Estonia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 with the song "Hope" performed by Stefan. The Estonian broadcaster (ERR) organised the national final 2022 in order to select the Estonian entry for the contest. The national final consisted of seven shows: four quarter-finals, two semi-finals and a final. Ten songs competed in each quarter-final and semi-final and five from each show as determined by a jury panel and public vote qualified to the final. In the final, the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a jury panel and a public vote selected the top three to qualify to the superfinal. In the superfinal, "Hope" performed by Stefan was selected as the winner entirely by a public vote.
Estonia was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 12 May 2022. Performing during the show in position 12, "Hope" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 18 May. It was later revealed that Estonia placed fifth out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 209 points. In the final, Estonia was the closing performance of the show in position 25, placing thirteenth out of the 25 participating countries with 141 points.
Background
Prior to the 2022 contest, Estonia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-six 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, Estonia has, to this point, managed to qualify to the final on seven occasions. In , "The Lucky One" performed by Uku Suviste failed to qualify Estonia to the final where the song placed thirteenth in the semi-final.
The Estonian national broadcaster, (ERR), broadcasts the event within Estonia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. ERR confirmed Estonia's participation at the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest on 27 August 2021. 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 competition has been organised since 2009 in order to select Estonia's entry and on 28 August 2021, ERR announced the organisation of 2022 in order to select the nation's 2022 entry.
Before Eurovision Eesti Laul 2022 2022 was the fourteenth edition of the Estonian national selection , which selected Estonia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. The competition consisted of forty entries competing in four quarter-finals and two semi-finals, leading to a ten-song final on 12 February 2022. All shows were broadcast live on ETV, on ETV+ with Russian commentary as well as streamed online at the broadcaster's official website err.ee. The final was also broadcast in Spain on Ten as well as via radio in Estonia on Raadio 2 with commentary by Kristo Rajasaare, Margus Kamlat, Erik Morna and Robin Juhkental.
Format The format of the competition included four quarter-finals on 20 November, 27 November, 4 December and 11 December 2021, two semi-finals on 3 and 5 February 2022 and a final on 12 February 2022. Ten songs competed in each quarter-final and five from each quarter-final qualified to the semi-finals. Ten songs competed in each semi-final and the top five from each semi-final qualified to complete the ten song lineup in the final. The results of the quarter-finals were determined solely by public televoting for the first three qualifiers and votes from a professional jury for the fourth and fifth qualifiers, while the results of the semi-finals were determined by the 50/50 combination of jury and public voting for the first qualifiers and a second round of public televoting for the remaining qualifiers. 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.
Competing entries On 2 September 2021, ERR opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries up until 20 October 2021 through an online upload platform. Each artist and songwriter was able to submit a maximum of five entries. Foreign collaborations were allowed as long as one of the songwriters were Estonian and that there were a maximum of two foreign songwriters, one being the composer and one being the lyricist. A fee was also imposed on songs being submitted to the competition, with €50 for songs in the Estonian language and €100 for songs in other languages. 202 submissions were received by the deadline, of which 84 were in Estonian with the remaining in English, French, Spanish, Italian and an imaginary language. A 17-member jury panel consisting of Andi Raig, Bert Järvet, Eda-Ines Etti, Eric Kammiste, Heili Klandorf, Henri Laumets, Hugo Martin Maasikas, Jürgen Pärnsalu, Kadiah, Kaspar Viilup, , , Leonardo Romanello, Liis Lemsalu, Meelis Meri, Tarmo Hõbe and selected 40 quarter-finalists from the submissions and ten of the selected songs were announced each week on the ETV entertainment program , between 15 November 2021 and 7 December 2021.
