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Lordi

Lordi is a Finnish hard rock quintet. The concept for Lordi was conceived in 1992, however, the band was not formed until 1996 by Tomi Putaansuu (known as 'Mr. Lordi')[1] of Helsinki, Finland. Members of Lordi are noted for their elaborate monster-like costumes depicted during live shows and in music videos. Lordi are also known as "The Finnish Monsters" and "The Monsters Of Finland."

Lordi won the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest with a record 292 points, giving Finland its first ever victory. Lordi featured on the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards in Copenhagen when Mr. Lordi presented the award for rock, and they were also the closing act playing their single Hard Rock Hallelujah. They also performed on Britain's Making Your Mind Up for the Eurovision Song Contest. Lordi performed on the main stage at Ozzfest 2007 and later that year toured with Type O Negative and Twin Method until Halloween night.

Early days

In the beginning of the 1990s, Putaansuu played in a small band from Rovaniemi. He left the band when the other members didn't agree with the introduction of theatrical elements and KISS-style rock. Putaansuu started producing demos under the name Lordi in 1991 and continued to do so for a few years. In 1995 he made a song "Inferno" and a music video for it as a school project. The video has not been released because Putaansuu is in the video without a mask, but he has promised to put the video in the upcoming Lordi DVD.[citation needed]

After "Inferno", Putaansuu had a dream. In the dream he was at a concert and there was a skeleton on stage playing. When he woke up, he knew that Lordi should be a death metal band full of monsters. The monster in the dream would eventually become the bassist Kalma.

The rest of the band members met each other for the first time in 1995 in Stockholm, where they had gone to see KISS perform. From the very beginning, they wanted their band to perform with spectacular pyrotechnics, and wearing 'monster style'-masks, and playing Deicide-style death metal. Lordi almost got a record deal in 1999 but shortly after the contract the company collapsed and lost all their money. Finally, the BMG Finland recording company accepted them and in 2002 their first single Would You Love A Monsterman? became a smash hit and not long after that, their first album, Get Heavy, sold 66,000 copies in Finland.[2]

Costumes

The monster masks and costumes the band use are made of foam latex. Mr. Lordi's mask was first cast and then glued together piece by piece. The other masks are solid helmets. It takes the other monsters about 20 minutes to put the masks on but it takes about 2 or 3 hours with Mr. Lordi. Mr. Lordi mentioned that their suits still have some original pieces from 1996. He has also said that the suits cost them "a few hundred euros". [3] The band members do each others' makeup.

The monster costumes are such an integral part of Lordi's publicity image that they refuse to be photographed or even interviewed without them, even if in some cases it leads to their own discomfort. Lordi has done interviews without their masks but the interviews are always filmed from the back so that you can't see their faces. During interviews, Lordi speaks English to the cameras, not their native Finnish. In a brief segment on the BBC reporting about the band attending the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, they were shown lounging beside the pool in full sunlight, while wearing their costumes. During the segment, Lordi remarked that the costumes and the heat did not mix.

Lordi have stated that their costumes have been inspired by KISS and Horror Genre. Mr. Lordi himself has said that without KISS, Lordi probably wouldn't exist. The costumes have also drawn comparisons to the shock rock group GWAR, who wear similar foam latex monster outfits, even though their musical styles are quite different. Mr. Lordi has claimed in interviews that he had never heard of GWAR when he first formed Lordi. In a recent interview Dave Brockie of GWAR called Lordi "a kiddie version of GWAR" but felt that Lordi didn't rip off GWAR, as both bands owed their image to earlier musicians such as KISS. He seems to have a tongue-in-cheek rivalry with Mr. Lordi, as he has stated his desire to "remove Mr. Lordi's mask and expose him as a silly human."[4] Recently, GWAR frontman Oderus has been producing a model of Mr. Lordi's head impaled on a stake, which then bleeds on the crowd.

Mr. Lordi's mask was auctioned for more than 6000 euros. It was bought by a Finnish businessman, Vesa Keskinen in an auction organised by YLE.[5]

Unmasked by the media

Despite the band's strict approach in relation to their costumes, and due to their newfound success, multiple newspapers began publishing photos of the band members without makeup. On March 15, 2006, the Finnish tabloid Ilta-Sanomat published a photograph of Putaansuu (Mr. Lordi) in civilian clothing, with his face partially showing. Lordi has called this an insult toward them, and an attempt to destroy the "monster image" they have worked for ten years to create. On May 22 2006, the Daily Mail published what was believed to be an old picture of the band without their makeup or masks. It was later revealed that the band in the photo was actually Children of Bodom, a different band altogether. This was acknowledged on Children of Bodom's official website.[6] The photograph did feature Erna Siikavirta, who went on to join Lordi as Enary, the band's keyboard player. However, Enary left Lordi in 2005, well before their victory at Eurovision, replaced by Awa. On the same day, Bild-Zeitung, a German tabloid, published what they claimed was a photograph of Putaansuu without his mask in its section "Bild Uncovered" with the German headline "He is the Grand Prix Monster: All of Germany discusses the Ugliest Winners of all Time". Later many other European tabloids and newspapers have published the same or similar photographs.

