Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010

Kuunkuiskaajat at the final of Euroviisut 2010 in Tampere.

Euroviisut 2010 was the national final that selected Finland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. The competition consisted of four shows that commenced with the first of three semi-finals on 8 January 2010 and concluded with a final on 30 January 2010.[1] The four shows were held at the Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre in Tampere and hosted by Jaana Pelkonen and Mikko Peltola. All shows were broadcast on Yle TV2 and online at yle.fi as well as via radio on Yle Radio Suomi.[2] The final was watched by 995,000 viewers in Finland with a peak of 1.2 million.[3][4]

The format of the competition consisted of four shows: three semi-finals and a final. Five songs competed in each semi-final and the top three entries from each semi-final alongside a wildcard entry selected by a jury from the remaining entries qualified to complete the ten-song lineup in the final. The results for the semi-finals and the final were determined exclusively by a public vote. Public voting included the options of telephone and SMS voting.[5]

Twelve artists, including the 2009 winner of the Finnish tango contest Tangomarkkinat Amadeus Lundberg, were directly invited by Yle for the national final in consultation with record companies.[6][7][8] A submission period was also opened by Yle which lasted between 16 June 2009 and 31 August 2009. At least one of the writers and the lead singer(s) had to hold Finnish citizenship or live in Finland permanently in order for the entry to qualify to compete.[5][1] A panel of experts appointed by Yle selected twelve entries for an online vote from the 267 received submissions. The invited artists and the competing entries for the online vote were presented on 30 September 2010 and 1 October 2009, respectively.[9][10] For the online vote, the public was able to vote through SMS until 16 October 2009 and the top three from the twelve competing entries qualified to the national final.[11][12] "You Don't Know Tomorrow" performed by Bääbs, "Fatal Moment" performed by Linn Nygård and "Love at the First Sight" performed by Sister Twister qualified to the national final.[13][14]

Three semi-finals took place on 8, 15 and 22 January. In each show the top three from the five competing entries qualified to the final based on the results of a public vote. A jury wildcard was also selected from the eliminated songs to progress to the final and announced following the third semi-final.

The final took place on 30 January 2010 where the nine entries that qualified from the preceding three semi-finals and the jury wildcard competed. Prior to the final, possible winning contenders as suggested by media reports included Eläkeläiset, Amadeus Lundberg, Kuunkuiskaajat and Heli Kajo.[21][22] The winner was selected over two rounds of public voting through telephone and SMS voting. In the first round, the top three entries qualified to the second round, the superfinal.[23] In the superfinal, "Työlki ellää" performed by Kuunkuiskaajat was selected as the winner.[24][25]

In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval act featured Eurovision Song Contest 2007 host Mikko Leppilampi and Norwegian Eurovision Song Contest 2009 winner Alexander Rybak.[21][22]