Rockefeller Street
"Rockefeller Street" is a 2011 song by Estonian singer and actress Getter Jaani. Described as a "up-tempo dance song", the track was both composed and lyrically made by Sven Lõhmus. It was released on 24 January 2011 by Moonwalk Records and later served as the lead single and namesake for Jaani's debut studio album, Rockefeller Street. The song was the Estonian entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, held in Düsseldorf, where it placed 24th, one spot away from last place in the grand final. Critical response of the song was initially positive, with it considered to be a favorite to win the contest. However, the Eurovision performance itself mainly received negative reviews, with the performance seen as "cheap". "Rockefeller Street" experienced commercial success both in 2011 and later increased success throughout the late 2010s. The song peaked at number three in its native Estonia. Years after the song was performed at Eurovision, an unofficial nightcore version of the song became an internet meme, leading to an increase of streams for the song and Jaani releasing an official nightcore version of the song. Background and composition 
"Rockefeller Street" was both composed and lyrically made by Estonian songwriter Sven Lõhmus. Lõhmus had previously written and composed both Suntribe's "Let's Get Loud" and Urban Symphony's "Rändajad", the Estonian entries for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005 and 2009, respectively. In an interview with Maltese Eurovision fan podcast Eurovision Radio International, she described "Rockefeller Street" as a "fairytale", with the street representing "[where] all your dreams can come true and you can be whoever you want to be". In the same interview, while she admitted the street was imaginary, she stated that she had felt that she had been there in her imagination numerous times. In another interview, she stated that on the street, ballerinas danced to "Swan Lake", with the street being near a river adorned with pearls and gems. Furthermore, in an analysis by ESCToday writer Marcus Klier, the song was stated to tell a story about a night out partying in New York City, with the song's title referring to the Rockefeller family. The song was officially announced to compete in Eesti Laul 2011 on 16 December 2010. According to Lõhmus, the song was not created as a song made specifically for the Eurovision Song Contest; it was only entered into Eesti Laul 2011 as a way to promote the single itself. On 24 January 2011, it was released as a digital download along with all other other songs competing in Eesti Laul 2011. At the national final, it competed in the second semi-final on 12 February, advancing to the final on 19 February. Critical reception 
Editors of The Edge, the University of Southampton's entertainment magazine, described the song as "catchy", predicting the song would do well in the contest despite a lacklustre performance, stating that the song was going after the "pity vote" by using cheap props. Silvi Vrait, the Estonian representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, thought that the song would do well in the contest, considering it "nice and happy...  just right for Eurovision". Süddeutsche Zeitung, a German newspaper, gave the song a positive review, stating that the song was as good as a song by Lady Gaga or Madonna. In the months heading into the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, the song was considered one of the favorites to win the contest based on betting odds. On the first set of betting odds released on 15 March, Jaani was third in the odds, only behind France's Amaury Vassili and Norway's Stella Mwangi. By 31 March, she increased to second place. Days before the second semi-final, Jaani decreased back to third place for the overall contest, but was considered the favorite to the win the semi-final. Reviews of the Eurovision performance itself were mainly negative. Ithaka Maria, an Estonian television host who competed against Jaani in Eesti Laul 2011, gave it a negative review, stating, "If the Estonian team set itself the biggest goal of getting to the final, it was achieved...  to say that Estonia did well in [Eurovision] is, to put it mildly, ridiculous!" Writers for The Guardian, Heidi Stephens and Stuart Heritage, gave the performance a highly negative review, stating, "Christ alive, what is THIS?... [she looks] like a satanic doll standing on a set made out of rubbish cardboard boxes with buildings drawn on them... 'Everything is a little bit weird now', she sings, and she's not wrong." Eurovision Song Contest

Eesti Laul 2011 
Estonia's broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) organized a 20-entry competition, Eesti Laul 2011 with two semi-finals culminating into a grand final to select its entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. The edition was the third iteration of the national final. The two semi-finals were held on 12 and 19 February, and the final was held on 26 February. The winning song in the final was selected over two rounds of voting: the first round results selected the top three songs via the 50/50 combination of jury and public voting, while the second round (superfinal) determined the winner solely by public televoting. "Rockefeller Street" was officially announced to compete in the competition on 16 December 2010 on Eesti Televisioon (ETV) entertainment program Ringvaade. It was placed into the first semi-final, where it managed to qualify to the grand final in first place. The performance featured Jaani in a pink, blue, and yellow dress surrounded by a miniature city. Three male background dancers and two female backing singers, all dressed in black, were also featured. In the grand final, she performed a repeat of her semi-final performance, advancing to the superfinal along with Outloudz's "I Wanna Meet Bob Dylan". In the superfinal, the managed to garner 28,102 votes, over 10,000 more than Outloudz's song, winning the Estonian spot for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. At Eurovision 
The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 took place at the Düsseldorf Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany and consisted of two semi-finals held on 10 and 12 May, respectively, and the final on 14 May 2011. According to Eurovision rules, all countries, except the host and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom), were required to qualify from one semi-final to compete in the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progressed to the final. In a press conference held on 17 January 2011, a special allocation press conference was held to determine which countries would perform in each semi-final. Estonia was placed into the second semi-final, performing in the second half of the show. For its Eurovision performance, "Rockefeller Street" was altered, with minor changes being made in order to accommodate a three-minute time limit that the Eurovision Song Contest sets for each performance. Jaani performed the song 15th in the second semi-final, after Romania's Hotel FM and before Belarus' Anastasia Vinnikova. Minor changes to Jaani's performance were also made; Jaani wore an all-pink dress and carried a cloth that turned into a staff, with a skyscraper background added on LED screens that were made to represent the Manhattan skyline. The five background dancers and cardboard boxes remained, with the male background dancers described to be "symbolic guardians and protectors of the fairy princess Getter". "Rockefeller Street" finished ninth, receiving 60 points and securing a spot in the grand final. Jaani performed a repeat of her performance in the grand final on 14 May. The song was performed in eighth, after Sweden's Eric Saade and before Greece's Loukas Yorkas. After the results were announced, Jaani finished 24th with 44 points, only ahead of Switzerland's Anna Rossinelli. No country gave the song 12 points; the maximum given to the song was seven, given by Finland, Ireland, and Lithuania. The result was seen by local Estonian media as "disappointing", considering that the song was considered one of the favorites to win the contest in the months leading up to the contest. In response to her finish, Jaani stated that she did not feel any disappointment on her result, instead praising on the fact that she was able to get to the grand final. Internet phenomenon 
Years after the contest, an unofficial nightcore version of song became an internet phenomenon, especially in Asia, where, according to ERR, a combined total of 1.5 million videos were made on Chinese social media platform TikTok using the nightcore version of the song by 9 January 2019. The song was later featured on a February 2019 episode of American talk show The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Jaani eventually released an official nightcore version of the song on 14 December 2018. The song's songwriter, Sven Lõhmus, stated positive remarks on the song's popularity despite a lack of royalties. Lõhmus claimed that he felt royalties were not the most important thing for him, instead praising on how a relatively unknown Estonian pop song had made it into mainstream pop culture, stating, "This is an intense precedent... it is unlikely that any Estonian songs become so popular around the world that Asians and Americans dance to them." He also stated that due to the song's popularity, many would ask "who wrote the story", stating that "they will eventually find me". By early 2020, Lõhmus and Jaani had hopes of signing with a major American record company; although, this never materialized. Track listing 

 Digital download

 "Rockefeller Street" 3:13

Charts

Release history

Notes

References

Eurovision songs of 2011
Eurovision songs of Estonia
Getter Jaani songs
Songs written by Sven Lõhmus
2011 songs