The song search for next year’s Estonian national selection for Eurovision, Eesti Laul 2023 has ended. The Estonian broadcaster ERR has announced that they received 217 songs to the contest, 92 of them in Estonian and 125 in other languages. The semi-finalists of Eesti Laul 2023 will be announced in the beginning of November, and the songs will be heard for the first time in December. 

According to Tomi Rahula, the head producer of Eesti Laul, the Estonian national selection 2023 is going to be ”exceptional exciting”. Rahula also says that both newcomers and well-know artists and song-writers, some of them with previous Eesti Laul and Eurovision experience, have sent songs to the contest. Rahula thinks that the choices will be difficult and the jury will have a hard job in front of them. 

The jury of Eesti Laul 2023 consists of 16 members, who are familiar with music industry and trends, for example singers and radio hosts. The jury members will be revealed when the semi-finalists of the Estonian national selection are announced. 

20 songs will qualify for the semi-finals of Eesti Laul 2023. The qualifiers will be announced in November 1st and 2nd and the songs will be heard for the first time in December 2nd in a special program by ETV. The semi-finals of Eesti Laul 2023 will take place in January 12th and 14th 2023, and the final is held in February 11th 2023. 

As we can remember, Eesti Laul 2022 was won by Stefan with his song Hope. Stefan carried the Estonian flag in Turin last May, finishing 13th in the Grand Final with 141 points: