Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest
| Finland | |
|---|---|
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| |
| Member station | Yle |
| National selection events |
National Final
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| Appearances | |
| Appearances | 49 (44 finals) |
| First appearance | 1961 |
| Best result | 1st: 2006 |
| Worst result |
Last: 1963, 1965, 1968, 1980, 1982, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2009, 2015 SF Nul points: 1963, 1965, 1982 |
| External links | |
| YLE page | |
| Finland's page at Eurovision.tv | |
Finland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 49 times since its debut in 1961. Finland won the contest for the first time in 2006 with Lordi's "Hard Rock Hallelujah". Previously, its best showing was Marion Rung’s song "Tom Tom Tom" in 1973, which was placed 6th.
Finland has finished last in the contest final ten times, receiving "nul points" in 1963, 1965 and 1982. Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Finland has failed to reach the final five times. In 2014, the country had its best result for eight years when Softengine finished 11th. In 2015 Finland finished last in Semi Final One with the shortest ever Eurovision entry "Aina mun pitää" that only lasts 1 minute and 25 seconds by PKN (Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät).
History
Before the 2006 victory, Finland was considered by many as the ultimate under-achiever of Eurovision. Prior to its triumph, it had placed last a total of eight times and even the notorious "nul points" once after the introduction of the current scoring method. Finland's entry in 1982, "Nuku pommiin" by Kojo, was one of only fifteen songs since the modern scoring system was instituted in 1975 to earn no points. (Norway had placed last ten times and scored zero points four times, but has also won twice before 2006).
During the 1990s and early 2000s, Finland was arguably one of the countries most affected by the various relegation schemes designed to limit the number of participants. Due to low results, Finland was excluded from the contest in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003. Before 2006, there even was a popular joke circulating in Finland, where a man frees a genie from a bottle:
- Genie: Thanks for freeing me! I will now grant you one wish.
- Man: Bring the Finnish Karelia back to Finland!
- Genie: That's too big a wish, maybe a smaller one?
- Man: OK, let Finland win the Eurovision Song Contest even once!
- Genie: Hmm... let me see that map again...
First victory
In 2006, Finland finally gained victory, with an entry radically different from the mainstream Europop that dominates the competition: a hard rock song, played by a monster band in an over-the-top fashion. The band Lordi and its song Hard Rock Hallelujah broke records scoring the highest number of points in Eurovision Song Contest history (292) but its title was taken by Norway in 2009 (387).
Language
All of Finland's entries were in English between 1973 and 1976 and again since 2000 (except in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2015); both of these periods allowed submissions in any language. Two entries, 1990 and 2012, were in Swedish, which is an official language in Finland alongside Finnish. All of Finland's other songs have been in Finnish.
Voting patterns
In voting patterns, Finland has traditionally supported and been supported by the other Nordic countries. In recent years also the Baltic nations, such as Estonia and Latvia have been favoured by Finland, and the other way around. In 2004, Finland's first-place vote went to Sweden; in 2005, it contributed 12 points to Norway; in 2006, it was Russia's turn to get the 12 points, but it was Serbia who got their top score in 2007. The first time in Eurovision history that Sweden gave Finland 12 points was in 2006 for Lordi's song "Hard Rock Hallelujah". In 2007, they repeated this, giving 12 points to Hanna Pakarinen with "Leave Me Alone". Finland has also given notably high points to Italy, a country that had not competed in various periods, especially from 1998 to 2010, but returned in 2011.
Contestants
As of the 2012 contest, there have been 47 Finnish entries in the contest: 33 in Finnish, 13 in English and 2 in Swedish.
- Table key
- NOTES:
- a. ^ In 2009, Finland qualified through the back-up jury selection.
- b. If a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition from 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, the countries who placed 11th and 12th were advanced to the following year's grand final along with the rest of the top ten countries.
