Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest

Balance sheet

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Broadcasting company

First participation

1961

Number of participations

53 (as of 2019)

Highest ranking

1 ( 2006 )

Highest Score

292 (2006)

Lowest Score

0 ( 1963 , 1965 , 1982 )

Points average (since first post)

35.77 (as of 2019)

Average points per voting country in the 12-point system

1.34 (as of 2019)

This article looks at the history of Finland as a participant in the Eurovision Song Contest .

Regularity of participation and successes in competition

Singer "Mr. Lordi ”from the band Lordi, was Finland's only victory in 2006

Finland first took part in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961. At the debut, the country achieved an average ranking of 10th out of 16. In 1962 a good result was achieved with place 7 out of 16. In 1963 Finland came last for the first time. However, it was a shared last place, as three other countries also finished last with 0 points. In 1964 Lasse Mårtenson was able to achieve the same result as Marion Rung in 1962 and took a good position with 7th place. From 1965 onwards Finland was not very successful. In 1965 they finished last again with 0 points. Nevertheless, the country shared this place with three other countries. In 1966, an average result was achieved again with place 10 out of 18. In 1967 and 1969 only an average place was achieved with 12th place. In 1968 Finland finished last for the third time. This time, however, the country received a point and shared this place with the Netherlands. In 1970 Finland, like the other Scandinavian nations, Portugal and Austria, decided not to participate because of anger about the rating system. It was not until 1971 that Finland returned to the competition.

In 1971, when he returned, he achieved a good ranking with place 8 out of 18. In 1972, 12th place was again only an average place. It was all the more successful that Marion Rung was able to get 6th place for Finland in 1973. It was Finland's best result in the competition up to now. With 93 points she got Finland's highest score in the competition. However, this success could not be repeated in 1974. With 13th place out of 17th, Carita only took a rather average place. In 1975, however, a good result was achieved again with place 7. However, it was the last good result for Finland for a longer period of time. From 1976 to 1983 Finland was below average in the competition. In 1976 and 1977 only an average place was taken with 10th and 11th place. In 1978 the country was even third from bottom. In 1979 and 1981 only a rather mediocre place was achieved with 14th and 16th place. In 1980 and 1982, the country came in last. In 1982 the contribution even reached 0 points. In 1983, 11th place was again rather average. It was not until 1984 that Finland was a bit more successful again.

In 1984 and 1985 the country achieved a good ranking with 9th place out of 19 and achieved the first place in the top ten since 1977. In 1986 and 1987, however, with 15th place, only a rather mediocre placement was achieved. In 1988 Finland even came second to last. Only in 1989 was it again placed in the top ten with position 7. From 1990 to 2005 Finland had its weakest phase in the competition so far. In 1990 the country again reached a shared last place. In 1991 Finland was third from bottom again. In 1992 the country was again last. In 1993 and 1994, Finland achieved rather mediocre placements with 17th and 22nd place. Due to all of these failures, the country had to sit out in 1995 and was therefore absent from the competition for the first time since 1970. But even on the return in 1996 Finland was only last and was therefore not allowed to participate in 1997. Even the rather average 15th place in 1998 was not enough, so Finland had to sit out again in 1999. Also in 2000, only an average ranking was achieved with 18th place out of 24, so that the country had to suspend again in 2001. In 2002, with 20th place out of 24, only a moderate placement was achieved, so that Finland had to sit out again in 2003. In 2004, when the semi-finals were introduced, Finland failed to qualify for the final. The final was not reached in 2005 either. In 2006, however, things went uphill for Finland.

In 2006 Finland finally got its first victory in the competition. It was already the 40th attempt at the competition for Finland. No other country had had to wait so long for victory until then. Portugal only broke this record in 2017 when it only scored its first victory on its 49th attempt. However, Finland's 2006 win was also the best result in 17 years. With 292 points, the band Lordi got Finland's highest score in the competition to date. In 2007, when Finland held the competition for the first time, Hanna Pakarinen was unable to continue this success and, with 17th place, achieved a rather average placement. In 2008 and 2009 Finland was able to qualify for the finals, but with 22nd place in 2008 it was only a poorer place. In 2009 the country finished last in the final. In 2010 Finland failed to qualify for the final for the first time since 2005. It was not until 2011 that Finland continued in the final.

