Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Euroviisut 2009 was the national final that selected Finland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. The competition consisted of five shows that commenced with the first of three semi-finals on 9 January 2009 and concluded with a final on 31 January 2009. The four shows were held in Tampere and hosted by Heikki Paasonen and Jaana Pelkonen.[2] All shows were broadcast on Yle TV2 and online at yle.fi as well as via radio on Yle Radio Suomi.[3]

The format of the competition consisted of five shows: three semi-finals, a Second Chance round and a final. Four songs competed in each semi-final and the top two entries from each semi-final qualified directly to the final, while the entries placed third and fourth qualified to the Second Chance round. Six songs competed in the Second Chance round and the top two entries qualified to complete the eight-song lineup in the final. The results for the semi-finals and the final were determined exclusively by a public vote. Public voting included the options of telephone and SMS voting.[4]

Twelve artists were directly invited by Yle for the national final in consultation with record companies. The competing artists were presented on 25 September 2008. The competing entries were released on 3 December 2008.[5][6][7]

The first semi-final show took place on 9 January 2009 at the Tohloppi Studios in Tampere. Based on the results of a public vote, "10,000 Light Years" performed by Kwan and "Rakkautta on, rauhaa ei" performed by Tapani Kansa qualified to the final, while "Meren" performed by Riikka and "Manala" performed by Tiara qualified to the Second Chance round.[8][9]

The second semi-final show took place on 16 January 2009 at the Tohloppi Studios in Tampere. Based on the results of a public vote, "Planeetta" performed by Remu Aaltonen and "Lose Control" performed by Waldo's People qualified to the final, while "Doctor, Doctor" performed by Sani and "Surrender" performed by Passionworks feat. Tony Turunen qualified to the Second Chance round.[10][11]

The third semi-final show took place on 23 January 2009 at the Tohloppi Studios in Tampere. Based on the results of a public vote, "Speakerbox" performed by Signmark feat. Osmo Ikonen and "Kirkas kipinä" performed by Jari Sillanpää qualified to the final, while "Martian" performed by Janita and "The Greatest Plan" performed by Vink qualified to the Second Chance round.[12][13]

The Second Chance round took place on 31 January 2009 at the Leonardo Hall in Tampere where the six entries that placed third and fourth in the preceding three semi-finals competed. The top two entries qualified to the final based on the results of a public vote. "Surrender" performed by Passionworks feat. Tony Turunen and "The Greatest Plan" performed by Vink qualified to the final.[14]

The final took place on 31 January 2009 at the Leonardo Hall in Tampere where the nine entries that qualified from the preceding three semi-finals and the Second Chance round competed.[14] The winner was selected over two rounds of public voting through telephone and SMS voting. In the first round, the top three entries qualified to the second round, the superfinal. "Speakerbox" performed by Signmark feat. Osmo Ikonen, "Lose Control" performed by Waldo's People and "Surrender" performed by Passionworks feat. Tony Turunen qualified to the superfinal. In the superfinal, "Lose Control" performed by Waldo's People was selected as the winner.[1]

In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval act featured Scandinavian Hunks and Northern Kings.[5]

• In the Final Finland came 25th (last) with 22 points: the public awarded Finland 22nd place with 30 points and the jury awarded 24th place with 12 points.

Semi Final voting

Finland's televoting for the first semi final were as follows:[16]

The televotes were then converted into points, as shown in the points column.

Draw	Country	Televote	Points
1	Montenegro	549	0
2	Czech Republic	241	0
3	Belgium	469	0
4	Belarus	2 103	4
5	Sweden	5 949	10
6	Armenia	1 147	1
7	Andorra	703	0
8	Switzerland	2 219	5
9	Turkey	2 693	7
10	Israel	2 430	6
11	Bulgaria	404	0
12	Iceland	9 846	12
13	Macedonia	787	0
14	Romania	654	0
15	Finland	N/A	N/A
16	Portugal	1 651	2
17	Malta	1 828	3
18	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4 237	8

Final voting

Finland's televoting for the grand final were as follows:[16]

The televotes were then converted into points, as shown in the televote points column. As the 50/50 rule had also been re-introduced a jury of 5 professionals in music from Finland also voted. These votes were then combined and converted into the point system as shown in the final column.[17]

Draw	Country	Jury Points	Televotes	Televote Points	Total	Final Points
1	Lithuania		1 531		0
2	Israel	1	2 292		1
3	France	6	3 467	3	9	4
4	Sweden	2	7 517	7	9	7
5	Croatia		947		0
6	Portugal		2 203		0
7	Iceland	12	9 865	8	20	10
8	Greece		2 757	1	1
9	Armenia	4	1 409		4	1
10	Russia		3 180	2	2
11	Azerbaijan		4 441	5	5	2
12	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3	5 358	6	9	6
13	Moldova		1 187		0
14	Malta	7	1 986		7	3
15	Estonia	10	16 225	12	22	12
16	Denmark		1 692		0
17	Germany		1 650		0
18	Turkey	5	3 909	4	9	5
19	Albania		2 191		0
20	Norway	8	15 560	10	18	8
21	Ukraine		1 242		0
22	Romania		1 079		0
23	United Kingdom		1 659		0
24	Finland	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
25	Spain		672		0