Voting history
As of 2015, Finland's voting history is as follows:
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Hostings
| Year | Location | Venue | Presenters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Helsinki | Hartwall Areena | Jaana Pelkonen and Mikko Leppilampi |
Marcel Bezençon Awards
Press Award
| Year | Song | Performer | Final Result | Points | Host city |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "Hard Rock Hallelujah" | Lordi | 1st | 292 | Athens |
| 2011 | "Da Da Dam" | Paradise Oskar | 21st | 57 | Düsseldorf |
Fan Award
| Year | Performer | Song | Final Result |
Points | Host city |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Laura Voutilainen | "Addicted to You" | 20th | 24 | Tallinn |
Commentators and spokespersons
| Year(s) | Finnish Commentator | Dual Finnish Commentator | Trio Finnish Commentator | Spokesperson | Swedish Commentator | Dual Swedish Commentator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Aarno Walli | No Dual Commentator | No Trio Commentator | Did Not Participate | No broadcast | No broadcast |
| 1961 | Poppe Berg | |||||
| 1962 | ||||||
| 1963 | ||||||
| 1964 | ||||||
| 1965 | ||||||
| 1966 | ||||||
| 1967 | ||||||
| 1968 | ||||||
| 1969 | Aarre Elo | |||||
| 1970 | No Broadcast | Did not participate | ||||
| 1971 | Heikki Seppälä | No Spokesperson | ||||
| 1972 | ||||||
| 1973 | Erkki Pohjanheimo | |||||
| 1974 | Matti Paalosmaa | Aarre Elo | ||||
| 1975 | Heikki Seppälä | Kaarina Pönniö | ||||
| 1976 | Vesa Nuotio | Erkki Vihtonen | ||||
| 1977 | Erkki Toivanen | Kaarina Pönniö | ||||
| 1978 | ||||||
| 1979 | Anja-Maija Leppänen | |||||
| 1980 | Heikki Harma | Aarre Elo | ||||
| 1981 | Ossi Runne | No Dual Commentator | Annemi Genetz | |||
| 1982 | Erkki Toivanen | Solveig Herlin | ||||
| 1983 | Erkki Pohjanheimo | |||||
| 1984 | Heikki Seppälä | |||||
| 1985 | Heikki Harma | Kari Lumikero | Annemi Genetz | |||
| 1986 | Solveig Herlin | |||||
| 1987 | Erkki Toivanen | No Dual Commentator | ||||
| 1988 | Erkki Pohjanheimo | |||||
| 1989 | Heikki Harma | |||||
| 1990 | Erkki Pohjanheimo | Ossi Runne | ||||
| 1991 | N/A | Heidi Kokki | ||||
| 1992 | Kati Bergman | Solveig Herlin | ||||
| 1993 | Kirsi-Maria Niemi | |||||
| 1994 | ||||||
| 1995 | Olli Ahvenlahti | Did not participate | ||||
| 1996 | Sanna Kojo | Solveig Herlin | ||||
| 1997 | Aki Sirkesalo | Olli Ahvenlahti | Did not participate | |||
| 1998 | Maria Guzenina | Sami Aaltonen | Marjo Wilska | |||
| 1999 | Jani Juntunen | No Dual Commentator | Did not participate | |||
| 2000 | Pia Mäkinen | |||||
| 2001 | Asko Murtomäki | Did not participate | ||||
| 2002 | Maria Guzenina | Marion Rung | ||||
| 2003 | Did not participate | |||||
| 2004 | Markus Kajo | Anna Stenlund | ||||
| 2005 | Jaana Pelkonen | Heikki Paasonen | Jari Sillanpää | |||
| 2006 | Nina Tapio | Thomas Lundin | No Dual Commentator | |||
| 2007 | Ellen Jokikunnas | Laura Voutilainen | ||||
| 2008 | Jaana Pelkonen | Mikko Peltola | Mikko Leppilampi | |||
| 2009 | Jari Sillanpää | Tobias Larsson | ||||
| 2010 | No Trio Commentator | Johanna Pirttilahti | ||||
| 2011 | Tarja Närhi | Susan Aho | Eva Frantz | Johan Lindroos | ||
| 2012 | Tobias Larsson | Mr. Lordi | ||||
| 2013 | Aino Töllinen | Juuso Mäkilähde | Kristiina Wheeler | |||
| 2014 | Sanna Pirkkalainen | Jorma Hietamäki | Redrama | |||
| 2015 | Aino Töllinen | Cristal Snow | Krista Siegfrids | |||
| 2016 | Mikko Silvennoinen | No Dual Commentator | Jussi-Pekka Rantanen |
Photogallery
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Viktor Klimenko at Naples (1965)
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Hanna Pakarinen at Helsinki (2007)
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Teräsbetoni at Belgrade (2008)
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Krista Siegfrids at Malmö (2013)
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Softengine at Copenhagen (2014)
See also
References
External links
- National Final 2009
- Points to and from Finland eurovisioncovers.co.uk
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