Estonia: Vanilla Ninja wins Eesti Laul 2026 with "Too Epic To Be True"
It's official! After the 12 acts in Eesti Laul took the stage with their songs tonight, there was one who stood out from the rest. Vanilla Ninja has taken home the Eesti Laul 2026 victory with "Too Epic To Be True"
With Estonia reaching the top three with Tommy Cash and "Espresso Macchiato" at Eurovision 2025, they're looking to continue the momentum that it brought. This year, 12 hopefuls took to the stage to see if they'll continue Estonia's four-year qualification streak.
Tonight Eesti Laul 2026 was held, the selection to determine their Eurovision 2026 representative. The 12 acts competing went through a round of votes to see the three that would advance to the Superfinal.
Once the Superfinal votes were revealed, determined via 100% public vote, it became official: Vanilla Ninja had won with "Too Epic To Be True."
"Too Epic To Be True" was written by Sven Lõhmus.
Eesti Laul 2026
First round
| Voting | 50% jury 50% public voting |
Superfinal
| Voting | 100% public voting |
Vanilla Ninja will take the stage for Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 on Tuesday, 12 May during Semi-final 1.
Vanilla Ninja
Vanilla Ninja is an all-girl Estonian rock group founded in 2002. The group has seen much commercial success, and currently consists of Lenna Kuurmaa, Piret Järvis, and Kerli Kivilaan.
In total, the group has released five studio albums, with the most recent being their album "Encore" from 2021.
Back in 2005, Vanilla Ninja represented Switzerland at Eurovision with the song "Cool Vibes," which placed 8th.
Eesti Laul 2026
Eesti Laul 2026 was the national selection process to determine Estonia's Eurovision 2026 representative. 12 songs competed in this year's edition. The contest took place at Unibet Arena in Tallinn, and was hosted by Karl-Erik Taukar and Korea.
There were two rounds of voting. The first round saw all 12 acts perform with the top three selected for the Superfinal (determined by a 50/50 split between jury and public voting). In the Superfinal the winner of the three was chosen via 100% public voting.
The jury for the Final will consist of at least seven members, including international music experts who are actively involved in the making, publishing, or teaching of pop music.
Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
Estonia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 30 times, first in 1994, competing every year except 1995.
Estonia has managed to qualify for the Grand Final 11 out of 21 times.
Estonia has won just once, in the year 2001, with the song "Everybody," performed by Tanel Padar and Dave Benton and 2XL.
