For the Eurovision 2018 season, Finnish broadcaster decided to scrap their usual multi-artist format of their national selection to preference one artist. As we know, it was Saara Aalto who was internally selected, with a national selection held later on in the season in order to decide her Eurovision entry.
Although Finland finished 25th in the final this year, it actually marked the first time that Finland had qualified to the final in 4 years, with their last qualification being Softengine in 2014. Not long after Eurovision had ended, Finnish broadcaster YLE decided to look to their audience for suggestions on which approach they should take for Eurovision 2019.
An open survey was held where respondents were allowed to share their opinions on all things Eurovision, including whether the one artist format was something they could continue with in future years. You can read more of the responses in our previous article here.
Now, it has been revealed that broadcaster YLE will be using a similar format to select their Eurovision act for 2019. It has been said that YLE will be inviting an artist, or perhaps artists to compete in the national selection, although it is unclear as to whether they will internally select the act. The producer of UMK (the national selection process), Anssi Autio has said that they are already in touch with artists and record labels as well as producers and songwriters in order to kick start this process.
Who do you want to represent Finland at Eurovision 2019?
Check out our Best of the Bunch: The Trials for Finland, where you can recap the latest three entries and vote for your Best of the Bunch!