Aalto to represent Finland in Eurovision with Monsters

Saara Aalto will fly the Finnish flag at the Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon with the song 'Monsters', after it won both the public and the jury votes, according to the Eurovision release.

Saara Aalto's participation for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest was announced in November 2017 by Finnish national broadcaster YLE.

Finland always held a public national selection for their Eurovision Song Contest participation, but the broadcaster has decided to change the process by choosing their representative internally. Over the past couple of weeks, Finland's national selection, Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (Contest For New Music, abbreviated to UMK), saw Saara Aalto perform three songs composed specifically for her.

Aalto was a runner-up in the thirteenth series of The X Factor UK in 2016, which gained her international recognition, reported national broadcaster Yle.

Portugal won the Eurovision trophy last year as a result the country will host the contest this year.

Performers from a total of 43 countries will take part in the contest scheduled to be held at the Altice Arena in Lisbon in May.

The two semi-finals will be held on May 8 and May 10 while the final on May 12.