Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

Eesti Laul 2020 was the twelfth edition of the Estonian national selection Eesti Laul, which selected Estonia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The competition consisted of twenty-four entries competing in two semi-finals on 13 and 15 February 2020 leading to a twelve-song final on 29 February 2020.[3] All three shows were broadcast on Eesti Televisioon (ETV) as well as streamed online on the broadcaster's official website err.ee.

The format of the competition included two semi-finals on 13 and 15 February 2020 and a final on 29 February 2020.[4] Twelve songs competed in each semi-final and six from each semi-final qualified to complete the ten song lineup in the final. The results of the semi-finals was determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a professional jury and public televoting for the first four qualifiers and a second round of public televoting for the fifth and sixth qualifier. The winning song in the final was selected over two rounds of voting: the first round results selected the top three songs via the 50/50 combination of jury and public voting, while the second round (superfinal) determined the winner solely by public televoting. In addition to winning the right to represent Estonia at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, the winning songwriters were also awarded a monetary prize of €3,000. The Estonian Authors' Society and Estonian Performers Association also awarded monetary prizes of €1,000 to the performers of the top three entries.[5]

On 1 September 2019, ERR opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries up until 6 November 2019 through an online upload platform.[4] Artists and composers of any nationality were able to submit entries and each artist and songwriter was only able to submit a maximum of five entries. Foreign collaborations were allowed as long as 50% of the songwriters were Estonian. A fee was imposed on songs being submitted to the contest, with €25 for songs in the Estonian language and €50 for songs in other languages. 178 submissions were received by the deadline.[3] A 14-member jury panel selected 24 semi-finalists from the submissions and the selected songs were announced during the ETV entertainment program Ringvaade on 13 and 14 November 2019. The selection jury consisted of Andres Puusepp, Anu Varusk, Birgit Sarrap, Daniel Levi, Eda-Ines Etti, Hendrik Sal-Saller, Jüri Makarov, Kaupo Karelson, Lauri Hermann, Madis Aesma, Maiken, Owe Petersell, Sten Teppan and Vaido Pannel.[6]

Among the competing artists were previous Eurovision Song Contest entrants Laura, who represented Estonia in 2005 as part of the group Suntribe, and Stig Rästa (as member of Traffic), who represented Estonia in 2014 with Elina Born. Little Mess' entry was co-written by Tanja, who represented Estonia in 2014, and the entry from Traffic was co-written by Victor Crone, who represented Estonia in 2019.

The first semi-final took place on 13 February 2020 at the University of Tartu Sports Hall in Tartu, hosted by Karl-Erik Taukar and Tõnis Niinemets. Twelve songs competed for six spots in the final with the outcome decided upon by the combination of the votes from a jury panel and a public televote which registered 12,421 votes in the first round and 5,452 votes in the second round.[7] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Ines, who represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 and the group 5MIINUST performed as the interval acts.[5]

  First round (jury and televote) qualifier   Second round (televote-only) qualifier

The second semi-final took place on 15 February 2020 at the University of Tartu Sports Hall in Tartu, hosted by Karl-Erik Taukar and Tõnis Niinemets. Twelve songs competed for six spots in the final with the outcome decided upon by the combination of the votes from a jury panel and a public televote which registered 20,011 votes in the first round and 9,477 votes in the second round. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the group Black Velvet performed as the interval act.[5]

  First round (jury and televote) qualifier   Second round (televote-only) qualifier

The final took place on 29 February 2020 at the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, hosted by Karl-Erik Taukar and Tõnis Niinemets. The six entries that qualified from each of the two preceding semi-finals, all together twelve songs, competed during the show. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, an international jury (50%) and public televote (50%) determined the top three entries to proceed to the superfinal: "What Love Is" performed by Uku Suviste, "Write About Me" performed by Anett x Fredi and "Beautiful Lie" performed by Jaagup Tuisk. The public vote in the first round registered 47,082 votes. In the superfinal, "What Love Is" performed by Uku Suviste was selected as the winner entirely by a public televote. The public televote in the superfinal registered 49,216 votes. The jury panel that voted in the first round of the final consisted of Mads Endgaard, Prince Charles Alexander, Sylvia Massy, Felix Bergsson, Daniel Cantor, Fredi Lunden, Kazka, Kimbra and Brian Henry.