Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Finland
Member station	Yle
National selection events	National final Euroviisukarsinta ; 1961–1969 ; 1971–1994 ; 1996 ; 1998 ; 2000 ; 2002 ; 2004–2011 ; Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu ; 2012–2017 ; 2018–2019 (song) ; 2020–2021 ; Internal selection 2018–2019 (artist) ;
Participation summary
Appearances	53 (45 finals)
First appearance	1961
Best result	1st: 2006
Nul points	1963, 1965, 1982
External links
	YLE page
	Finland's page at Eurovision.tv
	For the most recent participation see; Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Finland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 53 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 eleven 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 eight times. In 2014, the country had its best result in eight years when Softengine finished 11th. In 2015, Finland finished last in the first semi-final with the shortest-ever Eurovision entry, "Aina mun pitää" performed by 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, 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 semi-final with the shortest-ever Eurovision song, the one minute and 27 seconds "Aina mun pitää" performed by Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät. Finland reached the final for the first time in four years in 2018, with Saara Aalto placing 25th.

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 the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, with 292. The record was eventually broken by Norway in 2009, with 387.

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.

Contestants

Table key
1	Winner
3	Third place
◁	Last place
X	Entry selected but did not compete

Year	Artist	Title	Language	Final	Points	Semi	Points
1961	Laila Kinnunen	"Valoa ikkunassa"	Finnish	10	6	No semi-finals
1962	Marion Rung	"Tipi-tii"	Finnish	7	4
1963	Laila Halme	"Muistojeni laulu"	Finnish	13 ◁	0
1964	Lasse Mårtenson	"Laiskotellen"	Finnish	7	9
1965	Viktor Klimenko	"Aurinko laskee länteen"	Finnish	15 ◁	0
1966	Ann Christine	"Playboy"	Finnish	10	7
1967	Fredi	"Varjoon - suojaan"	Finnish	12	3
1968	Kristina Hautala	"Kun kello käy"	Finnish	16 ◁	1
1969	Jarkko & Laura	"Kuin silloin ennen"	Finnish	12	6
1971	Markku Aro & Koivistolaiset	"Tie uuteen päivään"	Finnish	8	84
1972	Päivi Paunu & Kim Floor	"Muistathan"	Finnish	12	78
1973	Marion Rung	"Tom Tom Tom"	English	6	93
1974	Carita	"Keep Me Warm"	English	13	4
1975	Pihasoittajat	"Old Man Fiddle"	English	7	74
1976	Fredi & Ystävät	"Pump-Pump"	English	11	44
1977	Monica Aspelund	"Lapponia"	Finnish	10	50
1978	Seija Simola	"Anna rakkaudelle tilaisuus"	Finnish	18	2
1979	Katri Helena	"Katson sineen taivaan"	Finnish	14	38
1980	Vesa-Matti Loiri	"Huilumies"	Finnish	19 ◁	6
1981	Riki Sorsa	"Reggae OK"	Finnish	16	27
1982	Kojo	"Nuku pommiin"	Finnish	18 ◁	0
1983	Ami Aspelund	"Fantasiaa"	Finnish	11	41
1984	Kirka	"Hengaillaan"	Finnish	9	46
1985	Sonja Lumme	"Eläköön elämä"	Finnish	9	58
1986	Kari Kuivalainen	"Päivä kahden ihmisen"	Finnish	15	22
1987	Vicky Rosti & Boulevard	"Sata salamaa"	Finnish	15	32
1988	Boulevard	"Nauravat silmät muistetaan"	Finnish	20	3
1989	Anneli Saaristo	"La dolce vita"	Finnish	7	76
1990	Beat	"Fri?"	Swedish	21 ◁	8
1991	Kaija Kärkinen	"Hullu yö"	Finnish	20	6
1992	Pave Maijanen	"Yamma, yamma"	Finnish	23 ◁	4
1993	Katri Helena	"Tule luo"	Finnish	17	20	Kvalifikacija za Millstreet
1994	CatCat	"Bye Bye Baby"	Finnish, English	22	11	No semi-finals
1996	Jasmine	"Niin kaunis on taivas"	Finnish	23 ◁	9	22	26
1998	Edea	"Aava"	Finnish	15	22	No semi-finals
2000	Nina Åström	"A Little Bit"	English	18	18
2002	Laura	"Addicted to You"	English	20	24
2004	Jari Sillanpää	"Takes 2 to Tango"	English	Failed to qualify		14	51
2005	Geir Rönning	"Why?"	English	Failed to qualify		18	50
2006	Lordi	"Hard Rock Hallelujah"	English	1	292	1	292
2007	Hanna Pakarinen	"Leave Me Alone"	English	17	53	Host country[lower-alpha 1]
2008	Teräsbetoni	"Missä miehet ratsastaa"	Finnish	22	35	8	79
2009	Waldo's People	"Lose Control"	English	25 ◁	22	12[lower-alpha 2]	42
2010	Kuunkuiskaajat	"Työlki ellää"	Finnish	Failed to qualify		11	49
2011	Paradise Oskar	"Da Da Dam"	English	21	57	3	103
2012	Pernilla Karlsson	"När jag blundar"	Swedish	Failed to qualify		12	41
2013	Krista Siegfrids	"Marry Me"	English	24	13	9	64
2014	Softengine	"Something Better"	English	11	72	3	97
2015	Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät	"Aina mun pitää"	Finnish	Failed to qualify		16 ◁	13
2016	Sandhja	"Sing It Away"	English			15	51
2017	Norma John	"Blackbird"	English			12	92
2018	Saara Aalto	"Monsters"	English	25	46	10	108
2019	Darude feat. Sebastian Rejman	"Look Away"	English	Failed to qualify		17 ◁	23
2020	Aksel Kankaanranta	"Looking Back"	English	Contest cancelled[lower-alpha 3] X