Among the competing artists were previous Eurovision Song Contest entrants Evelin Samuel, who represented Estonia in , Lauri Pihlap, who represented Estonia as member of 2XL in together with Tanel Padar and Dave Benton, Anna Sahlene, who represented Estonia in , Ott Lepland, who represented Estonia in , Stig Rästa, who represented Estonia in with Elina Born, and Elina Nechayeva, who represented Estonia in . Alabama Watchdog, , Ariadne, Desiree, Elysa, , Grete Paia, Helen, Inga Tislar (lead singer of deLulu), Jaagup Tuisk, , Lauri Liiv (lead singer of Black Velvet), Little Mess, Maian, , , Púr Múdd, Shira, Sulev Lõhmus (percussionist of Black Velvet), Stefan, Traffic, and have all competed in previous editions of . Little Mess' entry was co-written by Tanja, who represented Estonia in , and the entry from Stig Rästa was co-written by Victor Crone, who represented Estonia in .
Artist Song Songwriter(s) Alabama Watchdog "Move On" Ken Einberg, Taaniel Pogga, Sven Seinpere, Linda Toom An-Marlen "" Ingel Marlen Mikk, Sander Sadam, Alvar Antson feat. Grete Paia "" , Henry Orlov, Grete Paia Anna Sahlene "Champion" Anna Sahlene, Nicklas Ecklund, Dagmar Oja, Kaire Vilgats "Shouldn't Be Friends" , Martti Hallik, Sofi Meronen, Aleksi Liski "Sandra" Sven Lõhmus Boamadu "" Peeter Priks, Keith Mutvei deLulu "Music Saved My Soul" Taavi Paomets, Mairo Marjamaa, Desiree "" Hannes Agur Vellend, Desiree Mumm, Kretel Kopra "" Amanda Hermiine Künnapas, Hendrik Põlluste "" Karl Killing, Gevin Niglas, , Aron Blom Elina Nechayeva "Remedy" Sven Lõhmus Elysa "Fire" Linnea Deb, Ellen Benediktson, Andreas Stone, , Indrek Rahumaa "Quicksilver" Vallo Kikas, , Ani Nnebedum, Aleksanteri Hulkko Evelin Samuel "Waterfall" Glen Pilvre, , Katrin Pärn Fiona and Me "Feel Like This" Fiona and Me Goodreason "Three Days Ago" Hele-Mai Mängel Helen "" Karl Killing, Gevin Niglas, Merili Käsper, Helen Randmets Jaagup Tuisk "" Jaagup Tuisk, Rita Bavanati, Lauri Räpp Jessica "My Mom" Steven Ilves, Jessica Rohelpuu Jyrise "" Rauno Jürise, Tuomas Lehtinen, Mairo Virolainen, Sander Valge Kaia-Liisa Kesler "" , Kaia-Liisa Kesler "Everytime" Andrei Zevakin, Ketter Orav Lauri Pihlap "Take Me Home" Lauri Pihlap Levvis "Let's Talk About" Aleksei Barudzin Little Mess "" Timo Vendt, Tanja Mihhailova-Saar, Andra Teede Maian "" Maian Lomp, Gevin Niglas "" "Little Girl" Minimal Wind feat. Elisabeth Tiffany "What to Make of This" Paula Pajusaar, Taavi-Hans Kõlar, Elisabeth Tiffany Lepik, Ralf Erik Kollom Ott Lepland "" Ott Lepland, Maian Anna Kärmas, Karl-Ander Reismann Peter Põder "" Peter Põder, Raul Krebs Púr Múdd and Shira "Golden Shores" Madis Sillamo, Oliver Rõõmus, Joonatan Siiman, Kasper Krogh Vestergaard, Nikolaj Tøth Andersen Shira "Under Water" Marika Rodionova, , Johannes Laas Silver Jusilo "" Silver Jusilo Stefan "Hope" Stefan Airapetjan, Karl-Ander Reismann Stig Rästa "Interstellar" Stig Rästa, , Victor Crone, Herman Gardarfve, David Lindgren Zacharias Traffic "" Karl Killing, Andreas Poom, Fred Krieger, Silver Laas, Vallo Kikas and Frants Tikerpuu "" Frants Tikerpuu "" Hendrik Sal-Saller,
Shows Quarter-finals The four quarter-finals took place on 20 November, 27 November, 4 December and 11 December 2021 at the ERR studios in Tallinn, hosted by previous Estonian Eurovision Song Contest entrants: Tanel Padar and Eda-Ines Etti in the first quarter-final, Uku Suviste and Tanja Mihhailova-Saar in the second quarter-final, Ott Lepland and Laura Põldvere in the third quarter-final, and Getter Jaani and Jüri Pootsmann in the fourth quarter-final. In each quarter-final ten songs competed for the first three spots in the semi-finals with the outcome decided upon by a public televote which registered a total of 33,050 votes across the four quarter-finals; the remaining two qualifiers were decided by a jury panel between the remaining non-qualifiers. The jury panel that voted in the quarter-finals consisted of , , , , Olav Osolin, Bert Järvet, Vaido Pannel and Andres Puusepp.
