# Estonia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024

Estonia took part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Madrid, Spain, with "Tänavad" performed by Annabelle Ats. The Estonian national broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) organised the national final Tähtede lava [et] in order to select the Estonian artist for the 2024 contest.

## Background

Estonia debuted in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2023. ERR had previously broadcast the contest in 2003 and 2004, however cited financial reasons for Estonia's absence from participation in the junior contest in the years running up to their debut appearance. Broadcasters from the Baltic countries, including Estonia, expressed interest in taking part in the 2016 contest, which never materialised. ERR internally selected Arhanna to represent the country in 2023, with her song "Hoiame kokku" also being internally selected and released at a later date. At the contest Arhanna finished 15th with 49 points.
ERR's head of entertainment Karmel Killandi [et], while interviewing Arhanna, said that she "opened the door" for artists to "perform in front of this huge audience" in future years, suggesting that Estonia could take part in 2024. On 24 November 2023, ahead of the country's debut in the contest, Estonian broadcaster ERR said that it would be looking into the possibilities of making the singing competition Tähtede lava [et] its national final for Junior Eurovision. This was confirmed the following 4 May, ahead of the final of Tähtede lava.

## Before Junior Eurovision
### Tähtede lava 2024

ERR selected the Estonian representative with the biennial television program Tähtede lava [et] (transl. Star Stage); the 2022 series of the show was won by Arhanna, who also won in her younger category in 2019, which motivated her selection to represent the country on its debut appearance in 2023. The competition consisted of five shows and concluded with a winning artist on 5 May 2024. All shows were hosted by Jaagup Tuisk and Aaron Thor Härm, and directed by Kristo Veinberg.

#### Contest overview

The 2024 series of the competition commenced on 7 April, together with the selection show of the youngest age category, which consisted of singers aged between 3 and 7 years old, and continued the following week with the selection show of the middle age category of 8 to 10 year olds, being held on 14 April; the eldest age category for singers aged between 11 and 13 years old had a selection show held on 21 April, where the three artists with the most points from the jury qualified to the final directly and an additional wildcard finalist was chosen according to the public votes. The winners of the two younger age categories were revealed during a live show called the first final, held on 28 April, while the winner of the eldest category, as well as the Estonian representative in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, was selected on 5 May during the so-called second final.
Following a total of eight performances (two per each finalist: one solo performance and one featuring a well-known Estonian performer), the winner of the second final was determined by a combination of votes from the public and a six-member jury panel composed of Sirje Medell (singing and music teacher), Kadri Hunt (conductor, singing teacher), Robert Linna [et] (musician), Ewert Sundja (musician, songwriter), Alice Aleksandridi (choreographer) and Maris Aljaste (organiser of Tallinna laste jazzifestival Kräsh). At the end of the show, 13 year-old Annabelle Ats was announced as the winner of Tähtede lava's eldest age category.
Key: Winner
Second final of Tähtede lava – 5 May 2024 :
| Artist | Draw | Solo song | Draw | Duet artist | Duet song |
| Tristan Erik Teniste | 1 | "Imede öö" | 5 | Maarja-Liis Ilus | "Tulilinnud" |
| Milana Fayzullova | 2 | "Sügistuuled" | 6 | Karmen Rõivassepp | "Moanin' " |
| Karl-Markkus Rebane | 3 | "Vana lokomotiiv" | 7 | Silver Laas [et] | "Trummitüdruk" |
| Annabelle Ats | 4 | "The House of the Rising Sun" | 8 | Kärt Sepp | "Üle vee" |

## At Junior Eurovision

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is set to take place at Caja Mágica in Madrid, Spain on 16 November 2024. Estonia will perform 2nd, following Italy and preceding Albania.

### Voting

The same voting system that was introduced in the 2017 edition will be used, where the results will be determined by 50% online voting and 50% jury voting. Every country has a national jury that consists of three music industry professionals and two children aged between 10 and 15 who are citizens of the country they represent. The rankings of those jurors are combined to make an overall top ten.
The online voting consists of two phases. The first phase of the online voting will begin on 15 November 2024 when a recap of all the rehearsal performances is shown on the contest's website Junioreurovision.tv before the viewers can vote. After this, voters will also have the option to watch longer one-minute clips from each participant's rehearsal. This first round of voting will end on 16 November at 17:59 CET. The second phase of the online voting will take place during the live show and begin right after the last performance and will be open for 15 minutes. International viewers will be able vote for three songs. They will also be able to vote for their own country's song. These votes will then be turned into points which will be determined by the percentage of votes received. For example, if a song receives 10% of the votes, it will receive 10% of the available points.
Points awarded to Estonia :
| Score | Country |
| 12 points | |
| 10 points | |
| 8 points | |
| 7 points | |
| 6 points | France |
| 5 points | |
| 4 points | Germany |
| 3 points | |
| 2 points | Italy |
| 1 point | Georgia Spain |
| Estonia received 41 points from the online vote ||