A newcomer to the Finnish music scene, 23-year-old Mikael Konttinen speaks about his fast rise to the stardom, his debut album and of course Eurovision in this interview. Find out what he thinks about the burning Eurovision questions like the freedom of language, missing orchestra and foreign writers and artists in various national selections. Who his influences and idols are and is he going to be the next Jari Sillanpää?

Mikael will be one of the four artists in the second Finnish semi final on next Friday at 20.00 CET. You can hear his and the other entries already on Monday night around 18.00 CET on YLE’s website. The songs this week are Ninja with Battlefield of love, Kristian Meurman with Jos en sua saa (If I can't have you), Jippu with Kanna minut (Carry me) and Mikael Konttinen with Milloin (When).

Mikael's career started just 2 years ago when he was called in to replace a colleague at the Eurovision concert on Helsinki Day. After that, proposals came pouring in and he struck a major label deal, performed in the most watched TV program in Finland, the president's annual ball and got to receive an invitation by YLE to try his luck in the 2008 Euroviisut. How does he feel about it all? In an exclusive interview with esctoday.com Mikael talks about everything.

Read the Mikael Konttinen interview herein our Specials section.