Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026
| Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 2026 | ||||
| Participating broadcaster | Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) | |||
| Country | Estonia | |||
| Selection process | Eesti Laul 2026 | |||
| Selection date | 14 February 2026 | |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
| ||||
Estonia is set to be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. The Estonian participating broadcaster, Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR), will organise the national final Eesti Laul 2026 in order to select its entry for the contest.
Background
Prior to the 2026 contest, Eesti Televisioon (ETV) until 2007, and Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) since 2008, had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Estonia thirty times since ETV's first entry in 1994, winning the contest in 2001 with the song "Everybody" performed by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL. Following the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Estonia has, to this point, managed to qualify to the final on eleven occasions, including in 2025, when "Espresso Macchiato" performed by Tommy Cash ultimately placed third in the final.[1]
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, ERR organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. Since its debut, the Estonian broadcaster had organised national finals that featured a competition among multiple artists and songs in order to select its entry for the contest, with the Eesti Laul competition being organised since 2009. On 19 September 2025, ERR confirmed its participation at the 2026 contest and announced the organisation of Eesti Laul 2026 in order to select its entry.[2]
Before Eurovision
Eesti Laul 2026
Eesti Laul 2026 is set to be the 18th edition of the national selection Eesti Laul, organised by ERR to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. The competition will consist of a 12-song final on 14 February 2026 at the Unibet Arena in Tallinn, and will be hosted by Karl-Erik Taukar and Karl "Korea" Kivastik.[3][4]
Competing entries
On 19 September 2025, ERR opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries up until 20 October 2025. Each artist and songwriter was only able to submit a maximum of five entries. Foreign collaborations were allowed as long as one of the songwriters were Estonian. A fee was also imposed on songs being submitted to the competition, with €50 for songs in the Estonian language and €100 for songs in other languages. Both of the fees increased for entries submitted from 17 October 2025: €150 for songs in the Estonian language and €250 for songs in other languages.[5] 171 submissions were received by the deadline, of which 77 were in Estonian.[6] A 34-member jury panel selected 12 finalists from the submissions and the selected songs were announced during the ETV entertainment program Ringvaade on 30 and 31 October 2025.[7][8]
Among the competing artists were previous Eurovision Song Contest entrants Vanilla Ninja, which represented Switzerland in 2005, Getter Jaani, who represented Estonia in 2011, Stig Rästa (as member of Stockholm Cowboys), who represented Estonia in 2015 with Elina Born, and Victor Crone (as member of Stockholm Cowboys), who represented Estonia in 2019.[8][9] Ant, Grete Paia, Laura Prits, Marta Pikani, Minimal Wind, Noëp, Ollie and Robert Linna have all competed in previous editions of Eesti Laul.[10]
|
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Ant and Minimal Wind | "Wounds (Don't Wanna Fall)" |
|
| Clicherik and Mäx | "Jolly Roger" |
|
| Getter Jaani | "The Game" | Sven Lõhmus |
| Grete Paia | "Taevas jäi üles" |
|
| Laura Prits | "Warrior" |
|
| Marta Pikani | "Kell kuus" | Marta Pikani |
| Noëp | "Days Like This" |
|
| Ollie | "Slave" | Oliver Mazurtšak |
| Robert Linna | "Metsik roos" | Robert Linna |
| Stockholm Cowboys | "Last Man Standing" | |
| Uliana Olhyna | "Rhythm of Nature" |
|
| Vanilla Ninja | "Too Epic to Be True" | Sven Lõhmus |
References
- ^ "Estonia". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Retrieved 2023-08-09.
- ^ Vecic, Tamara (2025-09-19). "🇪🇪 Estonia: Eesti Laul 2026 Submissions Open and Format Revealed". Eurovoix. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ^ "Eesti Laul 2026 toob saatejuhtidena kokku Korea ja Karl-Erik Taukari". ERR (in Estonian). 2025-10-30. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ^ "Estonia: Eesti Laul 2026". Eurovisionworld. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ^ "Eesti Laul 2026. In English". ERR (in Estonian). 2025-09-19. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ^ "171 songs submitted to Eesti Laul 2026". ERR. 2025-10-21. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ^ a b "Kõik Eesti Laul 2026 finalistid on teada". ERR (in Estonian). 2025-10-31. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ^ a b Granger, Anthony (2025-10-31). "🇪🇪 Estonia: Eesti Laul 2026 Line-Up Complete". Eurovoix. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ^ Farren, Neil (2025-10-30). "🇪🇪 Estonia: First Eesti Laul 2026 Participants Revealed". Eurovoix. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ^ Misja Eurowizja I Recaps (2025-10-31). Eesti Laul 2026 (Estonia) | Who will compete?. Retrieved 2025-11-01 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Eesti Laul 2026 esimesed finalistid on selgunud". ERR (in Estonian). 2025-10-30. Retrieved 2025-11-01.