Today around 13:30 CET, the host city of the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest has been announced in a special programme on YLE24. The 2007 Eurovision Song Contest will be taking place in… Helsinki! The Helsinki Areena, better known already as the Hartwall Areena, will be the home of next year's competition.

Song contest watchers already expect the contest to take place in Helsinki. Host broadcaster YLE earlier expressed its preference for a venue with at least 10,000 seats. The Hartwall Arena can host up 12,000 people for the upcoming contest.

About Helsinki
Helsinki is, as most of you probably know, the capital of Finland. With approximately 575,000 inhabitants, it's the largest city in the country. Along with neighbour cities Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen, Helsinki is part of the capital area, which has more than 1,2 million inhabitants.

The city has approximately 13,000 hotel beds to offer, among them several five-star hotels like the Kamp, the Strand Hilton and the Plaza, as well as a wide range of four- and three-star hotels. Through Helsinki-Vaantaa Airport, the capital is easy to reach directly by plane from most European capitals.

The 2007 Eurovision Song Contest takes place on 10th (semifinal) and 12th (final) May, 2007.