Birgit Õigemeel, known mononymously as Birgit is an Estonian singer. She represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Et uus saaks alguse". She performed in the first semi-final and ended on the 10th place, thus got enough votes to go through to the final. In the final she got 52 points and ended on the 19th place out of 26 participants.
It's clearly fate that Et uus saaks alguse represented Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest. Children have played a big role in Birgit's life throughout her professional career, which began in 2007 when she won the first ever series of Estonian Pop Idol. A year later she set up the Tähelaps charity with politician and good friend Margus Tsahkna in support of the education of children from orphanages.
In 2009 she teamed up with the internationally acclaimed deep house production duo Rulers of the Deep on the album Teineteisel Pool ('The Other Side'). A showcase of intelligent club music, it won her the award of the Female Artist of the Year 2010 in Estonia. In 2010 she took the role of Maria von Trapp in the 'The Sound of Music' in Estonia. She has also taken part in the national selection for Eurovision on two previous occasions, in 2008 and 2012.
Birgit is only too aware that resting on your laurels is a step backwards, which is why she's studying music therapy at Tallinn University. "I'm interested in the deeper effect that music has on people," she explains. "I've been studying music therapy for four years now, and I've realised that music can have a very positive therapeutic effect. I know from experience that you can use it to help people."
She was one of the five jurors for Estonia in the 2021 contest in Rotterdam.
