This year's Finnish final - 2010 Eurovision Laulukilpailu - consists of three semi-finals held at the YLE TV studios in Tampere. The top 3 songs in each heat (chosen by sms- and televoting) qualify for the final. After all the semi-finals have been held, an "expert" jury will award a so-called "wildcard" for one of the losing songs meaning that the total number of songs in the final will amount to 10.
The five candidates in tonight's first semi-final were the following (qualifiers in bold):
- Amadeus - Anastacia
- Nina Lassander - Cider Hill
- Bääbs - You Don't Know Tomorrow
- Boys Of The Band - America (I Think I Love You)
- Pentti Hietanen - Il Mondo È Qui
The 2010 Finnish final will be held on the 30th of January at the Tampere Exhibition & Sports Centre and will be hosted by longterm presenters Jaana Pelkonen & Mikko Peltola.