In 2011 Paradise Oskar was able to reach 3rd place in the semifinals, but only took 21st place in the final. In 2012, the Finnish contribution was eliminated in the semifinals. In 2013 Krista Siegfrids managed to qualify for the final, but was only third from last. It was not until 2014 that Finland was able to record a small success in the competition. The band Softengine took 3rd place in the semifinals and 11th place in the final. Finland landed in the left half of the table for the first time since Lordi's victory in 2006 and thus also took the best place in eight years. In 2015, however, this success was over again. The country was eliminated again in the semi-finals and even finished last in the semi-finals. The Finnish entries missed the final in 2016 and 2017 as well. For the first time since 2005, Finland was not represented in the final three times in a row. Only in 2018 could Saara Aalto reach the final for Finland again, even if it was only a narrow qualification for the final with 10th place in the semifinals. However, the result in the final was disappointing again. Finland ended up in penultimate place. In 2019 the country sent the DJ Darude with the singer Sebastian Rejman. But neither of them were successful and ended up in last place in the semifinals. With that they got Finland's worst position since 2015.

In total, only eight of the 53 entries ended up in the left half of the table. With eleven bottom places, Finland is the country that came last most often. The country now shares this negative record with Norway, which was also last eleven times. In addition, Finland was unable to reach the final eight times and has only won one victory so far. There are no other results within the top five. Finland's second best result is the sixth place that Marion Rung and Tom Tom Tom achieved in 1973 in Luxembourg. This makes Finland one of the most unsuccessful countries in competition. Despite this, Finland is one of the longest participating countries with 53 participations. After all, the country has only suspended voluntarily once and had to suspend in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003.

List of posts

Color legend: - 1st place. - 2nd place. - 3rd place. - Equal points with last place. - Eliminated in the semifinals / in the qualification / in the Eastern European preliminary decision. - no participation / not qualified. - Cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest.      

