Morten Harket. Harket, lead singer of a-ha, opened the show with a performance of his single "Heaven's Not For Saints". Eimear...

. The composer was Priit Pajusaar and the lyrics were written by Kaari Sillamaa.

In the Estonian preselection Eurolaul

Eurolaul

Eurolaul was an annual televised competition to select a song to represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest made by the Estonian Public Television Service ETV. For many years the competition differed from the national selections of most other countries in that the outcome was solely...

, the winner was selected from 13 entries by an international jury. After the voting, "Kaelakee hääl" was tied by points with "Me rõõm ei kao" ("Our happiness won't disappear") by Kadri Hunt, but was declared winner because it had received more top votes of 10 points.

The song was performed eleventh in Eurovision, following Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

's Mariana Efstratiou

Mariana Efstratiou

Marianna Efstratiou is a Greek singer, connected on several occasions with the Eurovision Song Contest. In 1987 she appeared as a backing singer for the duo Bang. Efstratiou won the Greek national song contest in 1989, overcoming Greek superstar Anna Vissi, and represented Greece in Lausanne with...

 with "Emis Forame To Himona Anixiatika

Emis Forame To Himona Anixiatika

Emis Forame To Himona Anixiatika was the Greek entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996, performed in Greek by Mariana Efstratiou...

" and preceding Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

's Elisabeth Andreassen

Elisabeth Andreassen

Elisabeth Gunilla Andreassen - also known as just "Bettan" - is a Swedish-Norwegian singer who has finished both first and second in the Eurovision Song Contest....

 with "I evighet

I Evighet

"I evighet" is a song by Elisabeth Andreassen, The original lyrics were written by Wendell Miller of U.S.A. melody written by Torhild Nigar copyright 1986 was the Norwegian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996.The song is a ballad, with Andreassen singing about the eternal nature...

". At the close of voting, it had received 94 points, placing it 5th out of 23.

On stage with Maarja-Liis Ilus and Ivo Linna were instrumentalists Taavo Remmel (bass), Glen Pilvre (keyboards) and Roland Puusepp (drums). Backing vocal was provided by Anne Värvimann.

It was succeeded as Estonian representative

Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest

Estonia first entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994. Its first appearance would have taken place in 1993 with Janika Sillamaa and "Muretut meelt ja südametuld", however a...

 at the 1997 Contest

Eurovision Song Contest 1997

The Eurovision Song Contest 1997, was the 42nd Eurovision Song Contest and it was held at the Point Theatre Dublin, Ireland, on 3 May 1997. Boyzone member Ronan Keating and Carrie Crowley were the presenters of the show....

 by Ilus, performing solo, with "Keelatud maa

Keelatud maa

"Keelatud maa" was the Estonian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997, performed in Estonian by Maarja....

".

While not resulting in a win, the performance was the first occasion on which a state previously part of the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 had placed in the top 5.

Lyrics

The song is a love duet, with the singers expressing their heartache at not being able to be with each other all the time. Ilus sings about giving Linna a necklace, from which he is able to hear her voice even if she is away.

Translations

Two English versions were made of the song, the first "Away from home", sung by Ilus and Linna, and the second titled "Just a dream away", which was recorded by Maarja and Morgan Johansson in 1997 for Maarja's album "First in line". Maarja also recorded the latter with Greek singer Yiorgos Doukas (Duke), including a version with some Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 lyrics added in, titled "Πάλι εσένα θα ονειρευτώ".

Cover versions have been made in various languages, including in Finnish

Finnish language

Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...

 and Swedish

Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...

, and a Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 version by a group from the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.