National selections for the Eurovision Song Contest

National selection refer to the process in which a participant broadcaster of the annual Eurovision Song Contest select the song and artist(s) that will represent its country in the contest.

The two principal ways for broadcasters to select their entries are open selections (national finals) and closed selections (internal selections). Since the introduction of semi-finals in the – due to the extensive amount of participants – and the rule of the "Big Five" countries (applied to the broadcasters from, , , , and the ),  a wide range of broadcasters have often alternated between national finals and internal selections based on final placing at the previous contests.

National finals
National finals are the process in which the participant broadcaster of a country gives its national audience the opportunity to choose either the song, or the artist(s), or even both, that will represent them in the contest, often combining public televoting with the vote of an expert jury.

These national finals (consisting of one or more shows) can be televised or non-televised, however, most of the time they are televised as prime-time television events. On many occasions, the artist is selected internally and the audience chooses a song for them through a national final. Alternatively, the broadcaster can select a song and make the public choose the artist that will perform the song through a national final.

Among the most well-known national finals is Melodifestivalen, organised by Sveriges Television (SVT) in, which features six live shows (four heats, a "Second Chance" show and a final in Stockholm) in different cities across the country. In 2012, over an estimated four million people in Sweden watched the final, almost half of the Swedish population.

Another example of a long-running national final format is Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) organised by Yle in ; in 2018 and 2019, each participant wanting to represent Finland sent three songs to Yle, which would select the entrant, and the audience would then choose one song among the three that the selected entrant had presented to the broadcaster previously, through a televised final. In 2020, this format was abandoned in favour of a return to the open format seen between 2012 and 2017.

The broadcasters from, , and (RTSH, DR, and ETV/ERR respectively) are the only participants that have always selected their entries via a national final. The broadcaster from (LTV) has selected all of its entries via a national final, except in 2021, when it internally selected its intended entrant for the cancelled 2020 contest. Yle has selected all of its songs via a national final, but in 2018 and 2019, the artist was chosen internally. The broadcasters from (JRT) and  (UJRT) also selected all of their entries via a national final during their existence.

Internal selections
Internal selections are the process in which the participant broadcaster of a country appoints a committee or expert panel to select either the song, or the artist(s), or even both, without holding a public vote.

Even though the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) "strongly" encourages broadcasters to hold their own national finals, participants from several countries such as, and  are among those that have opted for internal selections for most of their entries in the contest. Choosing this method is also a common strategy for broadcasters after having failed to qualify for the final on several occasions.

Participants
broadcasters from fifty-two countries have participated in the Eurovision Song Contest at least once, and a record forty-three participated in 2008, 2011, and 2018.