YLE has released information on next year�s Finnish final but the venue and host city still remains a secret. Twelve artists will fight for the honour to represent Finland in Serbia next year and the second chance round is introduced for the first time. Each invited artist will perform only one song unlike the past two previous years. Three semi finals starting on February 8 will lead to the second chance round and the final on March 1.
YLE will invite 12 artists with the help of the record companies, as in 2006-2007, but this time they will each perform only one song and will have to qualify to the final. Each of the three semi finals will have four artists and SMS and televoting will send only two of them to the final. The drop outs will have a second chance on the final night and two more songs and artists will qualify for the final that will have this way a total of eight songs.The winner will be chosen by SMS and televoting.
“We wanted to add drama and excitement to the semi finals. Past two years there was the fight between the artist’s two songs and not between the artists themselves. Now none of the artists has a secured place in the final and has to do his/her best to pass the qualification” says Tuire Lindström from YLE.
YLE will again consult the record companies to pick the 12 artists or groups. “Our aim is to gather together a surprising and interesting line up of leading Finnish top artists” says Matti Grönberg, one of the new responsibles for Euroviisut 2008.
The rules bring no surprises. The language remains free, but “we recommend performing the songs in Finnish or Swedish” is written down just before “the language can be changed after the Finnish final” and YLE has the final word on this matter. The songs must be sent to YLE before December 1, 2007. The CD with all the songs will be released on February 23, 2008.
