Following her participation in the UK version of the X Factor last year, could Finnish runner-up Saara Aalto really be in the running to represent the United Kingdom at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest? According to the latest reports, that could well be the case!
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Saara Aalto has revealed that she has been in talks with the BBC regarding her possible participation as the UK’s representative at Eurovision 2018. The Finnish star confirmed:
There have been talks with the BBC, they really want me to do it.
I love Eurovision so I have been searching for the right opportunity to be part of it. It’s just whether I should do it for the UK or Finland or some other country. But the UK is my home now.
It would be quite fun, Eurovision has always been a dream of mine.
Aalto is no stranger to the Eurovision scene, having previously attempted to represent her homeland of Finland on two separate occasions, both in 2011 and 2016.
Aalto at Finland’s UMK final in 2016, competing with her entry No fear
Aalto in Eurovision: You Decide?
Despite apparent recent talks, Aalto’s potential appearance at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest would all come down to her participation in the United Kingdom’s national final, Eurovision: You Decide, in which a vote would decide her fate.
The return of the selection process was confirmed earlier in the year by the BBC, in which submissions recently closed on the 27 October.
It is currently unknown as to whether Aalto has submitted an entry for next year’s British national final; however with last year’s Eurovision: You Decide hopefuls being fully made up of former X Factor contestants, it would be no great surprise to see Aalto in the line-up.
Split from record label
The Finnish X Factor runner-up recently quit her collaboration with Sony, moving on to work alongside Warner for her future music career in which she has been working alongside the man behind the rise of the Spice Girls, Richard Biff Stannard.
Stannard has also written songs for numerous Eurovision hopefuls in previous years. It’s only a matter of time until we find out whether Aalto will be his next Eurovision collaboration.