Estonian broadcaster (ERR) have already opened up for their song submission, but how will Eesti Laul 2026 exactly pan out? We’ll take a look on how artists and others who are interested, can sign up for the Estonian national final, for the upcoming year.
Eesti Laul 2026
The search for the best suited song for Estonia might already be underway, and the answer to that question will answered on the Febraury 14th 2026. The Estonian broadcaster has already opened up for interested parties to submit their entries for consideration, with of course some rules that also must be followed.
Estonia is one of the more quirky ones, since there is a participation fee that must be paid, in order to submit an entry. The fee is even decided, depending on the language of the song, as well as when it’s submitted. To summaries it all, below are a few interesting points in the rules:
- Songs submitted in the Estonian language: 50 Euros
- Songs submitted in another or bilingual language: 100 Euros
- Songs submitted in the Estonian language AFTER October 17th: 150 Euros
- Songs submitted in another or bilingual language AFTER October 17th: 250 Euros
- Only up to 5 submissions are allow by both author and singer(s)
- Competition is open for everyone, but must include an author that is of Estonian citizenship
- Songs will be released by the broadcaster, and can’t have been released, prior to December 4th 2025
Otherwise, most other rules consist of the usual rules that are also held by the EBU, which include that performers must be at least 16 years old, at the time of the contest, songs must be original and no longer than 3 minutes and no more than 6 people can perform on the stage at the same time, just to name a few. Further details can be found on the broadcaster’s website under their regulations. Final deadline for entry submission, has been set to October 20th 2025 – 12:00 Estonian time.
Other interesting points in the regulation, also state that artist will be reveled no later than November 7th 2025 and the participating songs will be released no later than December 4th 2025, unless ERR decides otherwise.
Once again, for 2026, the national final will only consist of one show, that being the final, which was mentioned already, to take place on the 14th of February 2026. Unlike last year, it will only be 12 songs instead, rather than 16 songs, which took part in 2025.
The format of the national final, will otherwise, remain the same. With all 12 songs in the final being ranked by a international jury and the televote, where combined they will decide a top 3, that advance to the superfinal. In the superfinal, it will be up to only the televote to decide, who wins the national final.
2025 saw Tommy Cash express his love for coffee, on behalf of the Estonians. With his coffee anthem “Espresso Macchiato“, he managed to make viewers high on caffeine. Qualifying to the final, he managed to impress both juries and especially the televote, by receiving a combined score of 356 points, which granted him 3rd place in the final. Especially the televote was highly fond of his song, awarding him 258 points, which ranked him 2nd in the televote in the final.
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Source(s): ERR.ee (In Estonian)