ERR producer and presenter Karmel Killandi said: "We are waiting entries to the competition that will represent Estonia in front of the whole of Europe, in the best way possible."  

This year, Eesti Laul has seen several innovations. There will only be one semi-final heat,

A preliminary round in Tartu, to be held on January 20, will precede it.

Tartu is European Capital of Culture, Killandi noted, while the change to one semi-final only is also the result of the current economic environment, she says.

This preliminary round will see a broad-based jury selecting 20 songs at the Tartu preliminary round. Five of these will go straight through to the final, to be held on February 17, while 15 will enter the sole semi-final heat.

The best five songs from this heat will then go through, making for a grand final of 10 songs.

The jury will comprise several dozen people including "ordinary" members seen as representing the target audience, as well as people with a musical background.

The 10-entry "super-final" winner will be decided on the basis of a phone-in vote.

The deadline for entries is as noted October 23, at noon to be precise.

The standard entry fee is €50, or €100 for songs composed in a foreign language. These fees double for the last couple of days entries are open, ie. after October 21

While the preliminary round winners are to be announced at the start of November, the songs will first be present in early December, via ERR's channels, including Raadio 2 – the latter will showcase those songs which did not make it through to the final.

Other rules include that an entry may not be authored by a greater number of non-resident writers combined than Estonian citizens or residents combined; performs may be citizens, residents or non-residents of Estonia.

A maximum of five entries can be made by the one songwriter or performer.

The winner of Eesti Laul will go through to the main Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals in May and, if they make it through, to the Grand Final.

The full, official Eesti Laul participation rules are available here.

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