Estonia: Dates and rules of Eesti Laul 2016 go public.

Τhe Estonian national broadcaster, ERR, released the rules and regulations for the national selection Eesti Laul 2016, the mechanism through which the country determines its representative on the Eurovsion Song Contest stage.

The national selection Eesti Laul 2016 will consist of  3 shows that will determine the next representative for the Baltic country. The period for song submission has started and it’s expected to end by 2 November 2015 at 15:00. Within a month, a professional jury from ERR will select and announce the 20 competing acts on 11 December. According to the rules, only local citizens and residents of the country can compete in the Estonian national selection.

Two semi-finals and one grand final will take place during the period between 13 February and 5 March 2016. Each semi-final will consist of 10 acts out of which only 5 lucky ones will make it to the Eesti Laul 2016 final, making a total of 10 participants. The order appearance will be determined by draw and will me announced every Tuesday before each show. The results will be determined by a  50-%-50% of public and jury voting.

Estonia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 21 times since making its debut in 1994. Tanel Padar, Dave Benton & 2XL gave Estonia its first victory in 2001 with their entry Everybody.Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Estonia has failed to reach the final on seven occasions and has reached the top ten three times, with Urban Symphony in 2009, Ott Lepland in 2012, who both finished 6th.

In 2015 the country was  represented by the duet Elina Born &Stig Rästa who finished 7th in the Grand final with their entry Goodbye to yesterday.