The next edition of Eesti Laul, the Estonian Eurovision selection, will take on an extended format. The competition will now include Quarterfinals in addition to the semi-finals and final.
Eesti Laul traditionally features two semi-finals and a final, however in the next edition, four quarterfinals will take place in November and December. Up to 40 entries will be selected to compete with a jury to listen to all the submissions blindly. An equal number of Estonian language songs and English or Multilingual songs will be selected to compete in the shows.
The competitors will be announced by October 27th, with the first quarterfinal to take place on November 20th. In the quarterfinals, five songs from each show will be chosen to progress to the semi-finals. Three qualifying songs will be chosen by the public, and two by a jury. The semi-finals will feature two rounds. The first round will see the jury vote winners qualify to the final, while the winners of the second round will be decided by public vote.
The Grand Final will follow a familiar format, with the show to be split into two rounds. The first round will determine the acts in the Super Final, and those acts will be decided equally between jury and public vote. In the Super Final, the Estonian Eurovision entry will be decided totally by public vote.
There are additional plans to host a show between April and May called Eesti Laulu, which will feature performances from the Super Finalists, however details are yet to be released. Here is the schedule for the competition:
- Quarterfinal 1 – November 20th
- Quarterfinal 2 – November 27th
- Quarterfinal 3 – December 4th
- Quarterfinal 4 – December 11th
- Semi-Final 1 – February 3rd
- Semi-Final 2 – February 5th
- Grand Final – February 12th
Stay tuned for more news from Estonia!