Since the Lordi win and the hosting of the 2007 Contest in Helsinki, Finland has found very little success on the Eurovision stage, and has basically become the points-sprinkler for its Scandinavian and Baltic neighbors. Though young Paradise Oskar gave a promising performance with his guitar and vocals in Dusseldorf in 2011, and though Da Da Dam (with its message of peace) qualified for the Final after placing third in its Semi Final, the tally on Final night was a distant and disappointing 21st with 57 points. Last year's result was even more dismal, with the Finnish entry not even making it out of its Semi Final in Baku. This year the country will be represented in Malmo by Krista Siegfrids and her song Marry Me. Krista, a student studying to be a teacher, is from the Swedish-speaking western part Finland and took the national selection contest by storm, winning both the jury and tele-votes. [Incidentally, the song has become a rallying point for marriage equality advocates in Finland, a cause Krista supports.] Shall we have a look and a listen?
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Finland
Starting in fifth position in the Second Semi Final on May 16 will be Finland, who until the mid-2000s was considered the most under-achieving participant of the Contest. Debuting in the Cannes Contest in 1961 (and placing 10th), Finland achieved sixth in 1973 with Marion Rung's Tom Tom Tom in Luxembourg (with 93 points). This remained the country's best score for nearly thirty years, during which time Finland managed to rack up a record nine last-place finishes (three of them the dreaded nul point). Then Hard Rock Hallelujah happened. A little known band by the name of Lordi, dressed in full orc and other Middle Earth inspired costumes a la Lord of the Rings, hit the stage during the 2006 Contest in Athens and blew their competition away. After the final votes came in from Turkey, Lordi had gathered a total of 292 points, and Finland found itself as the winner of the Contest for the first time in more than four decades at Eurovision. Here's the performance that changed it all:
Since the Lordi win and the hosting of the 2007 Contest in Helsinki, Finland has found very little success on the Eurovision stage, and has basically become the points-sprinkler for its Scandinavian and Baltic neighbors. Though young Paradise Oskar gave a promising performance with his guitar and vocals in Dusseldorf in 2011, and though Da Da Dam (with its message of peace) qualified for the Final after placing third in its Semi Final, the tally on Final night was a distant and disappointing 21st with 57 points. Last year's result was even more dismal, with the Finnish entry not even making it out of its Semi Final in Baku. This year the country will be represented in Malmo by Krista Siegfrids and her song Marry Me. Krista, a student studying to be a teacher, is from the Swedish-speaking western part Finland and took the national selection contest by storm, winning both the jury and tele-votes. [Incidentally, the song has become a rallying point for marriage equality advocates in Finland, a cause Krista supports.] Shall we have a look and a listen?
Since the Lordi win and the hosting of the 2007 Contest in Helsinki, Finland has found very little success on the Eurovision stage, and has basically become the points-sprinkler for its Scandinavian and Baltic neighbors. Though young Paradise Oskar gave a promising performance with his guitar and vocals in Dusseldorf in 2011, and though Da Da Dam (with its message of peace) qualified for the Final after placing third in its Semi Final, the tally on Final night was a distant and disappointing 21st with 57 points. Last year's result was even more dismal, with the Finnish entry not even making it out of its Semi Final in Baku. This year the country will be represented in Malmo by Krista Siegfrids and her song Marry Me. Krista, a student studying to be a teacher, is from the Swedish-speaking western part Finland and took the national selection contest by storm, winning both the jury and tele-votes. [Incidentally, the song has become a rallying point for marriage equality advocates in Finland, a cause Krista supports.] Shall we have a look and a listen?
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Hmmm, this tune reminds me of "Call Me Maybe". I can imagine other countries copying this for their own marriage equality campaigns.
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