Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993

ESC National Year
Year = 1993
Country = EST
Preselection = Internal selection (entrant)
Judging panel (song)
Preselection date = February 20, 1993
Entrant = Janika Sillamaa
Song = "Muretut meelt ja südametuld"
("Just ease of mind")
SF result = "Failed to qualify" (5th)
Final result =

Estonia entered the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 1993, but failed to qualify for the final in what would be the first ever pre-qualifying event for the contest since its inception in 1956. Estonia selected Janika Sillamaa as their entrant by means of internal selection, with a judging panel choosing the Estonian language "Muretut meelt ja südametuld" as the song for the contest. Sillamaa would finish 5th in the semi-final stage.

Preselection

Estonia selected Janika Sillamaa as their entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 1993 in early 1993, deciding to choose her internally rather than leave it open to a judging panel or a public vote. The Estonian broadcaster ETV did not, however, decide to internally choose a song for the contest, instead leaving that to a judging panel on February 20, 1993. The event was broadcast across Estonia, with Sillamaa performing eight different songs, all in Estonian. The judging panel essentially favoured two songs, "Muretut meelt ja südametuld" and "Tuhast tõuseb päev", with the former winning. The song selection program was hosted by the television presenter, actor and singer Mart Sander.

Semi-finals

Although Estonia would have in previous years automatically made the Eurovision final, the creation of new countries in recent years (due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and disintegration of Yugoslavia) had resulted in overcrowding with the contest. In 1993 the European Broadcasting Union set out to counter this, meanwhile introducing a semi-final stage only applicable for countries who had not previously participated. This semi-final therefore included Estonia, along with six other countries. From the seven nation semi-final, only three would be able to compete in the final.

The semi-final "Kvalifikacija za Millstreet" was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia on April 3, 1993, and was hosted by Tajda Lecse. The voting process for the semi-final was a voting panel of seven experts, with one from each participating country. Each song somehow managed to receive a maximum score from one country, resulting in a narrow result. Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively, with Sillamaa and Estonia receiving 47 points, which was only enough for 5th place. With 3rd place receiving 51 points, Estonia ended up only four points off final qualification.