Hostings

Year	Location	Venue	Presenters	Image
2007	Helsinki	Hartwall Areena	Jaana Pelkonen and Mikko Leppilampi

Awards

Marcel Bezençon Awards

Year	Category	Song	Performer	Final	Points	Host city	Ref.
2002	Fan Award	"Addicted to You"	Laura Voutilainen	20	24	Tallinn	[1]
2006	Press Award	"Hard Rock Hallelujah"	Lordi	1	292	Athens	[1]
2011	Press Award	"Da Da Dam"	Paradise Oskar	21	57	Düsseldorf	[2]

Related involvement

Conductors

Year	Conductor[lower-alpha 4]	Notes	Ref.
1961	George de Godzinsky		[3]
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966	Ossi Runne
1967
1968
1969
1971			[4]
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980			[5]
1981	Henrik Otto Donner	[lower-alpha 5]
1982	Ossi Runne
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990	Olli Ahvenlahti
1991
1992
1993
1994
1996
1998

Commentators and spokespersons

Year	Finnish commentator	Swedish commentator	Spokesperson	Ref.
1960	Aarno Walli	No broadcast	Did not participate
1961			Poppe Berg
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970	No broadcast		Did not participate
1971	Heikki Seppälä		No spokesperson
1972	Heikki Seppälä
1973	Erkki Pohjanheimo
1974	Matti Paalosmaa		Aarre Elo
1975	Heikki Seppälä		Kaarina Pönniö
1976	Vesa Nuotio		Erkki Vihtonen
1977	Erkki Toivanen		Kaarina Pönniö
1978	Erkki Toivanen
1979	Anja-Maija Leppänen
1980	Heikki Harma, Aarre Elo
1981	Ossi Runne		Annemi Genetz
1982	Erkki Toivanen		Solveig Herlin
1983	Erkki Pohjanheimo
1984	Heikki Seppälä
1985	Heikki Harma, Kari Lumikero		Annemi Genetz
1986	Heikki Harma, Kari Lumikero		Solveig Herlin
1987	Erkki Toivanen
1988	Erkki Pohjanheimo
1989	Heikki Harma
1990	Erkki Pohjanheimo, Ossi Runne
1991	Erkki Pohjanheimo		Heidi Kokki
1992	Erkki Pohjanheimo, Kati Bergman		Solveig Herlin
1993	Erkki Pohjanheimo, Kirsi-Maria Niemi
1994	Erkki Pohjanheimo, Kirsi-Maria Niemi
1995	Erkki Pohjanheimo, Olli Ahvenlahti		Did not participate
1996	Erkki Pohjanheimo, Sanna Kojo		Solveig Herlin
1997	Aki Sirkesalo, Olli Ahvenlahti		Did not participate
1998	Maria Guzenina, Sami Aaltonen		Marjo Wilska
1999	Jani Juntunen		Did not participate
2000	Jani Juntunen		Pia Mäkinen
2001	Jani Juntunen, Asko Murtomäki		Did not participate
2002	Maria Guzenina, Asko Murtomäki	Thomas Lundin	Marion Rung
2003	Maria Guzenina, Asko Murtomäki		Did not participate
2004	Markus Kajo, Asko Murtomäki		Anna Stenlund
2005	Jaana Pelkonen, Asko Murtomäki, Heikki Paasonen		Jari Sillanpää
2006	Jaana Pelkonen, Asko Murtomäki, Heikki Paasonen		Nina Tapio
2007	Ellen Jokikunnas, Asko Murtomäki, Heikki Paasonen		Laura Voutilainen
2008	Jaana Pelkonen, Asko Murtomäki, Mikko Peltola		Mikko Leppilampi
2009	Jaana Pelkonen, Asko Murtomäki, Mikko Peltola	Tobias Larsson	Jari Sillanpää
2010	Jaana Pelkonen, Asko Murtomäki	Tobias Larsson	Johanna Pirttilahti
2011	Tarja Närhi, Asko Murtomäki	Eva Frantz, Johan Lindroos	Susan Aho	[6]
2012	Tarja Närhi, 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		Jussi-Pekka Rantanen
2017			Jenni Vartiainen
2018			Anna Abreu
2019	Mikko Silvennoinen, Krista Siegfrids		Christoffer Strandberg	[7][8]

