Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest
| Finland | |
|---|---|
| |
| Participating broadcaster | Yle |
| Participation summary | |
| Appearances | 52 (45 finals) |
| First appearance | 1961 |
| Highest placement | 1st: 2006 |
| External links | |
| YLE page | |
 For the most recent participation seeFinland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 | |
Finland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 52 times since its debut in 1961. Finland won the contest for the first time in 2006 with Lordi's "Hard Rock Hallelujah". The country's best result before then was achieved by Marion Rung with the song "Tom Tom Tom" in 1973, which placed sixth.
Finland has finished last in the contest 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 seven times. In 2014, the country had its best result in eight years when Softengine finished 11th. In 2015, Finland finished last in the first semifinal with the shortest-ever Eurovision entry, "Aina mun pitää" performed by PKN (Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät).
History
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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, once with "nul points" 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 eleven times and scored zero points four times, but had also won twice before 2006).
Due to low results, Finland was excluded from the contest in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003.
In 2015, Finland finished last in the first semifinal with the shortest-ever Eurovision song, the one minute and 27 second "Aina mun pitää" performed by PKN. Finland reached the final for the first time in four years in 2018, with Saara Alto placing 25th.
First victory
In 2006, Finland won with the band Lordi and its song Hard Rock Hallelujah, an entry different from the mainstream Europop that dominated the competition. The song broke records scoring the highest number of points in Eurovision Song Contest history (292).The record was eventually broken 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, but also Estonia, which shares close cultural and linguistic ties with Finland. Besides, Hungary with shared Finno-Ugric descents, as well as other Baltic nations such as Latvia have gained votes from 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.
The jury vote also seems to adversely affect Finnish results, given that three of its non-qualifications (2010, 2015, and 2017) were on account of the juries when the televote alone would have carried them through to the Grand Final otherwise (in 2010 comfortably and in 2015 and 2017 less comfortably, but still). Finland's best results, including their victory, came during all-televote years.
Contestants
- 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 2018, Finland's voting history is as follows:
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Hostings
| Year | Location | Venue | Presenters | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Helsinki | Hartwall Areena | Jaana Pelkonen and Mikko Leppilampi | 
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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 | — | 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 | |||
| 2017 | Jenni Vartiainen | |||||
| 2018 | Anna Abreu |
Conductors
- George de Godzinsky (1961–65)
- Ossi Runne (1966–69, 1971–1980, 1982–89)
- Henrik Otto Donner (1981)
- Olli Ahvenlahti (1990–94, 1996, 1998)[2]
Photogallery
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See also
- Finland in the Eurovision Dance Contest – Dance version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
- Finland in the Eurovision Young Dancers – A competition organised by the EBU for younger dancers aged between 16 and 21.
- Finland in the Eurovision Young Musicians – A competition organised by the EBU for musicians aged 18 years and younger.
References
External links
- National Final 2009
- Points to and from Finland eurovisioncovers.co.uk