year	Interpreter	Song Music (M) and Text (T)	language	translation	final		Semi-final / qualification		National preliminary decision
					space	Points	space	Points
1961	Laila Kinnunen	Valoa ikkunassa M: Eino Hurme; T: Sauvo Puhtila	Finnish	Light in the window	10/16	6th	Direct participation		Euroviisukarsinta 1961
1962	Marion Rung	Tipi-tii M / T: Kari Tuomisaari, Jaakko Salo	Finnish	-	7/16	4th			Euroviisukarsinta 1962
1963	Laila Halme	Muistojeni laulu M: Börje Sundgren; T: Muistojeni Laulu	Finnish	The song of my memories	13/16	0			Euroviisukarsinta 1963
1964	Let Mårtenson	Laiskotellen M: Lasse Mårtenson ; T: Sauvo Puhtila	Finnish	couch potatoes	7/16	9			Euroviisukarsinta 1964
1965	Viktor Klimenko	Aurinko laskee länteen M: Toivo Kärki; T: Reino Helismaa	Finnish	The sun moves west	15/18	0			Euroviisukarsinta 1965
1966	Ann Christine	Playboy M / T: Ossi Runne	Finnish	-	10/18	7th			Euroviisukarsinta 1966
1967	Fredi	Varjoon-suojaan M: Lasse Mårtenson ; T: Alvi Vuorinen	Finnish	In the shade - in protection	12/17	3			Euroviisukarsinta 1967
1968	Kristina Hautala	Kun kello käy M: Esko Linnavalli; T: Juha Vainio	Finnish	When the clock is ticking	16/17	1			Euroviisukarsinta 1968
1969	Jarkko & Laura	Kuin silloin ennen M: Toivo Kärki; T: Juha Vainio	Finnish	Like in these times	12/16	6th			Euroviisukarsinta 1969
1970	No participation
1971	Markku Aro & Koivistolaiset	Tie uuteen päivään M / T: Rauno Lehtinen	Finnish	Way into a new day	8/18	84	Direct participation		Euroviisukarsinta 1971
1972	Päivi Paunu & Kim Floor	Muistathan? M: Juha Flinck, Nacke Johansson; T: Juha Flinck	Finnish	Do you remember?	12/18	78			Euroviisukarsinta 1972
1973	Marion Rung	Tom Tom Tom M: Rauno Lehtinen; T: Bob Barratt	English	-	6/17	93			Euroviisukarsinta 1973
1974	Carita	Keep Me Warm M: Eero Koivistoinen ; T: Hector	English	Keep me warm	13/17	4th			Euroviisukarsinta 1974
1975	Pihasoittajat	Old Man Fiddle M: Kim Kuusi ; T: Hannu Karlsson	English	The old man's violin	7/19	74			Euroviisukarsinta 1975
1976	Fredi & Ystävät	Pump Pump M: Vexi Salmi ; T: Matti Siitonen	English	-	11/18	44			Euroviisukarsinta 1976
1977	Monica Aspelund	Lapponia M: Aarno ranines; T: Monica Aspelund	Finnish	Lapland	10/18	50			Euroviisukarsinta 1977
1978	Seija Simola	Anna rakkaudelle tilaisuus M: Reijo Karvonen; T: Reijo Karvonen, Seija Simola	Finnish	Give love a chance	18/20	2			Euroviisukarsinta 1978
1979	Katri Helena	Katson sineen taivaan M: Matti Siitonen ; T: Vexi Salmi	Finnish	I look at the blue sky	14/19	38			Euroviisukarsinta 1979
1980	Vesa-Matti Loiri	Huilumies M: Aarno Raninen; T: Vexi Salmi	Finnish	The flute player	19/19	6th			Euroviisukarsinta 1980
1981	Riki Sorsa	Reggae Ok M: Jim Pembroke; T: Olli Ojala	Finnish	Reggae is fine	16/20	27			Euroviisukarsinta 1981
1982	Kojo	Nuku pommiin M: Jim Pembroke, Otto Donne; T: Juice Leskinen	Finnish	Overslept (literally: sleep to the bomb )	18/18	0			Euroviisukarsinta 1982
1983	Ami Aspelund	Fantasiaa M: Kari Kuusamo; T: Kaisu Liuhala	Finnish	fantasy	11/20	41			Euroviisukarsinta 1983
1984	Kirka	Hengaillaan M: Jukka Siikavire; T: Jussi Tuominen	Finnish	Let's hang out	9/19	46			Euroviisukarsinta 1984
1985	Sonja Lumme	Eläköön elämä M: Petri Laaksonen; T: Veli-Pekka Lehto	Finnish	Long live life	9/19	58			Euroviisukarsinta 1985
1986	Kari Kuivalainen	Never the End M / T: Kari Kuivalainen	Finnish a.	No end	15/20	22nd			Euroviisukarsinta 1986
1987	Vicky Rosti & Boulevard	Sata salamaa M: Petri Laaksonen; T: Veli-Pekka Lehto	Finnish	A hundred lightning bolts	15/22	32			Euroviisukarsinta 1987
1988	boulevard	Nauravat silmät muistetaan M: Pepe Willberg; T: Kirsti Willberg	Finnish	One remembers smiling eyes	20/21	3			Euroviisukarsinta 1988
1989	Anneli Saaristo	La dolce vita M: Matti Puurtinen; T: Turkka Mali	Finnish b.	The sweet life	7/22	76			Euroviisukarsinta 1989
1990	Beat	Fri? M: Kim Engblom , Janne Engblom , Tina Krause ; T: Stina Engblom	Swedish	Free?	21/22	8th			Euroviisukarsinta 1990
1991	Kaija	Hullu yö M: Ile Kallio; T: Jukka Välimaa	Finnish	Crazy night	20/22	6th			Euroviisukarsinta 1991
1992	Pave Maijanen	Yamma, yamma M: Pave Maijanen ; T: Hector	Finnish	-	23/23	4th			Euroviisukarsinta 1992
1993	Katri Helena	Tule luo M: Matti Puurtinen; T: Jukka Saarinen	Finnish	Join me	17/25	20th			Euroviisukarsinta 1993
1994	CatCat	Bye Bye Baby M / T: Kari Salli, Markku "Make" Lentonen	Finnish with English title	Goodbye darling	22/25	11	Qualified directly for the final		Euroviisukarsinta 1994
1995	Not qualified
1996	Jasmine	Niin kaunis on taivas M / T: Timo Niemi	Finnish	How beautiful is the sky	23/23	9	22/29	36	Euroviisukarsinta 1996
1997	Not qualified
1998	Edea	Aava M: Alexi Ahoniemi; T: Tommy Mansikka-Aho	Finnish	Open landscape	15/25	22nd	Qualified directly for the final		Euroviisukarsinta 1998
1999	Not qualified
2000	Nina Åström	A Little Bit M: Luca Genta; T: Gerrit aan 't Goor	English	A little bit	18/24	18th	Qualified directly for the final		Euroviisukarsinta 2000
2001	Not qualified
2002	Laura	Addicted to You M: Maki Kolehmainen; T: Janina Frostell, Tracy Lipp	English	Addicted to You	20/24	24	Qualified directly for the final		Euroviisukarsinta 2002
2003	Not qualified
2004	Jari Sillanpää	Takes 2 to Tango M: Mika Toivanen; T: Jari Sillanpää	English	It takes two to dance a tango	Eliminated		14/22	51	Euroviisukarsinta 2004
2005	Geir Rönning	Why M: Mika Toivanen; T: Steven Stewart	English	Why	Eliminated		18/25	50	Euroviisukarsinta 2005
2006	Lordi	Hard Rock Hallelujah M / T: Mr. Lordi	English	-	1  / 24th	292	1/23	292	Euroviisukarsinta 2006
2007	Hanna Pakarinen	Leave Me Alone M: Martti Vuorinen, Miikka Huttunen; T: Martti Vuorinen, Hanna Pakarinen	English	leave me alone	17/24	53	Qualified directly for the final		Euroviisukarsinta 2007
2008	Teräsbetoni	Missä miehet ratsastaa M / T: J. Ahola	Finnish	Where the men ride	22/25	35	8/19	79	Euroviisukarsinta 2008
2009	Waldo's People	Lose Control M: Ari Lehtonen, Karima; T: Waldo , Ari Lehtonen, Karima, Annie Kratz Gutå	English	Lose control	25/25	22nd	12/18	42	Euroviisukarsinta 2009
2010	Kuunkuiskaajat	Työlki ellää M / T: Timo Kiiskinen	Finnish	You can also live by working	Eliminated		11/17	49	Euroviisukarsinta 2010
2011	Paradise Oskar	Since then M / T: Axel Ehnström	English	Since there dam	21/25	57	3/19	103	Euroviisukarsinta 2011
2012	Pernilla Karlsson	När jag blundar M / T: Jonas Karlsson	Swedish	When I close my eyes	Eliminated		12/18	41	Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2012
2013	Krista Siegfrids	Marry Me M / T: Krista Siegfrids , Erik Nyholm, Kristoffer Karlsson, Jessica Lundström	English	Marry me	24/26	13	9/17	66	Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2013
2014	Soft engine	Something Better M: Topi Latukka ; T: Topi Latukka , Henri Oskár	English	Something better	11/26	72	3/15	97	Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2014
2015	Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät	Aina mun pitää M / T: Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät	Finnish	I always have to	Eliminated		16/16	13	Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2015
2016	Sandhja	Sing It Away M: Heikki Korhonen, Markus Savijoki, Milos Rosas, Petri Matara, Sandhja Kuivalainen ; T: Sandhja Kuivalainen , Petri Matara, Milos Rosas, Markus Savijoki	English	Sing it away	Eliminated		15/18	51	Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2016
2017	Norma John	Blackbird M / T: Lasse Piirainen , Leena Tirronen	English	blackbird	Eliminated		12/18	92	Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2017
2018	Saara Aalto	Monsters M / T: Saara Aalto , Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Ki Fitzgerald	English	monster	25/26	46	10/19	108	Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2018
2019	Darude feat. Sebastian Rejman	Look Away M / T: Sebastian Rejman , Ville Virtanen	English	Look away	Eliminated		17/17	23	Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2019
2020	Aksel Kankaanranta	Looking Back M / T: Joonas Angeria, Whitney Phillips, Connor McDonough, Riley McDonough, Toby McDonough	English	Look back	Cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic by the EBU				Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2020
2021									Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2021

