Finland entered the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 after hosting the 2007 contest

Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...

 in Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

. To select their entry for the contest, Yleisradio Oy (YLE) held a national selection, Euroviisut 2008

Euroviisut 2008

Euroviisut 2008 was the Finnish national selection for the Finnish entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, held in Belgrade, Serbia.Four semi-final took place before the final, three semi-finals and one "Second Chance" round. In total, 12 artists competed in the contest, each with one song...

. The contest consisted of 12 artists competing over 3 semi-finals and one second chance round between January and February 2008, with 8 songs, 6 from the semi-finals and the 2 most popular songs from the second chance, competing in the final held on 1 March.

The winner was Teräsbetoni

Teräsbetoni

Teräsbetoni is a Finnish heavy metal band. Their first album, Metallitotuus was released in 2005 and has so far sold more than 32,000 copies. Teräsbetoni has been strongly influenced by bands such as Manowar...

 with the song "Missä miehet ratsastaa

Missä miehet ratsastaa

"Missä miehet ratsastaa" is a song by Teräsbetoni which was the Finnish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. As with Lordi in 2006, Teräsbetoni was chosen as the Finnish entry for Eurovision 2008 by winning the Finnish national song contest, which is decided by popular vote...

" (Where the men ride), composed by band member Jarkko Ahola

Jarkko Ahola

J. Ahola is a performing artist, a composer and a singer. He is the vocalist and bass player and one of the three songwriters of the band Teräsbetoni. He is also a member of a Finnish symphonic metal cover supergroup Northern Kings together with Marco Hietala from Nightwish, Tarot and Sapattivuosi,...

. They received 38.9% of the televotes from the Finnish public, beating second place Kari Tapio

Kari Tapio

Kari Tapani Jalkanen , better known by his stage name Kari Tapio, was a Finnish schlager and country & western singer. He was one of the most popular singers in Finland for decades, selling over 826,000 certified records during his career and posthumously.Tapio was born in Suonenjoki, Finland...

 and third place Cristal Snow

Cristal Snow

Cristal Snow is a Finnish pop electro musician. He was one of the candidates to represent Finland in Eurovision Song Contest 2008. However, Teräsbetoni was voted as the representative....

. Only the top 3 songs were announced.

Teräsbetoni went to Belgrade

Belgrade

Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

 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.

Euroviisut 2008 - Final

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

Euroviisut 2008

Euroviisut 2008 was the Finnish national selection for the Finnish entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, held in Belgrade, Serbia.Four semi-final took place before the final, three semi-finals and one "Second Chance" round. In total, 12 artists competed in the contest, each with one song...

.

Draw	Artist	Song	Percentage	Place
1	Movetron Movetron Movetron is a Finnish dance and pop band, established in the mid-1990s by Päivi Lepistö, Jukka Tanttari, and Timo Löyvä. Their music can be categorized as Eurodance. Their first album sold double platinum and stayed in the official Finnish Album charts for 45 weeks. It contributed total three Top...	Cupido	-	-
2	Kristian Meurman Kristian Meurman Kristian Meurman , is a Finnish singer. He was a finalist in the third series of the Finnish Idols in 2007. His first album Ensiaskeleet was released in 2007 and it sold gold...	Jos en sua saa	-	-
3	Cristal Snow Cristal Snow Cristal Snow is a Finnish pop electro musician. He was one of the candidates to represent Finland in Eurovision Song Contest 2008. However, Teräsbetoni was voted as the representative....	Can't Save Me	26.5%	3
4	Mikael Konttinen	Milloin	-	-
5	Teräsbetoni Teräsbetoni Teräsbetoni is a Finnish heavy metal band. Their first album, Metallitotuus was released in 2005 and has so far sold more than 32,000 copies. Teräsbetoni has been strongly influenced by bands such as Manowar...	Missä miehet ratsastaa Missä miehet ratsastaa "Missä miehet ratsastaa" is a song by Teräsbetoni which was the Finnish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. As with Lordi in 2006, Teräsbetoni was chosen as the Finnish entry for Eurovision 2008 by winning the Finnish national song contest, which is decided by popular vote...	38.9%	1
6	Kari Tapio Kari Tapio Kari Tapani Jalkanen , better known by his stage name Kari Tapio, was a Finnish schlager and country & western singer. He was one of the most popular singers in Finland for decades, selling over 826,000 certified records during his career and posthumously.Tapio was born in Suonenjoki, Finland...	Valaise yö	33.9%	2
7	Crumbland	Pleasure	-	-
8	Vuokko Hovatta	Virginia	-	-

At Eurovision

At the first semi-final, Teräsbetoni performed 16th and placed 8th qualifying for the final on 24 May

In the final they performed 8th following Israel

Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

- Participant :On 14 February 2008, Israel's broadcaster decided to send Boaz Mauda to Belgrade.- Kdam Eurovision 2008:The following songs were sung by Boaz Mauda in two national finals on 25 and 26 February 2008...

 and preceding Croatia

Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Croatia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 and placed twenty-first in the final. Having missed their first Eurovision final, Croatia hoped for a better result in Belgrade. Ten songs pre-qualified for the final of the Dora that was held in Opatija on 23 February 2008. They were joined...

. They finished 22nd with 35 points.

Commentators and spokespersons

The commentators for the event were Jaana Pelkonen

Jaana Pelkonen

Jaana Pelkonen is a Finnish member of parliament and former television hostess.-Career:Pelkonen's media career started as a radio presenter for Radio 99 in Lahti in 1995–1997. She became famous in Finland as the host of the video gaming show Tilt in 1997–2005 and the youth program Jyrki in 1998...

, Mikko Peltola and Asko Murtomäki in Finnish

Finnish language

Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...

 and Thomas Lundin in Swedish

Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...

. the spokesperson announcing the votes was Mikko Leppilampi

Mikko Leppilampi

Mikko Johannes Leppilampi is a Finnish actor and musician who is the son of Jukka Leppilampi , a Finnish gospel musician. Leppilampi is considered to be one of the most promising stars of Finland's movie industry in the new millennium...