Estonia was one of the countries, along with Czech Republic and Hungary, that could withdraw from the annual Eurovision contest, that will be held next May in Oslo, Norway. There were concerns about taking part in the competition because of the cut of 7% in the budget decided by the Ministry of Culture towards the national broadcaster.

But since Eurovision is not only a popular competition, but it is also a really good way to promote the country,  Enterprise Estonia (EAS) made a donation of 1, 5 million EEK to help the Baltic Country to take part in the annual contest.

ETV has announced that this year’s Eesti Laul, competition that will select who will represent Estonia in the contest is scheduled on March 12th. The winner will be picked among 10 entries that will be decided by a jury on Monday, next week.

The March’s event will take place in the Nokia Kontserdimaja, in Tallinn. The 2010 contest will be the sixteenth participation for the Baltic country, which first entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994.

The best result was the win in 2001, reached by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL with the song Everybody.
Last year Estonia was represented by Urban Symphony that with the song Rändajad scored 129 points and was placed sixth.