^a.Title was given in English for the competition. Finnish original title: Päivä kahden himisen (in German: One day for two people).

^b.with Italian title

National preliminary decisions

→ Main article : Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu

see also: Finnish qualifications for the Eurovision Song Contest

Up to and including 2011, the national Finnish final took place under the name Euroviisukarsinta (German: Eurovision preliminary decision ). When it first took part in 1961, there was also a semi-final. After two years with the mode “One song - two singers”, they returned to the old system in 1964. In 1968 the audience voted for the first time - in this case using postcards. Basically, eight participants took part in the Finnish final. In 1994, televoting was introduced in the Finnish preliminary round - three years before the first telephone vote at the Eurovision Song Contest.

In 2012, the preliminary decision Euroviisukarsinta was discontinued. Since then, the show Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (German: competition for new music) , which was specially developed as a preliminary decision, has served as the preliminary decision.

Until 2018 every interpreter in Finland was chosen by a national preliminary decision. However, Saara Aalto and Darude feat. Sebastian Rejman selected internally by YLE in 2019. Their corresponding song was determined in a national preliminary decision.

Since 2020, the Finnish preliminary round has again taken place with several artists who could apply in advance.

languages

In the years in which the language was free (from 1973 to 1976 and since 1999), the country mostly used the opportunity to sing in English. Exceptions to this are Missä miehet ratstastaa from 2008, Työlki ellää from 2010 (both Finnish), När jag blundar from 2012 (Swedish) and Aina mun pitää from 2015 (Finnish). In the years without freedom of speech almost all contributions were presented in Finnish, only in 1990 Beat sang their contribution Fri? in Swedish - Finland's second official language.

