All participants had to be younger than 19 and performed a classical piece of their choice accompanied by the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest conducted by Sergiu Comissiona.
[1] The non-qualified countries were Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia.
[1] Each participating country were able to send male or female artists who were no older than 19 years of age, to represent them by playing a classical piece of their choice accompanied by the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest conducted under Sergiu Comissiona.
[1] Broadcasters from sixteen countries took part in the preliminary round of the 1988 contest, of which six qualified to the televised grand final.
The placing results of the remaining participants is unknown and never made public by the European Broadcasting Union.