The Estonian participating broadcaster, Eesti Televisioon (ETV), organised the national final Eurolaul '97 in order to select its entry for the contest.

Eight songs competed in the national final and "Keelatud maa" performed by Maarja was selected as the winner by a jury panel.

Since their debut, the broadcaster has organised national finals that feature a competition among multiple artists and songs in order to select its entry for the contest.

The competition consisted of an eight-song final on 15 February 1997 at the Linnahall in Tallinn, hosted by Marko Reikop and Anu Välba and broadcast on ETV.

A non-competitive public televote was also held and selected "Aeg" performed by Maarja-Liis Ilus, Hanna-Liina Võsa and Anne Värvimann as the winner.

[8] Russian composer Vladimir Matetsky was also supposed to vote as a ninth juror but did not receive the tape with the songs on time to judge them.