+ Quarter-final 1 – 20 November 2021 Artist Song Jury Televote Result VotesRank 1 Traffic "" 4 501 6 Eliminated 2 Jaagup Tuisk "" 1 434 9 Advanced 3 Kéa "Everytime" 9 401 10 Eliminated 4 Fiona and Me "Feel Like This" 5 440 8 Eliminated 5 Peter Põder "" 8 736 5 Eliminated 6 Stig Rästa "Interstellar" 3 1,422 2 Advanced 7 Maian "" 2 445 7 Advanced 8 Little Mess "" 7 1,048 4 Eliminated 9 Boamadu "" 6 1,544 1 Advanced 10 Evelin Samuel "Waterfall" 10 1,188 3 Advanced
+ Quarter-final 2 – 27 November 2021 Artist Song Jury Televote Result VotesRank 1 Wiiralt "" 5 595 8 Eliminated 2 Desiree "" 10 811 5 Eliminated 3 Silver Jusilo "" 9 773 6 Eliminated 4 Kaia-Liisa Kesler "" 1 576 9 Advanced 5 Helen "" 7 1,134 3 Advanced 6 Jyrise "" 2 466 10 Advanced 7 An-Marlen "" 4 605 7 Eliminated 8 Andrei Zevakin feat. Grete Paia "" 6 1,545 1 Advanced 9 Meisterjaan "" 8 839 4 Eliminated 10 Triin Niitoja and Frants Tikerpuu "" 3 1,514 2 Advanced
+ Quarter-final 3 – 4 December 2021 Artist Song Jury Televote Result VotesRank 1 Stefan "Hope" 4 2,050 1 Advanced 2 deLulu "Music Saved My Soul" 3 280 10 Eliminated 3 Goodreason "Three Days Ago" 9 387 9 Eliminated 4 Elina Nechayeva "Remedy" 7 1,310 2 Advanced 5 Lauri Pihlap "Take Me Home" 10 598 5 Eliminated 6 Levvis "Let's Talk About" 5 512 8 Eliminated 7 Merilin Mälk "Little Girl" 1 553 6 Advanced 8 Anna Sahlene "Champion" 8 827 3 Advanced 9 Alabama Watchdog "Move On" 2 529 7 Advanced 10 Shira "Under Water" 6 739 4 Eliminated
+ Quarter-final 4 – 11 December 2021 Artist Song Jury Televote Result VotesRank 1 Púr Múdd and Shira "Golden Shores" 3 925 5 Advanced 2 Elysa "Fire" 4 1,046 3 Advanced 3 Minimal Wind feat. Elisabeth Tiffany "What to Make of This" 2 731 6 Advanced 4 Dramanda "" 9 243 10 Eliminated 5 Emily J. "Quicksilver" 8 353 9 Eliminated 6 Ott Lepland "" 1 1,207 2 Advanced 7 Eleryn Tiit "" 6 600 7 Eliminated 8 Jessica "My Mom" 10 416 8 Eliminated 9 Ariadne "Shouldn't Be Friends" 5 956 4 Eliminated 10 Black Velvet "Sandra" 7 1,771 1 Advanced
Semi-finals