Country Estonia Selected entrant Koit Toome & Laura Selected songwriter(s) Sven Lõhmus | Selection process Eesti Laul 2017 Selected song "Verona" | |
Selection date(s) Semi-finals:
11 February 2017
18 February 2017
Final:
4 March 2017 | ||
Estonia will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the entry Verona written by Sven Lõhmus and performed by Koit Toome and Laura Põldvere. The Estonian broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) selected the entry through the national final Eesti Laul 2017.
Contents
Background
Prior to the 2017 Contest, Estonia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-two times since its first entry in 1994, winning the contest on one occasion in 2001 with the song "Everybody" performed by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, Estonia has, to this point, managed to qualify to the final on five occasions. In 2016, Estonia failed to qualify to the final, placing last in the semi-final with the song "Play" performed by Jüri Pootsmann.
The Estonian national broadcaster, Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR), broadcasts the event within Estonia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. ERR confirmed Estonia's participation at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest on 12 April 2016. Since their debut, the Estonian broadcaster has organised national finals that feature a competition among multiple artists and songs in order to select Estonia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The Eesti Laul competition has been organised since 2009 in order to select Estonia's entry.
Eesti Laul 2017
Eesti Laul 2017 will be the ninth edition of the Estonian national selection Eesti Laul, which will select Estonia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. The competition will consist of 20 entries competing in two semi-finals on 11 and 18 February 2017 leading to a ten-song final on 4 March 2017.
Format
The format of the competition will include two semi-finals on 11 and 18 February 2017 and a final on 4 March 2017. Ten songs will compete in each semi-final and the top five from each semi-final will qualify to complete the ten-song lineup in the final. The results of the semi-finals will be determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a professional jury and public televoting for the first 4, then the final spot will be decided in a second round of voting by televote only. The winning song in the final will be selected over two rounds of voting: the first round results will select the top three songs via the 50/50 combination of jury and public voting, while the second round (super final) will determine the winner solely by public televoting.
Competing entries
In early September 2016, ERR opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries up until 1 November 2016. Eligible artists and songwriters were required to have Estonian citizenship or be permanent residents of Estonia. For the 2017 competition, foreign collaborations were allowed as long as 50% of the song authors were Estonians. Artists and songwriters were allowed to submit up to three songs each with an exception to this rule for songwriters who participated in songwriting camps organised by the Estonian Song Academy in spring and autumn 2016. A jury selected 20 songs for the competition and the selected entries were announced on 8 November 2016.
Shows
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final took place on 11 February 2017. Ten songs competed for five spots in the final with the outcome decided upon by the combination of the votes from a jury panel and a public televote. The jury panel that voted in the first semi-final consisted of Metsakutsu, Kadri Voorand, Niko Nykänen, Eva Palm, Jüri Pihel, Maia Vahtramäe, Sten Teppan, Aleksandr Žedeljov, Ingrid Kohtla, Meisterjaan and Allan Roosileht.
Semi-final 2
The second semi-final took place on 18 February 2017. Ten songs competed for five spots in the final with the outcome decided upon by the combination of the votes from a jury panel and a public televote. The jury panel that voted in the second semi-final consisted of Metsakutsu, Kadri Voorand, Niko Nykänen, Eva Palm, Jüri Pihel, Maia Vahtramäe, Sten Teppan, Aleksandr Žedeljov, Ingrid Kohtla, Meisterjaan and Allan Roosileht.
Final
The final took place on 4 March 2017 at the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn. The five entries that qualified from each of the two preceding semi-finals, all together ten songs, competed during the show. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a jury (50%) and public televote (50%) determined the top three entries to proceed to the super final. In the super final, the winner was selected entirely by a public televote. The running order was revealed on 21 February 2017. The jury panel that voted in the final consists of Måns Zelmerlöw, Toomas Edur, Julia Bali, Harri Hakanen, Marju Länik, Valner Valme, Henry Kõrvits, Siim Nestor, Piret Krumm, Alon Amir, and Poli Genova.
At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 will take place at the International Exhibition Centre in Kiev, Ukraine and will consist of two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May and the final on 13 May 2017. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final.