A former Eurovision representative recently revealed: “I submitted a song to get into the Estonian Eurovision qualifier for 2027, but I didn’t make the final list.”
The roster of contestants for this year’s Estonian pre-Eurovision qualifier has already been released, and it turns out one of the country’s former representatives had tried to make it in but ended up outside the final cut. The artist is Tanja Mihhailova-Saar, an Estonian singer who represented her country in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen with the song “Amazing”. In an interview with the Estonian media, she said that she submitted a song again to Eesti Laul 2027 but was ultimately left off the list of the final 12 artists that would compete for the honor of representing Estonia in Burgas. However, the singer said that being selected was not a source of major disappointment and even left the door open for another attempt in the future.
“For years I ruled out the possibility of representing the country again at Eurovision”
The decision to attempt a Eurovision comeback was not something that immediately appealed to Tanja Mihhailova-Saar . The artist revealed that after the 2014 contest, where she ended 12th in the semis and failed to qualify for the Grand Final, she was convinced for six years that she would not want to participate again in Eurovision. The singer mentioned that preparation for the contest requires a lot of work, and additionally the major responsibility of representing the country brings a mix of emotions, including lots of stress and pressure alongside more positive feelings.
With time, though, Tanja Mihhailova-Saar’s attitude began to shift: while originally for years she could not view herself returning to the stage of Eurovision, she managed to reignite her passion for the contest. “Now I have the desire again. It took me some time to recover from the last time,” she said in an interview. Her current attempt to get to the contest via Estonia’s pre-qualifier may not have borne fruit this time, but it also did not signify the end of her hopes and dreams. According to the singer, she does not rule out submitting a song again for Eesti Laul in the coming years.
List of Eesti Laul 2027 Contestants and Songs
- Daniel Levi – Dust
- Jaagup Tuisk & WANDA – kesk öö musta merd (“In the Middle of the Night of the Black Sea”)
- Johanna Elise – Getaway Car
- Kerli Kivilaan – When the World Is Over
- Laura – Metsapiiga (“Forest Girl”)
- m els x J-Run – HUSH HUSH
- OLLIE – Sad Every Day
- Pale Alison x Minimal Wind – Superhuman
- PANØRAMA, Vemka, Hans Markus – Reflection
- Rita Ray – Don’t You Agree
- Zetod feat. hellika – Kipõ-Kipõ
- Traffic – Laava
Among these contestants are some familiar names: 
- Kerli Kivilaan – actually just participated in Eurovision 2026 with the rock band Vanilla Ninja for Estonia with “Too Epic To Be True”.
- Jaagup Tuisk – previously was in the local pre-Eurovision Estonian qualifier in 2020, finishing second with the song “Beautiful Lie”.
- Laura – another former Estonian Eurovision representative, this time in 2005 as part of the group Suntribe. She also appeared in the contest again with “Verona” alongside Kuit Toome with in 2017.
- OLLIE – competed in Eesti Laul multiple times in recent years: 2023, 2024, and 2026 with the songs “Venom”, “My Friend”, and “Slave”, respectively.
- Daniel Levi – competed in the Estonian qualifier in 2015 with “Burning Lights” and finished as runner-up, and returned in 2024 with “Over the Moon”.
- Traffic – a veteran Estonian band that has participated in the local qualifier numerous times, most recently in 2024 with “Wunderbar”.
Similar to last year’s competition, 12 songs will participate with no semi finals with one night of competition on January 30th, 2027.The voting will take place over two rounds: in the first, the top three songs will be chosen by the public and a seven-member international judging panel, and in the next stage an additional vote will be opened exclusively for the public to determine who of the three will be the ultimate chosen representative for Estonia at Eurovision 2027.
Too Epic To Be True
EstoniaVanilla Ninja represented Estonia at Eurovision 2026 with “Too Epic To Be True”. The entry finished 11th in the first semi-final with 79 points.
Estonia competed at Eurovision 31 times between 1994 and 2026. The country has won once, in 2001 with Tanel Padar, Dave Benton & 2XL’s “Everybody”. In 2026, Vanilla Ninja represented Estonia with “Too Epic To Be True”, finishing 11th in the semi-final with 79 points.
