Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Finland entered the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 after hosting the 2007 contest in Helsinki. To select their entry for the contest, Yleisradio Oy (Yle) held a national selection, Euroviisut 2008. The winner was Teräsbetoni with the song "Missä miehet ratsastaa" (Where the men ride), composed by band member Jarkko Ahola.

Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Country Finland
National selection
Selection processEuroviisut 2008
Selection date(s)Semi-finals
8 February 2008
15 February 2008
22 February 2008
Second Chance
29 February 2008
Final
1 March 2008
Selected entrantTeräsbetoni
Selected song"Missä miehet ratsastaa"
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (8th, 79 points)
Final result22nd, 35 points
Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2007 • 2008 • 2009►

Teräsbetoni went to Belgrade for Finland with the song, performing 16th in the first semi-final on 20 May. They received 79 points, placing 8th in a field and qualifying for the final on 24 May. At the final they performed 7th, however they could only manage to receive 35 points, coming 22nd of 25.

Before Eurovision

Euroviisut 2008
For the results of the semi-finals and second-chance round, see Euroviisut 2008.

12 entries competed in three semi-finals held on 8, 15 and 22 February 2008, with four entries taking part in each show. The top two entries from each semi-final advanced directly to the final, while the remaining two entries advanced to the Second Chance round on 29 February 2008. An additional two entries from the Second Chance round qualified for the final on 1 March 2008. The results for all shows were determined exclusively by a public vote.

Final

The final took place on 1 March 2008 at Kulttuuritalo in Helsinki, hosted by Jaana Pelkonen and Mikko Peltola. The winner was selected over two rounds of televoting. In the first round, the top three entries were selected to proceed to the second round. In the second round, "Missä miehet ratsastaa" performed by Teräsbetoni was selected as the winner with 38.9% of the votes.[1]

First Round – 1 March 2008
Draw Artist Song Result
1 Movetron "Cupido" Eliminated
2 Kristian Meurman "Jos en sua saa" Eliminated
3 Cristal Snow "Can't Save Me" Advanced
4 Mikael Konttinen "Milloin" Eliminated
5 Teräsbetoni "Missä miehet ratsastaa" Advanced
6 Kari Tapio "Valaise yö" Advanced
7 Crumbland "Pleasure" Eliminated
8 Vuokko Hovatta "Virginia" Eliminated
Second Round – 1 March 2008
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 Cristal Snow "Can't Save Me" 26.5% 3
2 Teräsbetoni "Missä miehet ratsastaa" 38.9% 1
3 Kari Tapio "Valaise yö" 33.9% 2

At Eurovision
Teräsbetoni performing "Missä miehet ratsastaa" at the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.

Since Finland had come in 17th in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, Teräsbetoni were obliged to perform their song in one of the two semi-finals of the 2008 contest.[2] The EBU split up countries with a friendly voting history into the two different semi-finals, to give a better chance to other countries to win. On 28 January 2008, the EBU held a special draw which determined that Finland would be in the first semi-final, held on 20 May 2008.[3] performed 16th, following The Netherlands and preceding the Romania. Finland qualified to the final, placing 8th in the semi-final and scoring 79 points.

In the final they performed 8th following Israel and preceding Croatia. They finished 22nd with 35 points.

Points Awarded by Finland[4]
Points Awarded to Finland (Semi-Final 1)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Points Awarded to Finland (Final)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Commentators and spokespersons

The commentators for the event were Jaana Pelkonen, Mikko Peltola and Asko Murtomäki in Finnish and Thomas Lundin in Swedish. the spokesperson announcing the votes was Mikko Leppilampi[5]

References
  1. Klier, Marcus (2007-03-01). "Finland decided: Teräsbetoni to Eurovision!". ESCToday. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
  2. Viniker, Barry (2007-09-28). "Eurovision: 2 semi finals confirmed!". ESCToday. Retrieved 2008-09-25.
  3. Viniker, Barry (2008-01-28). "The Eurovision Song Contest semi final draw". ESCToday. Retrieved 2008-09-25.
  4. Eurovision Song Contest 2008
  5. Schacht, Andreas. "Mikko and Jaana are back!". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.