Tonight, the first semi-final of the 2014 Estonian national selection Eesti Laul 2014 was held. 10 acts performed their competing entries and after a public/jury deliberation, 5 candidates have qualified to the grand final of the selection.

Next week, the last 10 competitors will compete in the second semi-final of Eesti Laul 2014 where they will perform their competing entries to both the public and the jury. After a deliberation, another 5 acts will qualify to the grand final meaning that a total of 10 finalists will battle for the right to represent their country at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest.

The 20 bidding entries were released back in January. You can listen to all of the competing entries here.

The 5 qualifiers

• Kõrsikud – Tule ja jää
• Lenna – Supernoova
• Super Hot Cosmos Blues Band – Maybe-maybe
• Tanja Mihhailova – Amazing
• Wilhelm – Resignal

The Eesti Laul 2014 schedule

• Friday 14 February: Semi-final 1 – 5 acts proceed to final
• Friday 21 February: Semi-final 2 – 5 acts proceed to final
• Saturday 1 March: Grand final – Winner announced

Estonia debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest back in 1994 with the entry Nagu merelaine performed by the late Silvi Vrait. They ended in 24th place with a total of 2 points. Estonia’s best result was in 2001 when Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL were selected to represent their country in the host city of Copenhagen. At the grand final they received a total of 198 points with their song Everybody eventually winning the contest, bringing Estonia their first and only victory to date.

Last year Birgit Õigemeel won the Estonian national selection with her song Et uus saaks alguse. Birgit qualified from the semi-final, eventually ending in 20th place at the grand final.

Stay tuned to esctoday.com for the latest news on Estonia and the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest.