Eesti Laul 2021
The Eurovision Song Contest was canceled due to the corona pandemic in 2020, which unfortunately left Estonian representative Uku Suviste out of the competition. However, Tomi Rahula, the main producer of the Estonian Song, surprised Suviste by saying that he would be allowed to enter the Eesti Laul 2021 semifinals if he wants to.
Uku Suviste won the Estonian Song 2020 contest with the song "What Love Is" but due to the absence of Eurovision the musician will not be able to represent Estonia this year.
Tomi Rahula, the main producer of the Estonian Song, announced that next year they will go to the competition with a new song and Uku Suviste will also have the opportunity to participate in the competition again. In the Estonian press, however, Rahula surprised Suviste with the news that Uku did not have to pass the jury's preliminary round, but would immediately qualify for the 24 semi-finalists. The rest of the nominations will be selected by a jury until they have a total of 24.
"I believe I will definitely participate when the place already exists," Suviste said. It seems that public television stations do not follow a single line on the artist who will represent them at Eurovision 2021, as some countries wish and have already announced that they will be represented by the same artist, while others, mainly those organizing national finals, will perform normally their festival and simply this year’s representatives will lose their right to compete in Eurovision.
Eurovision 2020 was due to take place on May 12, 14 and 16 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, but was canceled due to the rapid spread of coronavirus. It is not yet known what other countries will decide on their artists and whether next year's Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Rotterdam.
Uku's story in the Eurovision Song Contest has been truly unfortunate. He first tried to represent Estonia in the 2019 edition of the contest with "Pretty Little Liar" but placed second on the final night. His luck started to change in 2020 when he won the next edition of Eesti Laul with the song "What Love Is" but due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the song has been automatically forfeited with the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. Moreover, Uku Suviste, in a television program, has confessed to being sad, but that "he is aware of the seriousness of the current situation" caused by the coronavirus.
Uku Suviste had participated in the Eesti Laul in 2017. He returned in 2019 with the song “Pretty Little Liar” , staying at the gates of traveling to Tel Aviv, as he was second only behind Victor Crone. This year, with “What Love Is” , he managed to prevail over Jaagup Tuisk's favorite “Beautiful Life” . The coronavirus has caused, finally, this is not his year either.
Estonia has participated in Eurovision Song Contest 25 times by now, first in 1994. Estonia has participated every year, except 1995. Estonia has managed to qualify to the grand final only 7 out of 16 times.