A submission period was opened by Yle which lasted between 9 September 2003 and 17 October 2003. Artists had to hold Finnish citizenship or live in Finland permanently in order for the entry to qualify to compete. A panel of experts appointed by Yle selected twenty entries for the competition from 325 received submissions. The competing entries were presented on 2 December 2003. Among the competing artists were future Eurovision Song Contest contestants Geir Rönning who would later represent Finland in 2005 and Saara Aalto from JUST who would later represent Finland in 2018.