On 24 May 2006, the Finnish tabloid magazine 7 Päivää (7 Days) published an old picture of Lordi's face on the front page, and two days later another tabloid, Katso! (Look!), published unmasked pictures of the other four band members.[7] Both magazines were heavily criticised by their readers for publishing these pictures, which led to swift apologies from both magazines and promises not to publish unmasked pictures of Lordi anymore.[8]

On 26 May 2006, video footage was shown on television in Lithuania. It featured four men and one woman, dressed in black, sitting by the table at the airport in Athens. After a few seconds, Heikki Paasonen (the Eurovision Finnish commentator) in a black Lordi shirt came and stood in front of the camera, covering the view.

Lordi's costume is in the historical costumes section in Turku Castle.

Eurovision Song Contest 2006

Lordi represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 finals in Athens with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" after getting through the semi-finals. The band won by a significant margin, scoring 292 points, 44 points over second placed Dima Bilan, representing Russia with the song "Never Let You Go".

Having been voted for by all countries except Albania, Armenia and Monaco, Lordi scored the highest number of points for any entry in any Eurovision Song Contest to date. They received 12 points from eight countries: Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the UK. Coincidentally, Lordi also scored 292 points in the semi-final held two days earlier. They were also the first Eurovision entrant to win in both the Semi-Final and Final stages. Lordi were congratulated on their victory by both Finnish President Tarja Halonen and Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen.[9] Lordi opened the 2007 Eurovision contest.

See also Eurovision Song Contest 2006: Full Point Table.

Controversy

The choice of Lordi to represent Finland spawned some controversy in both Finland and Greece.

In Finland the choice was criticised by some and a group of religious leaders went as far as calling President Halonen to veto their entry.[10] In Greece, a number of organisations were trying to stop Lordi from competing. The Greek restaurant and bar owners' union President, Mrs. Niki Constantinou made a public plea directed to the people of Finland and Greece not to allow Lordi to perform in the contest, claiming the group is Satanic. Three other organisations in Greece initiated legal action against Lordi.[11]

Mr. Lordi himself responded to the accusations and strictly denied Satanism. He said a Satanist group would not write songs such as "Hard Rock Hallelujah" or "Devil Is A Loser".[12]

Despite, or maybe because of,[13] the controversy, Greece ended up awarding Lordi 12 points, the highest possible, in the contest final.

Concert in Helsinki

Lordi at the Market Square

To celebrate their victory in the Eurovision Song Contest, Lordi held a public, free, open-air concert in the Market Square in Helsinki, Finland, on 26 May 2006. At the concert, President of Finland Tarja Halonen made an official appearance to give Lordi a bronze key flag award for exemplary Finnish work. The concert was reported to have been attended by over 90,000 people from all over Finland and even other countries, some even on their first ever trip to Helsinki. [14] The concert was the biggest public event to that day in Helsinki. On this occasion, the world record for most people ever to sing karaoke was (successfully) attempted[15] by approximately 80,000 people, singing Hard Rock Hallelujah. The previous record was held by 50,000 Irish rugby fans. [16]

New record label

Lordi on stage at Ruisrock

On December 16, 2006, it was announced on The End Records website that the band had signed on to the label and would be releasing their latest full-length entitled The Arockalypse on March 20, 2007 with three bonus tracks and a DVD release. This same album was released in Finland as The Arockalypse Special Edition.[17]

Tributes

A square in the centre of Rovaniemi, Finland, the home town of the lead singer Mr. Lordi, was renamed after them shortly after their victory at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was part of a redevelopment of Rovaniemi city centre.[9]

Suomen Posti Oyj, the Finnish postal service, issued a Lordi postage stamp in May 2007 in recognition of their Eurovision win. Posti had already released Lordi's Christmas single, "It Snows in Hell" as a special Christmas card edition.[18]

A brand of soda named "Lordi Cola" was named after them and was launched in September 2006, featuring labels designed by Mr Lordi and depicting either one of the individual members or one with the whole band.[19]