Competitions held

year	city	venue	Moderation
2007	Helsinki	Hartwall Areena	Jaana Pelkonen & Mikko Leppilampi

List of conductors

year	conductor
1961	George de Godzinsky
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966	Ossi Runne
1967
1968
1969
1970	No participation
1971	Ossi Runne
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981	Henrik Otto Donner
1982	Ossi Runne
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990	Olli Ahvenlahti
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995	Not qualified
1996	Olli Ahvenlahti
1997	Not qualified
1998	Olli Ahvenlahti

Scoring

The following countries received the most points from or awarded the most points to Finland (as of 2019):

Most of the points awarded in the final space country Points 1  Sweden 283 2  Italy 175 3  Israel 160 4th  United Kingdom 143 5  Norway 138

Most in the final received points space country Points 1  Sweden 129 2  Norway 115 3  Iceland 081 4th  Estonia 079 5  Ireland 074  United Kingdom 074

Most of the points awarded space country Points 1  Sweden 322 2  Israel 209 3  Estonia 204 4th  Norway 180 5  Italy 175

Most total obtained points space country Points 1  Sweden 194 2  Norway 174 3  Estonia 168 4th  Iceland 164 5  United Kingdom 117

Award of the highest rating

Since 1975 Finland has given the maximum number of points to 21 different countries, seven of them to Sweden. In the semi-finals, Finland awarded the maximum number of points to 13 different countries, four of which were given to Estonia and Iceland.

Highest rating (final) year country Place (final) 1975  Italy 3 1976  Belgium 8th 1977  France 1 1978  Germany 6th 1979  Israel 1 1980  Switzerland 4th 1981  Switzerland 4th 1982  Israel 2 1983  Yugoslavia 4th 1984  Italy 5 1985  Sweden 3 1986  Belgium 1 1987  Ireland 1 1988  Luxembourg 4th 1989  Denmark 3 1990  France 2 1991  Italy 7th 1992  Italy 4th 1993  Norway 5 1994  Hungary 4th 1995 Not qualified 1996  Estonia 5 1997 Not qualified 1998  Estonia 12 1999 Not qualified 2000  Latvia 3 2001 Not qualified 2002  France 5 2003 Not qualified 2004  Sweden 6th 2005  Norway 9 2006  Russia 2 2007  Serbia 1 2008  Norway 5 2009  Estonia 6th 2010  Germany 1 2011  Hungary 22nd 2012  Sweden 1 2013  Norway 4th 2014  Austria 1 2015  Sweden 1 2016  Sweden (J) 5  Ukraine (T) 1 2017  Sweden (J) 5  Portugal (T) 1 2018  Israel (J) 1  Estonia (T) 8th 2019  Sweden (J) 5  Iceland (T) 10 2020 Competition canceled

Highest rating (semi-finals) year country Place (semifinals) 2004  Estonia 11 2005  Norway 6th 2006  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 2007  Iceland 13 2008  Norway 4th 2009  Iceland 1 2010  Estonia 14th 2011  Hungary 7th 2012  Russia 1 2013  Iceland 6th 2014  Austria 1 2015  Belgium 2 2016  Netherlands (J) 5  Estonia (T) 18th 2017  Sweden (J) 3  Portugal (T) 1 2018  Israel (J) 1  Estonia (T) 5 2019  Australia (J) 1  Iceland (T) 3 2020 Competition canceled

various

• In 2006, when a Finnish act won the ESC for the first time with Lordi , Finland had already competed 38 times and was thus the country that had to wait the longest for a win. The best placement to date had been a sixth place in 1973. In 2017, Portugal broke this record. They only won on the 49th attempt.
• The Finnish interpreter from 2013, Krista Siegfrids , performed the first homosexual kiss in the history of the ESC at the end of her performance with one of her background singers . Because of this kiss, Turkey, among others, canceled its broadcast of the final.
• With a length of less than two minutes, Aina mun pitää by Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät is the shortest contribution in the history of the ESC.

Impressions

• 

  Viktor Klimenko 1965

• 

  Hanna Pakarinen 2007

• 

  Teräsbetoni 2008

• 

  Waldo's People 2009

• 

  Kuunkuiskaajat 2010

• 

  Krista Siegfrids 2013

• 

  Soft engine 2014

• 

  Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät 2015

• 

  Sandhja 2016

• 

  Norma John 2017

• 

  Saara Aalto 2018

• 

  Darude feat. Sebastian Rejman 2019

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Douze Points: UMK 2020: Finland returns to the open ESC preliminary decision. June 3, 2019, accessed on June 11, 2019 (German). 
2. ↑ Detailed overview: conductors for Finland. Retrieved August 28, 2018 .