ERR has revealed the show dates and the rules of Eesti Laul 2019!
Eesti Laul has been Estonia’s preselection show since 2009. The rules haven’t changed much since then but here is some key information regarding the show.
A preliminary round will be held between 7th November and 15th November 2018. Two semi-finals will take place on 26th January and 2nd February while the final will take place on 16th February 2019.
ERR will be accepting submissions between 11th October and 6th November 2018. During the preliminary round, a jury will select 24 songs that will compete in the semi-finals. The songs ranked 25th and 26th will be marked as “reserved”. If any of the 24 selected songs in the semi-finals does not conform to the rules or need to be replaced for any other reason, one of the “reserved” songs will take its place. All the author’s names, song titles and performers will be known no later than 15th November 2018. The first hearing of the songs will happen no later than 4th December 2018.
Foreign authors and artists can enter the contest. However, 50% of the team must be Estonian citizens. Songs in English are accepted but a translation in Estonian must be sent along with the original text.
Twelve songs will compete in each semi-final and six of them will advance to the final. There will be two rounds of voting during each show. In the first round, the jury and the public will cast their votes by televoting. In the second round, the public’s vote will be the one that will decide the six finalists. The same two rounds of voting will also apply in the final and the winner will represent Estonia in Eurovision 2019.
You can find the application form by clicking HERE.
All the rules of Eesti Laul 2019 can be found by following this link (in Estonian).