Members

Lordi's line-ups
Original
(1996–1997)
  • Mr. Lordi – vocals
  • Amen – lead guitar
  • G-Stealer – bass
(1997–1999)
  • Mr. Lordi – vocals
  • Amen – lead guitar
  • G-Stealer – bass
  • Enary – keyboards
(1999–2000)
  • Mr. Lordi – vocals
  • Amen – lead guitar
  • Magnum – bass
  • Enary – keyboards
(2000–2002)
  • Mr. Lordi – vocals
  • Amen – lead guitar
  • Magnum – bass
  • Kita - drums, vocals
  • Enary – keyboards
(2002–2005)
  • Mr. Lordi – vocals
  • Amen – lead guitar
  • Kalma – bass, vocals
  • Kita – drums, vocals
  • Enary – keyboards
(2005)
  • Mr. Lordi – vocals
  • Amen – lead guitar
  • Kalma – bass, vocals
  • Kita – drums, vocals
  • Awa – keyboards, vocals
Current
(2005–)
  • Mr. Lordi – vocals
  • Amen – guitar
  • OX – bass
  • Kita – drums, vocals
  • Awa – keyboards, vocals

Members of Lordi always wear masks at interviews and have stated their desire for their personal identities to remain private. The band has not confirmed or denied the accuracy of these names, however, they have been widely published in the media and on websites as follows: [20]

Current members

Former members

  • G-Stealer - Bass (1996-1999)
  • Magnum - Bass (1999–2002)
  • Kalma) - Bass, vocals (2002–2005) (He has played a few gigs with the band as a secondary guitarist since he left the band)
  • Enary - Keyboards (1997–2005)

Vocal and Instrumental Style

Although Mr. Lordi is always credited with vocals, there are almost always backing vocals. These vary from member to member. For example, "Shotgun Divorce" uses former bassist Kalma's ghostly backing vocals, "Hard Rock Hallelujah" and "Good to Be Bad" use keyboardist Awa's angelic backing vocals. Kita has never sung backing vocals live due to his mask, though he performs almost all voices in the prelude tracks (Scartic Circle Gathering, Theatrical Trailer, SCG3 Special Report). OX has also never sung backing vocals as he has never recorded an album with Lordi. Udo Dirkschneider, who guested on the track "They Only Come Out at Night", alternates singing with Mr.Lordi while backing vocals continue as normal

Lordi also often have a vocal break in their song to allow Amen to have a guitar riff, normally accompanied by Kita and the bassist (Magnum, Kalma, OX) keeping time softly. After this riff, Mr.Lordi will sing either a short verse (occasionally with a distorted voice) or launch directly into the song's end refrain (always the chorus). The guitar is most often the main instrument.

The keyboardist is most often used as an accompaniment in the band's songs. However, in some songs such as "Icon of Dominance", "Children of the Night", and "Hard Rock Hallelujah" it is the main instrument.

Kita always plays with a great deal of power, blending very well with the style favored by Amen. The drums are used as changing instruments, using a fast and heavy solo to transition from verse to verse, verse to chorus and chorus to verse. However some songs including "Mr.Killjoy", "Bringing Back the Balls to Rock", and "Forsaken Fashion Dolls" use the drums as main instrument.

The bass is often used in conjunction with Kita's drumming. It is almost never the main instrument, but it is occasionally used with drums as changing instruments (See above).

Festivals & Tours

Download 2005

Lordi made their Download Festival debut performing 3rd on the Snickers Stage on the second day of Download 2005. Performing after Chris Jericho's Fozzy[21]

Download 2006

Lordi performed on the last on the third stage at Download 2006 to a rousing reception, hot on the back of their Eurovision Song contest victory earlier that summer.

Bamboozle '07

In May 2007, Lordi performed on both days of the Bamboozle Festival in East Rutherford, New Jersey on the Saints and Sinners Stage. They were one of the few bands to use pyrotechnics.

Ozzfest 2007

Lordi played on the Main Stage at Ozzfest 2007. Mr. Lordi said, "it is a great honor for us to be on Ozzfest and obviously it's gonna be a great opportunity for us to show the people in the U.S. what we can do or what we think we can do." They have received mixed reaction while on tour, with audiences often going as far as booing them in certain cities and chanting other bands names during their performance. However, other shows were more successful and a 10 minute encore was played at one gig.

Later in the tour Lordi was forced to cancel some of their club shows booked during the Ozzfest 2007 tour. The official reasoning given by the band is that they did not want to downgrade the shows and put on their live act in a small club where their pyrotechnics could not be used. On August 8, before their Columbus show, the band's tour bus was hijacked outside a Red Roof Inn, but they were able to locate it before the show started.[22]

Type O Negative Tour

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The band featured as the supporting act for Type O Negative for a tour in late 2007. The band has called it their "Halloween Tour". The tour started in New Haven, Connecticut on October 12th, ending in Sayreville, NJ on October 31st. It was Lordi's second US tour.

