In the 2010 contest, "Työlki ellää" performed by Kuunkuiskaajat failed to qualify Finland to the final, placing eleventh in the semi-final.
[2] Finland's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest have been selected through national final competitions that have varied in format over the years.
[6][7] Twelve artists, including the winner of the Finnish tango contest Tangomarkkinat in 2010, Marko Maunuksela, were directly invited by Yle to compete in the national final following consultation with record companies, while an additional three acts were selected through a public online selection.
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.
[2][9] A panel of experts appointed by Yle selected fifteen competing entries from the 277 received submissions, which were presented on 30 September 2010 at yle.fi for the public to vote through SMS until 15 October 2010.
[10] The twelve invited artists were announced during a press conference on 30 September 2010, while the three entries that qualified from the online selection and were presented during a televised programme on 16 October 2010.
Among the competing artists was former Finnish Eurovision entrant Sampsa Astala (lead singer of Stala and So.)
"Dancing in the Dark" performed by Eveliina Määttä was awarded the jury wildcard and also qualified to the final.
[14] The final took place on 12 February 2011 at the Holiday Club Caribia in Turku where the ten entries that qualified from the preceding three semi-finals competed.
[16] Paradise Oskar specifically promoted "Da Da Dam" as the Finnish Eurovision entry on 14 April 2011 by performing during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Club Air venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas, Esther Hart and Sascha Korf.
[17] According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final.
On 17 January 2011, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in.
This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.
In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.