Photogallery

Viktor Klimenko in Naples (1965)
Hanna Pakarinen in Helsinki (2007)
Teräsbetoni in Belgrade (2008)
Waldo's People in Moscow (2009)
Kuunkuiskaajat in Oslo (2010)
Krista Siegfrids in Malmö (2013)
Softengine in Copenhagen (2014)
Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät in Vienna (2015)
Sandhja in Stockholm (2016)
Norma John in Kyiv (2017)
Saara Aalto in Lisbon (2018)
Darude and Sebastian Rejman in Tel Aviv (2019)

Notes

If a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year.
In 2009, Finland qualified through the back-up jury selection.
The 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
All conductors are of Finnish nationality unless otherwise noted.
Only year between 1966 and 1989 where Finland participated and Ossi Runne was not their conductor; he instead provided television commentary.

References

"Marcel Bezençon Awards". eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
"Winners of the Marcel Bezençon Awards". eurovision.tv. 16 May 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
Roxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 93–101. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 142–168. ISBN 978-1-84583-093-9.
Roxburgh, Gordon (2016). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Three: The 1980s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84583-118-9.
"Susan Aho ilmoittaa Suomen pisteet Euroviisujen finaalissa" [Susan Aho announces Finland's points in the Eurovision finals]. Yle (in Finnish). 9 May 2011. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
Herbert, Emily (24 April 2019). "Finland: Krista Siegfrids Joins Mikko Silvennoinen in the Eurovision Commentary Booth". eurovoix.com. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
"Eurovision 2019 Spokespersons – Who will announce the points?". eurovisionworld.com. 18 May 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019.

External links

National Final 2009

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[note3-1] If a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year.

[2] In 2009, Finland qualified through the back-up jury selection.

[3] The 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[6] All conductors are of Finnish nationality unless otherwise noted.

[10] Only year between 1966 and 1989 where Finland participated and Ossi Runne was not their conductor; he instead provided television commentary.

[mba-4] "Marcel Bezençon Awards". eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.

[5] "Winners of the Marcel Bezençon Awards". eurovision.tv. 16 May 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2019.

[7] Roxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 93–101. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.

[8] Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 142–168. ISBN 978-1-84583-093-9.

[9] Roxburgh, Gordon (2016). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Three: The 1980s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84583-118-9.

[11] "Susan Aho ilmoittaa Suomen pisteet Euroviisujen finaalissa" [Susan Aho announces Finland's points in the Eurovision finals]. Yle (in Finnish). 9 May 2011. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2020.

[12] Herbert, Emily (24 April 2019). "Finland: Krista Siegfrids Joins Mikko Silvennoinen in the Eurovision Commentary Booth". eurovoix.com. Retrieved 5 December 2019.

[13] "Eurovision 2019 Spokespersons – Who will announce the points?". eurovisionworld.com. 18 May 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019.