Rock2Wgtn 2008

Lordi play the Rock2Wgtn rock festival in Wellington, New Zealand. The two day festival held on the 22nd and 23rd March 2008; also featured Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Kiss, Poison and Alice Cooper and special effects by Peter Jackson's Academy Award winning WETA Workshop of Lord of the Rings and King Kong fame.

Wacken Open Air 2008

Lordi are confirmed to play Wacken Open Air in Germany(31st July - 2nd August 2008).

Discography

Albums

Singles and EPs

Music videos

Eurovision live performances

  • "Bringing Back the Balls to Rock" (performance at qualifying for Eurovision Song Contest in Finland) (2006)
  • "Hard Rock Hallelujah" (performance at Eurovision Song Contest) (2006) [1]

DVDs

Other

  • "Napalm Market" (1993), first demo
  • "Bend Over And Pray The Lord!" (1999), unreleased first album

Cover songs

Filmography

The Kin

  • Lauri Haukkamaa (Director)
  • Amanda Thurman as Anna Henderson
  • Bruce Marsland as Jonathan
  • Delia De Giovanni as Julie Henderson
  • Sirkka Runolinna as Anna's mother
  • Matti Ruuhonen as Birger Westling
  • Anna Kaarna as Possessed girl
  • Nick Lovelock as Marty

In 2004, Lordi co-wrote and starred in their own short film called "The Kin" which was released on a special edition of "The Monsterican Dream" (CD/DVD or DualDisc versions) as a way of expanding the band's image and theatricality. It was co-written and directed by Lauri Haukkamaa and Adam Vandor also had a hand in the script. It introduces the audience to members of the band and establishes the concept of superhuman monsters though at no time is any of the band's music played.

The plot of the film is hard to follow at best due to the disjointed manner in which it proceeds; the story is of a young female writer who loses her mother in a trainwreck while she is trying to get her book on non-human creatures published. After a series of problems arise, the monsters (the band) begin to kill people as well as bend time and space to ensure the publication of the book.

The film shares a lot of Lovecraftian concepts as well as style and pays homage to several B movies and horror films throughout its duration (as well as cameos from their music videos). Only a limited number of DVDs were published and therefore the film's availability has been low. The Kin has also been released on the "Market Square Massacre DVD".

Dark Floors

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Main article: Dark Floors

Other releases

Comics by Mr. Lordi

  • "Monster Magazine"
  • "Suosikki"
  • "Jysäys!"
  • "Lordi 1: Alkuperä" ("The Origin")
  • "Lordi 2: Verenjano" ("Bloodthirst")

Books about Lordi

  • Sven Pahajoki: Lordi — hirviön tarina ("A Monster's Tale") - Unofficial
  • Jussi Alroth: Mie oon Lordi ("I am Lordi")
  • The Songs For The Rockoning Day — The Complete Lordi Song Book

See also

References

  1. ^ "Finns dismayed after Eurovision monsters unmasked", Reuters, 26 May 2006
  2. ^ IFPI
  3. ^ "Lordi Interview". Rytmi Magazine.
  4. ^ Metal News - Gwar Frontman Disses Corey Taylor ( Metal Underground . com )
  5. ^ "Lordin maski myytiin 6 701 eurolla". YLE.
  6. ^ Children Of Bodom Hate Crew - Official Website
  7. ^ Salonen, Ilpo, "Fury after magazine unmasks Lordi", BBC News
  8. ^ Helsingin Sanomat - International Edition - Culture
  9. ^ a b BBC NEWS | Europe | Finnish square named after Lordi
  10. ^ "Monster band has Finland fretting over face it shows". International Herald Tribune.
  11. ^ "Three Greek organizations file legal action against Lordi". Helsingin Sanomat. Template:Fi icon
  12. ^ "Finland sends in the heavy metal mob for its Eurovision challenge". The Guardian.
  13. ^ "VOTE FOR LORDI!".
  14. ^ "Jopa 90 000 juhli Lordia Helsingissä". Helsingin Sanomat.
  15. ^ Guinnes World Record karaoke 2006 Lordi Finland Hard Rock Hallelujah
  16. ^ "50 000 to create karaoke record". Daily Times.
  17. ^ The End Records
  18. ^ Lordi's new single available in post offices, Eurovision Song Contest, 19 December 2006. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
  19. ^ Cola named after rock group Lordi - BBC News Online - Published 17 August 2006. Retrieved June 9, 2007.
  20. ^ "Eurovision winners struggle to keep true identities secret", The Irish Examiner, 23 May 2006
  21. ^ // Download Festival 2005 / LINE UP
  22. ^ BLABBERMOUTH.NET - LORDI Tour Bus 'Hijacked' In Columbus; Video Available
  23. ^ YouTube - Lordi He is back (man behind mask) and monster man
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Interviews

Preceded by Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest
2006 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest
2006 		Succeeded by

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