After a top-10 finish at Eurovision 2023, Estonia is now seeking submissions for next year’s Eurovision hopefuls. Submissions for Eesti Laul 2024 are open now through October 23, broadcaster ERR announced today.
“We are waiting entries to the competition that will represent Estonia in front of the whole of Europe, in the best way possible,” said Karmel Killandi, editor in chief of entertainment programs at ERR.
Broadcaster ERR also announced the changes that it teased earlier this summer: out of the 20 competing songs, 15 will take part in a semi-final on January 20 in Tartu — a choice that producers say will highlight the city’s status as a cultural capital. Five of the songs will qualify for a 10-song final, on Feburary 17 in Tallinn, where they will join five pre-selected finalists.
The two semi-final format has been slashed for economic reasons, according to ERR.
At the final, public voting and a panel of international jurors will select three artists to move on to the super-final. After that, the final winner, Estonia’s 2024 Eurovision contestant, will be decided by 100% public voting.
Another major change is that the preliminary jury selecting the 20 entries for this year is made up of both music professionals and “ordinary” people who represent the show’s target audiences.
The last two years have marked the start of a successful streak for Estonia. In 2022, Stefan placed 13th with his country pop hit “Hope,” and in May 2023, Alika placed eighth with Bridges, a piano ballad that showcased her powerhouse vocals.
Estonia’s most recent entry:
The standard entry fee will be €50 for Estonian-language songs, or €100 for songs composed in a foreign language. Fees will be doubled for the last two days of the submission period.
Entries may not be written by a greater number of non-resident writers combined than Estonian citizens or residents combined; performs may be citizens, residents or non-residents of Estonia, according to ERR’s policy for Eesti Laul entries.
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