The BBC organised a public selection process to determine its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1998. "The Great British Song Contest" was organised for the third time, following the same format used the previous year: after a public submission process, eight songs were selected to compete in a semi-final broadcast on BBC Radio 2, where listeners would choose four entries via televoting to progress to a final on BBC One. A second round of public voting during the televised broadcast would determine the winning song that would represent the UK at Eurovision. More than 800 songs were submitted to the competition and following several rounds of shortlisting from these songs, the eight semi-finalists were determined.