First 12 artists for Eesti Laul 2021 announced

Eesti Laul is Estonia's long running national selection show to choose their Eurovision representative.

Known for including some 'out there' artists, it also has produced some quality songs and fan favourites over the years.

Overnight the first 12 artists who will be competing in next year's show were announced, and there are some well known names among the bunch.

Uku Suviste

Uku won the 2020 edition of Eesti Laul with 'What Love Is', booking his ticket to the Eurovision that never was. Unlike many nations, Uku wasn't immediately invited back. The Estonian broadcaster ERR chose to continue with Eesti Laul but invited their 2020 representative back to the show.

This will be the fourth attempt for the 38-year-old, he previously competed in 2017, 2019 (finishing runner-up with 'Pretty Little Liar') before winning last year. He is a popular artist in Estonia and will have a lot of support around him - can he win back to back?

Koit Toome

Koit has competed for Estonia two times at the Eurovision Song Contest. In 1998 he finished 12th with 'Mere lapsed' before competing again in 2017 with 'Verona' (in a duet with Laura Põldvere). The latter was a fan favourite heading in the Contest after finishing 5th in the annual OGAE poll. Unfortunately for Koit and Laura, they failed to get out of the semi-finals despite their infamous staging.

Jüri Pootsman

Jüri won Eesti Laul in 2016 with his song 'Play' defeating aforementioned Laura in the Super Final. At the Contest in Stockholm, there were high hopes 'Play' could get out of the semi-final. Unfortunately the entry didn't win fans over and the song finished in last place. Can the 26-year-old find redemption this year?

The full list of the 12 announced artists and song titles are below (songs yet to be released):

1. Uku Suviste – 'The Lucky One'

2. Gram of Fun – 'Lost In A Dance'

3. Tuuli Rand – 'Üks Öö'

4. Jüri Pootsman – 'Magnus Melanhoolia'

5. Redel – 'Tartu'

6. Kéa – 'Hypnotized'

7. Hans Nayna – 'One By One'

8. Nika Marula – 'Calm Down'

9. Andrei Zavakin & Pluuto – 'Wingman'

10. Wiiralt – 'Tuuled'

11. Helen – 'Nii Korgele'

12. Koit Toome – 'We Could Have Been Beautiful '

The semi-finals of Eesti Laul will take place on the 18 February (19 February in Australia) and 20 February (21 February in Australia), with the Grand Final to be held on 6 March (7 March in Australia).