🇪🇪 Road to Basel: Estonia

It’s time for another weekly Eurovision update! This week’s news spans a heartfelt farewell, a surprise comeback announcement, and national selection developments across Europe. A German hit-maker behind Eurovision classics has sadly passed away. France’s Patrick Fiori eyes a Eurovision return for Armenia. Countries like Czechia, Estonia, and Italy are gearing up their Eurovision 2026 plans. Here are this week’s top stories: Germany: Eurovision Songwriter Bernd Meinunger Dies at 81 Legendary German lyricist Bernd Meinunger, who penned 19 songs for the Eurovision Song Contest, has passed away at age 81. He died on 17 October 2025 at his home in Grünwald, Bavaria, due to multiple organ failure. Meinunger was best known for his long-time collaboration with composer Ralph Siegel. Together they created iconic Eurovision entries that shaped Germany’s Eurovision history. He wrote the lyrics for Germany’s 1982 winner “Ein bisschen Frieden”, as well as other classics like “Dschinghis Khan” (1979) and “Theater” (1980). Meinunger’s Eurovision career spanned from 1979 to 2015 with a total of 19 entries. His first entry “Dschinghis Khan” placed 4th, and his crowning achievement was Nicole’s victory in 1982. His final Eurovision contribution came in 2015, writing San Marino’s entry “Chain of Lights”. Outside Eurovision, Meinunger was extraordinarily prolific. He reportedly wrote over 5,500 songs in multiple languages. More than 200 of his songs reached the Top 100 charts internationally. Meinunger earned around 400 gold and platinum records over his career. His work extended far beyond Eurovision, but within the contest community he earned a reputation as “Germany’s Schlager poet” for his contributions to pop music.  source: promiflash.de Meinunger receiving the Grand Prix of Eurovision 1982 🇦🇲 Armenia: Patrick Fiori Plans Eurovision Return in 2027 French singer Patrick Fiori, who achieved 4th place for France at Eurovision 1993, has revealed plans for a comeback. He would be representing Armenia this time. Appearing on France 2’s talk show Quelle époque! on 18 October, Fiori announced that he has “an agreement in principle” to represent Armenia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2027. Fiori is of Corsican-Armenian descent (his father is Armenian). He expressed pride in his roots by stating, “I will represent Armenia in Eurovision.” Fiori even hinted at hoping to perform as a duet with an Armenian artist on the Eurovision stage.  Patrick Fiori’s original Eurovision appearance was over three decades ago. He sang “Mama Corsica” for France in 1993, finishing a respectable 4th in Millstreet. As of now, Armenia’s broadcaster (AMPTV) has not officially confirmed Fiori’s 2027 participation or even their 2026 plans. It’s early days, but Fiori’s announcement has created excitement about a potential Franco-Armenian collaboration in a future Eurovision. source: Gala.fr 🇨🇿 Czechia: Eurovision 2026 Song Submissions Window Closes In Czechia, the first phase of selecting a Eurovision 2026 entry has just concluded. Česká televize (Czech TV) closed its song submission window on 19 October, after a six-week period inviting artists and songwriters to send in their entries. The deadline was set at 23:59 CEST. All proposals submitted by then will now proceed to the review stage. Czechia’s Eurovision 2026 representative will be chosen through a combined process involving an expert jury and a public vote, similar to the method used for the 2025 selection. Next, the Czech broadcaster will screen the entries and likely shortlist finalists for a national selection or an internal selection process. With the submissions closed, we can anticipate an announcement of the selected song and artist in the coming months. Czechia has been steadily improving its Eurovision approach. The 2026 selection aims to build on past success. The hope is that this mixed jury-public selection will pick an entry capable of achieving a strong result on home turf of the contest’s host country. source: Eurovoix.com 🇪🇪 Estonia: 171 Entries Submitted for Eesti Laul 2026 Estonia’s Eurovision season is off to a strong start with a high volume of entries for its national final. Broadcaster ERR announced that 171 songs were submitted for Eesti Laul 2026, the country’s selection contest for Eurovision. This figure is only slightly lower than last year’s submissions, indicating sustained enthusiasm from creators. Of the 171 entries, 77 are in Estonian and 94 in other languages. Ssongwriters from 20 different countries (including Brazil and Australia) have entered songs. Despite the global interest, Eesti Laul producer Riin Vann noted that domestic Estonian artists still dominate the field, keeping a strong local flavor in the competition. Now that the submission window has closed (it ended on 20 October), a professional jury will review all entries blindly (without knowing the writers or performers) to pick the best ones. Only 12 songs will be chosen for the televised Eesti Laul 2026 final. The final is scheduled for 14 February 2026 in Tallinn. As in previous years, the winner will be decided over two rounds: a jury-and-televote round to pick superfinalists, followed by a televote to choose the ultimate winner. Estonia had a remarkable Eurovision result in 2025 (3rd place). source: eeter.err.et 🇮🇹 Italy: Sanremo 2026 Rules Published, Eurovision Participation Confirmed Italy has officially kicked off its Eurovision 2026 preparations by releasing the rules for the upcoming Festival di Sanremo 2026. National broadcaster RAI published the Sanremo 2026 regulations on 16 October, confirming that the winner of Sanremo will again represent Italy at Eurovision 2026 in Vienna. With this announcement, Italy also formally confirmed its participation in the 70th Eurovision Song Contest. The Sanremo rules outline a festival with 26 artists in the Campioni category (established stars) and 4 artists in Nuove Proposte (newcomers). The two competitions will run separately as they did last year. RAI also reiterated the usual Eurovision clause: if the Sanremo winner declines the Eurovision slot, the offer will pass to the runner-up (and further down if necessary) until an artist accepts the ticket to Vienna. The five-night Sanremo festival will maintain its traditional format, including special theme nights. For example, the fourth night will be a covers night where contestants perform classic hits (Italian or international) for fun, which won’t affect the competition results. The grand final of Sanremo will feature