National selections refer to the processes in which the broadcasters of the countries participating in the annual ESC select the artist and song that will represent them in the contest. The two principal ways for broadcasters to select their entries are open selections (national finals) and closed (internal selections).

Since the introduction of semi-finals in the 2004 contest due to the extensive amount of participating countries and the rule of the "Big Five" countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), a wide range of countries have often alternated between national finals and internal selections based on final placing at the contest.