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Estonia’s broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) has revealed that 171 songs have been submitted for Eesti Laul 2026 — slightly fewer than the previous year’s 175, but still a figure signalling robust interest in this small country’s Eurovision engine.
Of those submissions, 77 are in the Estonian language and 94 are in foreign languages. Significantly, songwriters came from 20 different countries – including Brazil and Australia – underlining the international reach of Estonia’s selection process.
Format, venue and stakes
According to publicly available information, Eesti Laul 2026 will continue at the same venue as recent years, with the final scheduled for 14 February 2026 at the Unibet Arena in Tallinn. The format appears to include 12 acts in the final, with first-round voting split 50/50 between jury and public, and the super-final decided entirely by televote.
Given Estonia’s strong result in Eurovision 2025 — a third-place finish with Tommy Cash and his song “Espresso Macchiato” — this edition of Eesti Laul comes with heightened expectations.
What the numbers really mean
The submission tally of 171 is a little lower than last year, but sources suggest the quality remains high. As Riin Vann, the producer of Eesti Laul, said: “The line-up of artists and composers who submitted songs is impressive… the coming season promises to be full of excitement and surprises.”
The split of languages and international authorship is noteworthy. While Estonian-language songs make up around 45% of submissions, the majority are in other languages, reflecting both Estonia’s bilingual and global pop ambitions. That entries came from 20 countries reinforces how Eurovision Song Contest national selections have become transnational creative marketplaces.
The challenge ahead
With only 12 final slots available and so many submissions, competition will be fierce. Artists, songwriters and producers will now be focused on not only crafting memorable songs, but ensuring performance readiness, staging concepts and language decisions align with Eurovision norms and audience expectations.
The selection takes place under broader Eurovision dynamics: issues of voting transparency, political context, and the very role of national finals in building an act that can vie for Europe’s attention. For Estonia, a country punching above its weight in Eurovision, the pressure to deliver continues.
The final on 14 February will not just select the country’s Eurovision entry, it will also set the tone for how Estonia positions itself in the contest post-2025. Having achieved one of its best results in recent years, the broadcaster and artists alike will be determined to build on that momentum rather than simply replicate it.
Looking forward
What to watch next: the announcement of the selected finalists, which is likely to follow in the coming weeks; the reveal of songs and staging; the balance between fresh faces and established names; and whether language choices lean into Estonian national identity or the international pop vernacular.
