Estonia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024

Estonia is set to participate at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Madrid, Spain, with a song performed by Annabelle Ats. The Estonian national broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) organised the national final Tähtede lava in order to select the Estonian artist for the 2024 contest.

Background
Estonia debuted in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in. ERR had previously broadcast the contest in and, 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, which never materialised. ERR internally selected Arhanna to represent the country in, 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, 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 its national final for Junior Eurovision. This was confirmed the following 4 May, ahead of the final of Tähtede lava.

Tähtede lava 2024
ERR selected the Estonian representative with the biennial television program Tähtede lava ; 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. 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 (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