All the facts about Estonia’s Eurovision contestant Tommy Cash and why his song is so controversial

We’ve not even reached the Eurovision Grand Final yet, but Estonia’s contestant Tommy Cash is already going viral because of his controversial song, “Espresso Macchiato”.

Media site Estonian World describes Cash’s song as ” a playful yet provocative take on Italian stereotypes” but Italian people aren’t too happy with it, with some reportedly finding it offensive.

The main issue is that the lyrics are in what Rolling Stone Italia has described as “macaronic Italian” – a blend of English with grammatically unconventional and mispronounced Italian phrases.

“Espresso Macchiato” plays on fairly broad Italian clichés such as a love of coffee, Mafia imagery and smoking, and has split opinion, to say the least.

Estonia’s Eurovision entry has even attracted the attention of Gian Marco Centinaio, the vice president of the Italian Senate, who took aim at both the track and its performer in a recent Instagram post, declaring: “He [Tommy Cash] should come to Italy and see how decent people really work before daring to write such a stupid and stereotypical song.”

Also, an Italian non-profit consumer protection association, has lodged a formal appeal with Eurovision’s governing body calling for the disqualification of “Espresso Macchiato” as it is in breach of the competition’s rules banning discriminatory and stereotypical content.

However, Tommy Cash isn’t ignoring the online debate about whether the song is offensive. In contrast, the Estonian rapper, singer and visual artist has been leaning into the controversy on TikTok.

One recent post, which has gone viral, shows him being “arrested” by the Italian authorities while he protests and says “no, I love Italy!”

@lionfieldmusic No espresso macchiato in jail #eurovision #estonia #italia ♬ Espresso Macchiato – Tommy Cash

Another viral TikTok, which has had over two million views so far, shows him being “briefed” by his managers to avoid “racism” before Eurovision:

@tommycashofficial

just going over the rules

♬ racism knock it off – outofcontexttmg

People are enjoying the “drama“, to say the least. One recent video has multiple comments saying that Tommy Cash has already won Eurovision 2025, in their eyes. The song has also gone viral in the US, with people joking that Cash is Europe’s answer to Sabrina Carpenter.

@eurovisionflare MI AMORE ☕️ (🇪🇪 Tommy Cash – Espresso Macchiato, Estonia Eurovision 2025, LIVE) #eurovisionflare #eurovision2025 #eurovision #fyp #foryou #viral #trending #xyzbca #estonia #tommycash #espressomacchiato #italy ♬ Espresso Macchiato – Tommy Cash

Who is Tommy Cash?

Tommy Cash’s real name is Tomas Tammemets. He was born in 1991; he’s an Estonian visual artist, singer, dancer and rapper who has made quite a name for himself with his sexually explicit themes and provocative music videos in the past, so it should come as no real surprise that he’s causing quite a stir at Eurovision 2025.

Cash released his debut tracks “Dusk”, “Oldkool” and “Toxic” on Soundcloud in 2012, but didn’t find mainstream success until 2016 when he dropped “Winaloto”, which received over 16 million views on YouTube.

More recently, in January 2024, Tommy Cash released the single “Tango”, featuring Canadian rapper bbno$.

He’s now got another achievement to add to his CV: appearing in the Eurovision Grand Final after making it through the semi-final stage. If he isn’t disqualified due to the increasingly angry Italian backlash, of course.

The second Eurovision Semi-Final takes place today (15 May), and the Grand Final airs on Saturday (17 May).